Newsom softened the housing stance for Democratic locales

from Dan WaltersCalMatters

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When Gavin Newsom ran for governor, he made many promises, one of which was to increase housing production, which had been stagnant for a decade.

Describing the dwelling as “a fundamental human needNewsom said the shortage “breaks my heart” and pledged that as governor he would lead efforts to develop “the 3.5 million new housing units we need by 2025, because our solutions must be as bold as the problem is.”

The goal was seemingly impossible, and he later abandoned it, calling it “ambitious” rather than achievable.

Nonetheless, Newsom supports policies to remove artificial barriers to new housing, particularly local regulations that make development more difficult or, in some cases, virtually impossible.

His administration cracked down on cities that ignored housing quotas in land-use planning and supported legislation to encourage “accessory housing” and multifamily projects on land zoned for single-family homes.

If a city resists higher-density projects, developers can invoke the “builder’s remedy,” which allows them to proceed without local approval.

Stuck between the state and the voters

All of these pro-housing moves are highly controversial, as local governments are often caught between pressure from the state and their constituents’ desires to maintain the status quo.

The interactions show a curious trend. The state, dominated by Newsom and other Democrats, has been tougher on Republican communities that have resisted pressure from Sacramento than on those filled with Democratic voters, especially wealthy ones.

For example, Newsom cited heavily Republican Huntington Beach as an example, recently hailing the state Supreme Court’s rejection of that city’s claim that, as a charter city, it was partially exempt from pro-housing laws.

“Huntington Beach needs to end this pathetic NIMBY behavior,” Newsom said in a statement. “They are failing their own citizens by wasting time and money that could be used to create much-needed housing. No more excuses, you’ve lost again – it’s time to start building.”

Contrast that with how the state handled Marin County, a bastion of affluent Democrats as resistant to high-density housing as Huntington Beach.

Legislation to give Marin a partial exemption from government housing quotas by changing its status from urban to suburban was enacted during Jerry Brown’s governorship and expanded by Newsom.

Newsom was a resident of Marin before being elected governor and is recently moved his family from Sacramento to a $9 million home in Kentfield, one of Marin’s wealthiest communities.

And just a few months ago, Newsom signed such broad legislation exempts multifamily projects from the California Environmental Quality Actbut contains a short passage which submits 270-unit, eight-story project near historic Santa Barbara Mission to CEQA compliance.

The project in picturesque, affluent and heavily Democratic Santa Barbara faces fierce local opposition, and language will help naysayers prevail. Inserted by order of state senator Monique Lemona Democrat from Santa Barbara who is the newly elected president pro se of the Senate.

Finally, Newsom issued an executive order allowing wealthy communities in Los Angeles County hit by wildfires earlier this year, such as Pacific Palisades, to ignore a housing law Newsom signed in 2001 while they rebuild. The law allows homeowners to subdivide their single-family lots into up to four properties, thereby making more land available for duplexes.

Newsom’s order essentially limits rebuilding in those communities to single-family homes. It drew instant lawsuit by YIMBY Lawa pro-housing organization that has been an ally of Newsom on previous housing issues. The lawsuit claims that order is illegal.

The tenor of these incidents may be random. But taken as a whole, they suggest that when it comes to housing policy, some Californians are more equal than others, depending on their politics and economic status.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.