A Realtor-backed group behind a housing lawsuit against Huntington Beach is now suing one Southern California city and is threatening to sue another over alleged efforts to block new granny flats, or “accessory dwelling units” (ADU’s).
Californians for Homeownership, a non-profit sponsored by the California Association of Realtors, announced Wednesday, Jan. 20, it is suing the San Diego County city of Coronado, accusing the water-bound city at the end of a peninsula of illegally blocking the simultaneous construction of houses and ADU’s.
In addition, the group has threatened the Orange County city of Irvine with litigation over a proposed ordinance imposing parking, set-back and numerous other ADU restrictions should the City Council adopt the measure.
The Irvine council voted Sept. 8 to approve the ordinance on first reading, but has yet to approve final adoption. The homeownership group vowed to sue if the city moves forward with the measure.
“I’ve got a lawsuit against the city of Irvine on my computer that’s ready to go,” said Matthew Gelfand, counsel for Californians for Homeownership.
The group calls itself a non-profit public benefit corporation committed to addressing California’s housing crisis through litigation in support of affordable housing construction.
The group sued Huntington Beach in late 2019 after it rejected construction of a 48-unit condo building that included five low-income units. Huntington Beach agreed to reconsider the development but rejected it a second time. The lawsuit is pending, Gelfand said.
To boost home construction, the state adopted a flurry of laws since 2016 requiring local governments to reduce barriers to construction of secondary units on single-family lots, creating lower-cost, stand-alone housing. Housing groups like UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation, maintain granny flats are one of the easiest ways for California — which is dominated by low-density, single-family housing — to address its housing shortage.
New state rules reduced the minimum lot size and increased both the size and number of ADU’s that can be built on a single lot. One new law passed last year will allow homeowners to subdivide their lots to accommodate more ADU’s.
The homeownership group has reviewed compliance with these new state laws in 200 local jurisdictions, according to the new lawsuit.
During that review, the group discovered that while Coronado adopted a new ordinance allowing the simultaneous construction of a new home with an accompanying ADU, city staff privately refused to review building permit applications until the secondary unit was removed.
“Despite this language in the city’s ordinance, (our group) has continued to receive reports that the city is refusing to accept applications for simultaneous development of an ADU with a new single-family home,” said the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, Jan. 19.
Nonsense, replied a Coronado spokeswoman.
“The allegations in this lawsuit against the city are simply not true,” Janine Zuniga, a senior management analyst, said in an email. “City staff have not denied or delayed review or approval of an ADU that meets city and state standards.”
Zuniga called Californians for Homeownership a special-interest group funded by real estate interests that have little to do with affordable housing. The group, she said, is “focused on helping applicants exploit perceived loopholes created by state law that would allow them to create super-sized, single-family homes that sell for a premium.”
The homeownership group also found fault with the Irvine ADU measure that’s under consideration.
In a September letter, the group argued the proposed ordinance would make Irvine the only California city to openly defy state ADU laws.
The measure would, among other things, prohibit ADU’s near “deficient intersections” to promote traffic flow, require on-site parking to replace garages that are converted into ADU’s, limit the number of units per lot and require side and rear setbacks to be consistent with underlying zoning.
The homeownership group maintains those measures violate state provisions. It also rejects arguments that as a charter city, Irvine has sufficient autonomy to circumvent some state requirements.
“If you adopt this ordinance, we will sue the city the day after its second reading, seeking invalidation of the ordinance and an immediate stay of enforcement,” the letter said. “We will also sue the city every time it unlawfully rejects an ADU.”
An Irvine spokeswoman promised to look into the group’s accusations, but has yet to respond.
Source: Orange County Register
Be First to Comment