Huntington Beach is 1 for 7 in charter city fights

Seven times in the past eight years, Huntington Beach went to court to claim immunity from state laws because it’s a charter city.

In six of those cases, it lost.

But that’s not stopping the maverick Southern California beach town from reasserting its independence from state laws one more time.

READ MORE: New California housing lawsuits face major obstacles, attorney says

On March 9, the city sued the state in federal court, arguing that state homebuilding requirements and other state laws are invalid and don’t apply to charter cities.

It’s true California’s 121 charter cities have greater autonomy.

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But their authority is limited to “municipal affairs” affecting their own constituents, such as taxation, city elections and employment, housing law experts say. Charter cities still are subject to statutes deemed matters of “statewide concern.”

Here’s a list of past legal bouts and how they were resolved.

July 2015: The Kennedy Commission, a nonprofit housing group, sues Huntington Beach over the city’s decision to eliminate 413 affordable housing units from its zoning plan for the northeast part of the city. The California Department of Housing and Community Development also decertifies the city’s homebuilding plan, or “housing element,” based on that decision.

In 2017, however, a state appeals court upholds the city’s claim that as a charter city, it was exempt from state provisions requiring it to restore those affordable housing units to city plans. A state provision exempted charter cities from some state planning law requirements, the court ruled.

Homes north of the pier in Huntington Beach, Calif., on Thursday, March 9, 2023.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

April 2018: Huntington Beach sues the state claiming charter cities were immune from Senate Bill 54, the “sanctuary state law” that limits cooperation between local police and federal immigration authorities.

In January 2020, a state appeals court rejects Huntington Beach’s charter city claim and orders it to follow the “sanctuary state law.” The case bears some similarities to the city’s charter city battles over housing.

August 2018: The state Legislature responds to the Kennedy Commission ruling by passing Senate Bill 1333, requiring charter cities to comply with all state planning and zoning laws, including the provision involved in the Kennedy Commission case.

January 2019: Gov. Gavin Newsom initiates a state lawsuit against Huntington Beach over the city’s 2015 decision to eliminate 413 affordable housing units from its zoning plan — the same decision that sparked the Kennedy Commission lawsuit and the state’s decertification of its housing element.

It was the state’s first case under new authority to sue cities without state-certified housing elements.

The city opposes the lawsuit on charter city grounds, but in January 2020, it relents and adds more affordable housing to its housing element. Because Sacramento had frozen state grants to the city, municipal leaders decide the case isn’t worth the cost. The state approves the city’s housing plan in March 2020 and agrees to dismiss its lawsuit.

January-September 2019: Huntington Beach files three lawsuits against the state in January, February and September 2019, arguing SB 1333 is invalid and that three new state housing laws shouldn’t apply to charter cities.

The lawsuit challenges SB 35 (which required streamlined approval of affordable housing in jurisdictions falling behind on state-mandated homebuilding), SB 166 (requiring replacement of housing sites used for other developments) and Assembly Bill 101 (requiring court action against cities without state-approved housing elements).

In February 2021, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge upholds SB 1333 and finds that the three other laws apply to charter cities.

October 2019: A Realtor-backed nonprofit, Californians for Homeownership, sues the city for denying a 48-unit condo building with five affordable units.

In October 2021, an Orange County Superior Court judge rejects Huntington Beach’s claim that charter cities aren’t subject to the Housing Accountability Act, which limits a city’s ability to deny housing projects that comply with zoning and other standards.

March 2023: Huntington Beach files a federal lawsuit against the state, arguing SB 1333 and the state’s homebuilding mandates are invalid. In a response filed on March 21, the state argues Huntington Beach doesn’t have standing to sue in federal court because the city is a political subdivision of the state.

“These are matters of state, not federal, law,” the state’s federal court filing says.

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