Californians for Homeownership, a nonprofit organization sponsored by the California Association of Realtors, has filed lawsuits against two SoCal cities under California’s Public Records Act. The suits seek records about local housing policy after the organization’s requests for records were denied by the cities of South Pasadena and Irvine.
The organization aims to address California’s housing crisis through impact litigation.
“Public transparency is critically important in all areas of public decision-making, but especially in the development of sound housing policy,” said CAR President Otto Catrina. “California is in the midst of a housing crisis of historic proportions, and it has never been more important that the public understand how their cities and counties are making decisions that impact access to housing for families at all income levels. These lawsuits will help ensure public access to this important information.”
Californians for Homeownership’s lawsuit against South Pasadena relates to its development of its “housing element,” a state-mandated plan for addressing housing needs within the city. According to CAR, every housing element is required to identify sites where housing is likely to be developed over the next eight years, but South Pasadena has received criticism over its draft list of sites, which includes sites unlikely to ever be redeveloped with housing.
The group began investigating South Pasadena’s plans in 2020 and reportedly sent the city several public records requests, most of which were denied. City officials allegedly claimed that the public interest is best served by keeping the city’s internal process for developing its housing element secret.
The suit argues, however, that these records are vitally important to allow residents, nonprofit organizations and the state Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to assess the city’s sites list with the benefit of all the same information that the city has about the sites it has listed.
The lawsuit against the city of Irvine relates to the city’s policies governing accessory dwelling units, or ADUs. Under California state law, nearly every homeowner has the right to develop an ADU alongside their main home. However, these ADU laws have faced opposition from some local government officials, including in Irvine.
According to the suit, Irvine officials originally planned to pass a local ordinance that would have limited ADUs but backed down after Californians for Homeownership threatened litigation.
The organization is currently also considering another lawsuit against the city of South Pasadena over its failure to adopt its housing element by the state-mandated deadline of October 2021.