State officials have filed a lawsuit against the city of Norwalk, accusing the southeast Los Angeles County city of unlawfully passing a moratorium on housing projects for homeless people.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office filed the lawsuit Nov. 4 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, calling on the city to repeal its ban on new shelters and supportive housing. The office’s complaint says the city’s moratorium, which was extended for more than 10 months in September and also bars new liquor stores and payday lenders, violates numerous state laws, including the Housing Crisis Act and the Housing Element Law.
“The City Council’s actions, and deliberate silence in adopting the urgency ordinance, is in stark contrast to the deafening roar of the housing affordability and homelessness crisis, which continues to plague millions of Californians, and the plight of more than 185,000 Californians who experience homelessness on any given night,” the lawsuit states.
Norwalk is engaging in “a misguided effort” to avoid its obligations under state laws mandating that cities throughout the state do their part to reduce homelessness, according to the complaint. But city officials expressed frustration about the state’s action.
“The city is disappointed with the state’s approach as it was hopeful that it could reach a resolution without litigation,” City Attorney Arnold Alvarez-Glasman said in a statement emailed to the Southern California Record. “The city will nevertheless continue to reach out to state stakeholders in its approach to forge partnerships in line with Attorney General Bonta’s statement supporting collaborative solutions to these important issues.”
City officials are currently reviewing the complaint, according to Alvarez-Glasman, and they remain engaged in addressing homelessness issues through partnerships, the statement said. In recent months, however, elected city officials have expressed concerns that the city had become a “dumping ground” for homeless projects while neighboring cities were not so burdened, according to news reports.
In announcing the filing of the lawsuit, Bonta said the state would take the steps necessary to ensure that cities do their fair share to deal with the state’s homeless problems.
“Despite receiving several warnings, the city of Norwalk has refused to repeal its unlawful ban on new supportive housing for our most vulnerable residents,” Bonta said in a prepared statement. “Enough is enough. Every city and county in California has a legal obligation to help solve our homelessness crisis. We have not, and will not hesitate, to ensure that everyone with the power to approve or disapprove housing takes their duties seriously.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom called Norwalk’s moratorium inexcusable and added that “no community should turn its back on its residents in need.”
Cities that enact “urgency zoning ordinances” to exempt themselves from state housing laws must provide written findings that they face an “immediate threat to the public health, safety or welfare,” Bonta said.
The five-member City Council passed its first urgency ordinance in August with no factual support that shelter projects for the homeless were causing a “deleterious” threat to the community, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit seeks an order finding that the city’s urgency ordinance and moratorium are invalid, suspension of the city’s nonresidential permitting powers, a declaration that Norwalk is in violation of six statutes and reimbursement for court costs and attorney fees.