California is preparing to impose another round of substantial fines on Huntington Beach after state regulators concluded that the coastal Republican stronghold still has not fully complied with housing laws, even after the city hurried to adopt a new housing plan this summer.
State officials filed a new request on Sept. 8, arguing that Huntington Beach has not met the requirements needed to avoid penalties in its long-running housing dispute with Sacramento, the Orange County Register reported.
The latest development follows an order from Orange County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal, who directed the city to pay $10,000 a month in fines beginning Jan. 1, 2025. The penalties had reached $170,000.
Huntington Beach approved a new housing element in June in an effort to stop the fines from growing. City officials said the plan could clear the way for more than 13,000 housing units to be built by the end of the decade.
That pause in the conflict, however, may be brief.
Bacal temporarily suspended the penalties while the California Department of Housing and Community Development reviewed Huntington Beach’s revised housing plan.
The judge cautioned that the fines could be reinstated, with additional penalties possible, if state officials determined that the city had not substantially complied with California housing law.
California now says Huntington Beach failed to meet that standard.
In an Aug. 18 letter cited in the state’s latest court filing, HCD said the city had not completed the zoning changes required to bring its housing element into compliance.
State officials argued that without enforceable zoning changes, Huntington Beach’s newly adopted housing plan remains largely a paper commitment rather than a framework capable of producing new homes.
California is asking the court to restore a $50,000-a-month penalty — the same amount Bacal previously established if the city missed its May 28 deadline.
The fines would be deposited into a state housing trust supporting affordable housing and homeownership programs.
The fight centers on California’s housing-element law, which requires cities to plan for their share of projected housing needs. The law doesn’t force Huntington Beach itself to construct thousands of homes. Instead, the city must establish zoning and other rules that allow private developers to build the housing called for under its state allocation.
Huntington Beach has fought the mandate in court for years.
Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the city in 2023 after it failed to adopt a compliant housing plan. City officials countered that Huntington Beach’s status as a charter city gave it greater independence from Sacramento’s housing requirements.
The city lost that argument in state court and again on appeal.
A May court order had already imposed $160,000 in penalties and $50,000 monthly fines beginning in June until the violation was cured, according to the California Attorney General’s Office.
The state has since stepped up enforcement against other California communities as part of a broader push to force local governments to comply with housing-element requirements. In July, California announced enforcement actions against five additional local governments over alleged failures to comply with the law.
Huntington Beach has until Oct. 14 to complete the necessary zoning changes following adoption of its housing element.
The next hearing on the proposed penalties is scheduled for Oct. 2.
