A California state senator wants to crack down on cities that fail to plan for more housing.
State Sen. Scott Wiener has proposed new legislation that would fine cities for failing to get their housing plans in order — only if the state attorney general files legal action against the city and the city loses.
In that case, the city would face a minimum fine of $10,000 a month and a maximum of $50,000 a month, from the start of the violation until the violation is “cured.” Revenue from the fines will go into a fund to build affordable housing in that particular city.
“Under existing law, if the Attorney General sues a city for violation of state housing law & wins, the city faces no financial consequences if it simply follows the court order,” Wiener said on X on Wednesday. “SB 1037 creates actual incentives to comply with the law.”
I introduced new housing legislation, w/ Attorney General @RobBonta, to create financial incentives for cities to follow state housing law.
Under SB 1037, if a city violates housing law & the AG sues & wins, the city is liable for penalties dating to the start of the violation🧵
— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) March 20, 2024
“Housing Element law has teeth — this bill would give it fangs,” Dave Rand, an attorney at Rand Paster Nelson who has represented a number of developers in filing builder’s remedy projects, said in a text.
The legislation takes aim at cities that “fail to adopt a compliant housing element” or “reject/sabotage projects” that are subject to ministerial approval, also known as by-right approvals.
California has passed a number of laws over the last few years that allow for ministerial approval, such as Senate Bill 35, which was introduced in 2017 and requires cities and local agencies streamline approval of certain affordable housing projects.
Wiener’s proposal focuses on “bolstering the AG’s authority and tools to use against cities who violate housing element law and try to block by-right projects,” Rand said, rather than enforcing builder’s remedy projects.
The bill did not detail the types of violations that could trigger legal action, but said that the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development can notify the attorney general when a city or county is in “violation of state law.”
Wiener’s proposed legislation, which has the support of Attorney General Rob Bonta, comes a few months after Bonta flexed the office’s state muscles in court by intervening in a case involving a builder’s remedy project in the city of La Cañada Flintridge.
Bonta and Gov. Gavin Newsom intervened in the case, arguing the city was “legally required” to process the project because “they did not adopt a compliant housing element on time.”
Earlier this month, the court ruled in Cedar Street Partners’ favor, ordering the city to process the application.