A California city shot down a housing proposal. Now the state is threatening legal action
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is threatening legal action against another California city that the state says is moving too slowly to approve badly needed housing.
Bonta’s office on Thursday sent a letter to Encinitas, a city in northern San Diego County, urging leaders to approve a revamped proposal for a 277-unit apartment complex in an affluent neighborhood.
“Based on our current understanding of the revised project, it appears that approval of the revised project would be in the best interests of Californians and consistent with the city’s obligations under state law,” the letter said.
“We urge the city to take prompt action to consider and approve the revised project if and when a new application is submitted. If the city fails to do so, the Attorney General is prepared to take immediate steps to hold the city accountable.”
Bonta’s letter to Encinitas is the latest effort from his “Housing Strike Force,” which works to ensure local governments are complying with California housing laws.
In February, Bonta’s office warned Woodside in Silicon Valley that it could not declare itself a mountain lion sanctuary to avoid a state law requiring communities to allow duplexes on single family lots.
Earlier in March, the Attorney General sent a similar warning to Pasadena, which tried to avoid the same law by exempting “landmark districts,” even though the law does not contain provisions for historic neighborhoods, the Los Angeles Times reported.
What happened in Encinitas?
Encinitas got Bonta’s attention after leaders didn’t approve the apartment complex, even though it was slated for the only property designated for multifamily housing in the Olivenhain neighborhood.
The City Council in November denied a developer’s appeal for a permit to build Encinitas Boulevard Apartments, which drew opposition from residents, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
The complex would feature 41 units for low income residents, and the developer was seeking affordable housing exemptions from Encinitas’s building height requirements and other standards, the Union-Tribune reported.
The developer in January filed a lawsuit in San Diego County Superior Court over the project’s denial.
Bonta’s letter to Mayor Catherine Blakespear said state law requires Encinitas to approve housing that complies with planning, zoning and other standards ”absent public health or safety concerns.”
The city also must take steps to affirmatively further fair housing by “replacing segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns, transforming racially and ethnically concentrated areas of poverty into areas of opportunity, and fostering and maintaining compliance with civil rights and fair housing laws,” the letter said.
The apartment complex site is the only one in the Olivenhain neighborhood set aside for “multifamily, lower-income housing,” the letter said.
“Thus, the project presented the ideal opportunity to provide fair housing and foster inclusive development in the city,” the letter said. “The city’s decision to instead block the creation of 41 lower income households in this community is a contravention of state law.”
When the city considers the revised proposal for the apartment complex, leaders must approve it, the letter said. It doesn’t pose threats to residents’ health or safety, and the complex fits with Encinitas’ zoning and land use designations. Plus, the city still hasn’t met state requirements to provide housing for very low and low income residents.
“Although the city violated state law when it disapproved the project, it appears that the city will have the opportunity to correct that error by approving the revised project in the near future,” the letter said. “If the city fails to approve the revised project, then the Attorney General will take prompt action to hold the city accountable.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 3:15 PM.