By Bob Egelko
Dec 11, 2025 11:06 a.m.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/huntington-beach-housing-decision-21235532.php
In a long-running battle between the state and local governments over housing, the California Supreme Court required Huntington Beach on Wednesday to approve plans for residences that low-income people could afford in the Orange County community.
Officials in the conservative-led city of 193,000 have argued that local governments, and not the state, should decide the amount and types of housing built within their borders. Federal courts have rejected the city’s challenge to a California law declaring housing shortages to be a matter of “statewide concern,” a ruling that Huntington Beach has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, the state Supreme Court upheld a lower-court order requiring Huntington Beach to follow California laws to approve housing for low-income people — 13,368 housing units when the state sued the city in 2023.
After further court proceedings in Orange County, the city will have 120 days to adopt an affordable-housing plan that complies with state law. If Huntington Beach refuses, state officials can prohibit the city from granting any new building permits.