“On Tuesday, April 4, myself, Mayor Pro Tem Van Der Mark, Council Member Burns, and Council Member McKeon voted against the requirement to sign a Statement of Overriding Considerations stating, “the benefits of the proposed high density housing outweigh the substantial and unavoidable negative impacts to the City’s environment,” resulting in the proposed Housing Element to not be adopted. As expressed during the City Council meeting, we could not, in good conscience, go along with such a statement.  Doing so would not only betray the voters who put me in office to fight for local zoning control, but also contradict my beliefs in favor of the State’s forced unconstitutional housing mandates.  This goes against what I was elected to do, which is to speak freely and vote freely in the best interests of the community that I serve.

As I have mentioned before, the State Auditor released a scathing report in 2022 of the California Department of Housing and Community Development’s (HCD) Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) determination methods and conclusions. The HCD’s flawed RHNA process brings into question the 13,368 units mandated for Huntington Beach, and I cannot, in good conscience, vote in favor of the RHNA mandate for the zoning of these units to be imposed on Huntington Beach. The State’s high density housing demands should not preempt the City Council’s Charter City authority to make local zoning decisions. To that end, myself and the City Council majority voted to file a lawsuit in Federal Court challenging this entire process.  

Many in favor of passing these State housing mandates have said that the City is already experiencing consequences for not acting in conformity with State’s demands.  In fact, the Voice of OC reported that the City of Huntington Beach is now experiencing the consequence of “builder’s remedy,” in which certain developments may side-step the City’s zoning requirements. This statement is incorrect – the City’s Community Development Department has confirmed there are currently no projects being developed in Huntington Beach, nor applications submitted invoking “builder’s remedy,” also known as California Gov. Code, Section 65589.5(d)(5). All existing development projects are consistent with the City’s zoning and land use designations for the locations they are in. The fears expressed that “builder’s remedy” has occurred in response to the City Council’s Housing Element vote on April 4 are unjustified, as the vote has not led to any negative consequence in the City.” – Mayor Tony Strickland