Overview
- On Thursday state attorneys filed writ petitions in five county superior courts against Calexico, Costa Mesa, Half Moon Bay, Ridgecrest and Turlock asking judges to order the cities into compliance within 120 days.
- The state says each city received formal notices, 30 days to respond and multiple meetings from HCD before referral and that more than 95 percent of jurisdictions in the current planning cycle have already reached compliance.
- The filings rely on SB1037 to seek monthly civil fines and invoke the Housing Accountability Act’s Builder’s Remedy which can allow qualifying housing projects to proceed despite local zoning limits.
- Local officials in Half Moon Bay and Turlock say they are near completing required rezonings and dispute the state’s characterization of their progress, while other cities named have not yet publicly detailed next steps.
- If courts ratify the remedies the cases could force large-scale rezonings, pause some local permitting powers, direct penalty money into local affordable housing funds and signal tougher, wider enforcement by the Newsom administration.