Pro-housing group sues Newsom over duplex law…
A professional-housing group sued Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday over his resolution to prohibit SB 9, a housing law that permits homeowners to parcel up their properties, in the wake of the January fires.
YIMBY Law, a San Francisco-based group, alleges that Newsom’s govt order over the summer season permitting cities to droop SB 9 is a constitutional overreach and violates the California Emergency Services Act, which states that emergency powers can be utilized only to mitigate ongoing disasters, not potential ones.
It’s the latest chapter in the battle over how a lot density needs to be allowed in the rebuilding of fire-stricken communities such as Altadena and Pacific Palisades.
Proponents of SB 9, a 2021 state law that permits householders to cut up single-family tons into as many as 4 properties, say it’s a helpful instrument to handle the housing disaster by including density. They also say it’s a useful resource for fire victims hoping to promote their properties, since land that may be subdivided is more helpful than a single-family lot.
Critics say that the density afforded by SB 9 would destroy the character of single-family neighborhoods while also slowing down evacuations in fire-prone areas by packing in more properties and residents.
Newsom sided with the critics in July, signing an govt order permitting L.A.-area governments to droop SB 9. Many took him up on the offer immediately, including Mayor Karen Bass, as effectively as officers in Pasadena, Malibu and L.A. County. All are named in the lawsuit along with Newsom.
“SB 9 adds housing and flexibility,” said YIMBY Law Executive Director Sonja Trauss. “We want everyone to be able to rebuild, but suspending SB 9 devalues those properties.”
Trauss said many fire victims are underinsured and at present deciding whether or not it’s financially doable to rebuild. For many, a helpful option can be to use SB 9 to divide the lot into two, then promote one and use the money to construct on the other.
She added that the transfer appeared out of step with Newsom’s other initiatives in the wake of the fires, including streamlining the allowing course of for single-family properties and ADUs.
“If you want to build a 3,000-square-foot house and a 700-square-foot ADU, it’s easier. But if you want to build two homes as a duplex, it’s harder,” Trauss said. “It’s baffling.”
A spokesperson for Newsom defended the transfer in a assertion.
“We will not allow outside groups — even longstanding allies — to attack the Palisades, and communities in the highest fire risk areas throughout L.A. County, or undermine local flexibility after the horror of these fires,” said spokesperson Tara Gallegos. “Our obligation is to survivors, full stop. We will not negotiate that away. If defending them requires drawing firm lines, we will draw them.”
The swimsuit was initially supposed to be filed on Monday, Dec. 8, but was delayed after potential motion from Newsom’s workplace to restore SB 9 in fire areas, a spokesperson for YIMBY Law said.
An settlement was never reached, and the swimsuit was filed on Wednesday.
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