Huntington Beach ordered to pay $50K a month until it adopts housing plan

The time has come for Huntington Beach to pay, after years of fighting state housing mandates.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal ruled Thursday that the city already owes $170,000, and will pay $50,000 per month to the state until it adopts a state-approved housing plan. The penalties will be deposited in the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund, which was created to streamline housing production, support affordable housing and increase home ownership opportunities statewide.

Huntington Beach was originally sued by the state of California in March 2023. State leaders said that Surf City violated state law by refusing to zone for its mandated 13,368 housing units for the current Regional Housing Needs Assessment cycle, which is now already more than half over. It began in 2021 and runs through 2029.

Bacal’s ruling retroactively charges Huntington Beach $10,000 a month penalties from January 2025 through the end of this month, with the $50,000 per month penalty starting in June.

“Huntington Beach has obstinately and illegally refused to do its part to address our state’s housing crisis, and today, it’s paying for it,” California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said in a statement. “This civil penalty is a costly lesson for Huntington Beach that drives home the truth we’ve known all along: No city is above the law. Huntington Beach must stop wasting public funds and avoiding its responsibilities to the public.”

In his own statement, Huntington Beach Mayor Casey McKeon countered that council members were elected to vigorously defend the city’s constitutional right to local control over land use decisions.

“Huntington Beach is carrying the torch for cities across California that oppose the state’s aggressive efforts to strip local governments of authority over planning and zoning matters,” McKeon said. “In this case, it is clear the Attorney General is seeking penalties against the city because we continue to advocate for local control.”

He added that only six of the state’s 411 jurisdictions adopted an approved housing element by the original deadline, which McKeon called evidence that the housing laws are deeply flawed.

Bonta had pushed for penalties of $50,000 per month retroactive to January 2025, but those were dropped to $10,000 a month.

“The city strongly opposes these penalties, and will continue fighting for the rights of our residents and for the principle of local control against ongoing efforts by the Attorney General to centralize land use authority in Sacramento,” McKeon said.

Bacal first ruled against Huntington Beach in May 2024. Last December, the state Supreme Court declined to review an appellate court ruling in the state’s favor.

A related 2023 federal lawsuit filed by the city against the state, arguing that housing mandates violated the city’s 1st and 14th Amendment protections as a charter city, died in February when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Now, Huntington Beach will continue to face financial consequences until it passes a state-approved housing plan.

“Huntington Beach officials are failing their community by wasting time and vast sums of taxpayer dollars to defend clearly unlawful NIMBY policies and fight against affordability,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. “Citizens in this community should be appalled by their city leaders’ actions here, which will cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties, with more growing each month. No more excuses — every city must follow state law and do its part to build more housing.”