California is looking to hit Huntington Beach with another round of hefty fines after regulators determined the coastal Republican stronghold still hasn’t fully complied with the state’s housing laws — despite the city rushing to adopt a new housing plan this summer.
State officials filed a new request Sept. 8 arguing the city has yet to satisfy the conditions that would allow it to escape penalties imposed over its long-running housing fight with Sacramento, the Orange County Register reported.
The latest battle comes just months after Orange County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal ordered the city to pay $10,000 a month in penalties dating back to Jan. 1, 2025, totaling $170,000.
Huntington Beach adopted a new housing element in June in an effort to stop the fines from piling up, saying the plan would pave the way for more than 13,000 new housing units by the end of the decade.
But the reprieve could prove short-lived.
Bacal temporarily put the penalties on hold while the California Department of Housing and Community Development reviewed the city’s updated plan.
The judge warned the fines could come roaring back — and that additional penalties could be imposed — if state regulators found that Huntington Beach had not substantially complied with the law.
Now, California says that is exactly what happened.
In an Aug. 18 letter cited in the state’s latest court filing, HCD said Huntington Beach had not completed the zoning changes necessary to bring its housing element into compliance.
The state bluntly argued that without enforceable zoning changes, the city’s newly adopted housing plan amounts to little more than a promise on paper.
California is asking the court to reinstate a $50,000-a-month penalty — the same amount previously set by Bacal if Huntington Beach failed to meet its May 28 deadline.
The money would be directed to a state housing trust that supports 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.
