Low-income housing decision goes against Huntington Beach

Proponents of low-income housing in Huntington Beach won a battle last week when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge ruled that the city must “immediately comply” with a previous ruling that it follow the Beach Edinger Corridor Specific Plan.

The city put itself in a shortfall of 410 low-income units in May when the council approved an amendment to the corridor plan, which was adopted almost three years ago to spruce up Beach and Edinger.

In November, the Public Law Center, a firm representing the nonprofit Kennedy Commission, won a lawsuit it filed in July against the city. The group stated that the city’s Beach Edinger Corridor Specific Plan Amendment — which was adopted in May 2015 and reduced the maximum number of residential units allowed in the city’s original specific plan — did not include adequate housing for people with low incomes.

The city appealed the court’s judgment in January and asked for a stay of the ruling while continuing to follow the corridor plan amendment.

Superior Court Judge Michael L. Stern on Friday denied that request and ordered that the city’s previous housing plan be reinstated.

Sarah Gregory, staff attorney for the Public Law Center, said this was a win for low-income and other “vulnerable” individuals like veterans.

“This year-long effort to force the city to simply comply with state law and its own Housing Element ... reminds all of us that we must remain vigilant and be prepared to fight efforts to block affordable housing,” she said in a statement.

Huntington Beach City Atty. Michael Gates was disappointed with Friday’s ruling but said the city will continue to fight the matter in appellate court.

“We’re pursuing all the appeal options,” he said. “The court on Friday suggested the stay was kind of never in effect. I think the judge didn’t recognize the legal authorities that we put forth. I was disappointed but it doesn’t stop our moving forward with the appeal.”

The state Department of Housing and Community Development warned Huntington Beach before the amendment was approved that the changes would render the city’s housing plan non-compliant with state law.

The Beach and Edinger Corridors Specific Plan was adopted in September 2013 to revitalize Beach and Edinger by streamlining the building approval process. The changes were approved to slow and cap the number of housing developments along Beach when it appeared that the streamlining was speeding up development at an unacceptable pace.

In November 2013, the state agency projected that Huntington Beach would need at least 1,353 total units, including those for moderate-income and above-moderate-income households.

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FOR THE RECORD

2:48 p.m., April 21: A previous version of this post incorrectly reported that the city would need at least 1,353 affordable units citywide from 2014 to 2021. In fact, the city is required to plan for 1,353 total units, which also includes housing for moderate-income and above-moderate-income households.

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The city, through Gates, has been fighting the community development department, arguing that the 1,353 figure was arrived at using faulty population projections and “flawed data.”

Times Community News reporter Anthony Clark Carpio contributed to this report.

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