By Sara Libby,Guest Columnist May 17, 2025
https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/article/encinitas-housing-nimbys-20327363.php
City leaders in Encinitas recently voted to support an effort to return control over zoning decisions to local governments. Ariana Drehsler/Special to the S.F. Chronicle
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stays famously tight-lipped about bills making their way through the state Legislature. So it was a surprise this week when he not only endorsed two bills to slash local restrictions that can hold up housing construction — he said he would leapfrog lawmakers altogether and implement them through the budget.
Newsom was not subtle about where he believes the fault for the housing crisis lies: “It is not the state of California that remains the biggest impediment. The obstacle remains at the local level.”
His comments incensed the California League of Cities, which argued, “California cities are not the obstacle.”
But just hours later, a city on the California coast set out to prove Newsom right.
Cheered on by constituents, the City Council of Encinitas, just north of San Diego, voted on Wednesday to support a prospective ballot measure that would amend California’s Constitution by handing control over housing back to localities.
In isolation, Encinitas’ temper tantrum over state mandates won’t make a big difference in the grand scheme of the state’s vast housing crisis.
But as Newsom and state leaders have rightly diagnosed, California is full of Encinitases.
City leaders in Encinitas are fully aware of that, and they emphasized that the key to their effort would be recruiting and joining with other cities that similarly want the ability to block new housing.
Gerry, 79, points to an old photo while sitting in his van on Thursday in Encinitas. Gerry lost his home and has been homeless for years. Homelessness is on the rise in the city. Ariana Drehsler/Special to the S.F. Chronicle
Such obstinacy, while terrible for California’s housing crisis, has proved effective for Encinitas before. Almost immediately after incorporating in the mid-1980s, city leaders declared a moratorium on growth.
In the ensuing decades, Encinitas has arguably earned the distinction of California’s most housing-averse city for its refusals to approve new developments, and for evading state laws meant to force it to do so.
The city has drawn multiple lawsuits over its refusal to follow state housing laws, earning a public rebuke and threat from Attorney General Rob Bonta in 2022 after it denied approval of an apartment project.
Unsurprisingly, the city is now grappling with an exploding homeless population.
Timo, 44, walks to his tent on Thursday. Timo has been homeless for three years and is living in a tent at the beach in Encinitas, where homelessness is rising. Ariana Drehsler/Special to the S.F. Chronicle
At the Wednesday meeting, the Encinitas City Council also debated an update to its homelessness action plan. Some residents argued that providing any services at all is misguided.
One urged the council to start from scratch with a “tough love” approach, including saying “no to city spending on the homeless: food, parking, housing, and building the capacity to do more.” He also asked the council to restrict local charities that serve the unhoused.
That’s not an uncommon sentiment: Last month, an anonymous Instagram account called Save Encinitas Now shared an animated video that depicted a local nonprofit that serves the unhoused as a hand throwing feed to rats.
While it’s not hard to imagine that wealthy residents who don’t want any new housing built also don’t want to endure the indignity of seeing a single homeless person, there’s an obvious flaw in their dual opposition.
If no new homes are built, existing homes will become increasingly inaccessible — thrusting more of their neighbors into homelessness.
“We’ve got a seriously deep political problem between what the state is trying to do to solve a crushing housing shortage and affordability crisis, and the reality on the ground that because cities have been blocking homes for so long, we also have the highest homeless population in the developed world,” said Matthew Lewis, director of communications for California YIMBY. “And these things are directly connected.”
The connection is clear, but many Encinitas leaders and residents continue to dig in their heels.
At another recent City Council meeting where approval of a 448-unit apartment project was being challenged, Encinitas City Council Member Luke Shaffer said in opposition to the project: “(T)here has to be people that are willing to pick up a rifle. … We’re being attacked by an enemy domestic, not foreign: It’s our state.”
The Encinitas City Council voted on May 14, 2025, to support a measure seeking to return control over housing decisions to local governments. Ariana Drehsler for San Francisco Chronicle
At the same meeting, Mayor Bruce Ehlers warned council members that killing the project would almost certainly result in the state de-certifying the city’s housing element, its mandated plan to accommodate new housing. But he, too, still couldn’t resist some rhetorical flourish, and compared the decision to “Sophie’s Choice,” with the state playing the role of the Nazis.
On Wednesday, Ehlers, Shaffer and their colleagues backed the resolution to support a potential statewide ballot measure that would amend California’s Constitution and hand control over housing back to localities.
It was yet another example of how much time some California city leaders are willing to waste on farce instead of focusing on legitimate solutions.
Ironically, Encinitas and its outrageous rhetoric could help the pro-housing cause by persuading state lawmakers that they must take aggressive steps to force cities to accommodate housing.
Encinitas has been targeted by lawsuits and state officials in recent years over its refusal to abide by state housing laws and to approve new developments. Ariana Drehsler/Special to the S.F. Chronicle
“If you point back to who has the power to actually solve this, it is the California state Legislature,” Lewis said. “I think it’s really important that they hear what their local officials are saying and doing as a partial response to the fact that the state has not yet made them do the right thing.”
One Encinitas council member who urged his colleagues to support the local control measure argued, “There’s no reason not to do this. There just literally isn’t — it’s not costing us anything.”
It’s hard to imagine a more off-base assessment.
California’s housing crisis has cost the state far too much already. And thanks to cities like Encinitas, the price tag just keeps going up.
Reach Sara Libby: sara.libby@sfchronicle.com
May 17, 2025
Guest Columnist
Sara Libby previously served as managing editor of Voice of San Diego, where she focused on government accountability, public records access and police misconduct. She also worked as an associate editor at Talking Points Memo, where she led coverage of the 2012 presidential election, and as deputy politics editor at Politico. She is a graduate of the USC Annenberg School of Journalism.