May 31, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Column: State Usurping Key Powers From Cities

By Tom Elias

All over California last fall, hundreds of the civic minded spent thousands of hours and millions of dollars running for posts on city councils and county boards.

Some of them may now be wondering why they bothered. For over the last three years, state government has gradually usurped almost full jurisdiction over one of the key powers always previously held by locally elected officials: The ability to decide what their city or county will look like and feel like over the next few decades.

That’s done via land use decisions which control how many housing units and commercial sites can be built up in a given time.

Via a series of laws mandating new levels of density everywhere in the state, whether or not they are needed and justified, this key local power now belongs to largely anonymous state officials who know little or nothing about most places whose future they are deciding.

It’s being done through the elimination of single-family, or R-1, zoning. It’s being done via the new requirement that the state Department of Housing and Community Development approve housing elements for every locality. If HCD does not approve such a plan for a city, developers can target it with virtually no limits, if they choose.

It’s all based on a supposed need for at least 1.8 million new housing units touted by HCD. This, despite the fact that the state auditor last spring found that HCD did not properly vet the documents and other instruments on which that estimate was based.

What’s more, only three years earlier, HCD was claiming more than 3.5 million new units were needed. Less than one-eighth that many have risen, yet HCD has cut its need estimate considerably.

And yet… cities and counties must do what they’re told by this demonstrably incompetent agency, or risk lawsuits and big losses in state grants for everything from sewers and road maintenance to police and fire departments. State Attorney General Rob Bonta even set up a new unit in his Justice Department to threaten and pursue noncompliant cities.

This leads localities to approve developments in ways they never did before, including some administrative approvals without so much as the possibility of a public hearing.

It leads to the absurd, as with Atherton trying to get state approval of a plan forcing almost all local homeowners to create “additional dwelling units” on the one-acre lots long required in the city. That’s instead of building almost 400 townhouses or apartments in a town of barely 7,000 persons.

And in Santa Monica, because the city council did not get its housing element approved, developers can probably not be stopped as they make plans for at least 12 large new buildings. So much for bucolic seaside living.

Santa Monica is also an example of a city buckling to state pressure to allow huge projects opposed by most of its citizens, a majority of whom are renters. That city has done nothing to stop or alter the largest development in its history, to be built on a property at a major intersection now occupied by a grocery and several other stores.

Despite heavy community interest, evidenced by the more than 2,000 persons on a Zoom call about the project last winter, the city will hold no public hearings and does not respond to most written communications from its citizens about the development. All because it fears the state will sue if it objects.

Several cities have begun to fight parts of today’s state domination of land use. Four Los Angeles County cities – Redondo Beach, Torrance, Carson and Whittier – are seeking a court order negating the 2021 Senate Bill 9, which allows single family homes to be replaced by as many as six units, with cities unable to nix any such project.

As city councils and county boards see their constituents objecting loudly to much of this scene, it’s inevitable that other lawsuits will follow. No one can predict whether or not courts will find the state Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom have vastly overreached in their power grab, which is all for the sake of increased density and based on unfounded predictions by bureaucrats who answer to no one.

Related Posts

Palisades Village to Reopen in 2026 with Revamped Retail, Dining, and Community Spaces

May 29, 2025

May 29, 2025

Elysewalker Set to Return With Park Reconstruction, Holiday Events, and Streetscape Upgrades Palisades Village, the open-air shopping and lifestyle destination...

County Assessor Stresses Need For Fire-Affected Households to Update Addresses to Receive Relief Checks

May 28, 2025

May 28, 2025

Assessor’s Office Offers Automatic Tax Relief for Fire-Affected Homeowners Following the destruction caused by wildfires earlier this year, the Los...

Brentwood Estate Once Owned by Hollywood A-Listers Finds Buyer in One Week

May 26, 2025

May 26, 2025

The 1929 Mediterranean-Style Home Went Under Contract in Seven Days Celebrity pedigree and classic design helped a 1929 Mediterranean-style estate...

State Farm Seeks New Insurance Rate Hikes for California Homeowners and Renters

May 20, 2025

May 20, 2025

Insurer Aims to Raise Premiums by up to 52% for Some Policyholders by 2026 Just one week after receiving approval...

Hollywood Man Charged in Deadly Attempted Robbery on 3rd Street Promenade

May 19, 2025

May 19, 2025

Santa Monica Police Say Planned After-Hours Sale Turned Violent Hollywood resident Karen Melikyan, 41, has been arrested and charged in...

Elon Musk’s Tesla Renews Santa Monica Lease for 82,000-Square-Foot Service Center

May 18, 2025

May 18, 2025

Tesla Keeps California Roots with Santa Monica Service Center Renewal Despite relocating its corporate headquarters to Texas, Tesla has reaffirmed...

Brentwood Man Convicted of Stalking New Jersey Judge with Threatening Emails

May 18, 2025

May 18, 2025

Resident Found Guilty of Months-Long Campaign of Harassment Brentwood resident Jonathan Lipman, 36, was convicted Thursday of a federal felony...

Hollywood Park to Add Movie Studio and Olympic Broadcast Center in 2028

May 18, 2025

May 18, 2025

Studio Will Serve as International Broadcast Center for LA28 Games Hollywood Park, the massive 300-acre mixed-use development led by Los...

Mega Producer Quincy Jones’ Custom-Built Bel Air Estate Lists for $59.995 Million

May 18, 2025

May 18, 2025

Music Icon’s 25,000-Square-Foot Mansion, Inspired by a South African Palace The Bel Air estate of the late music legend Quincy...

Beverly Hills Claims Two Spots on April’s List of Most Expensive U.S. Home Sales

May 18, 2025

May 18, 2025

Real Estate Report Shows LA Leads in Active Listings Over $135 Million Two of the 10 most expensive homes sold...

Pico-Robertson’s Cardinal du Vin Pairs Sake with Charcuterie This Saturday

May 15, 2025

May 15, 2025

LA.’s Moon Bloom Sake to Pour Premium Small-Batch Varieties Wine bar and bistro Cardinal du Vin will present a special...

State Farm Wins Emergency Approval to Raise Insurance Rates After Alleged $7 Billion Wildfire Loss

May 13, 2025

May 13, 2025

California Regulators Approve Interim Premium Hikes for Homeowners, Renters, and Landlords Citing extraordinary wildfire-related losses, State Farm has been granted...

Century City Office Tower Nears Full Occupancy With New Lease by Artists First

May 11, 2025

May 11, 2025

Talent Agency Relocates to a Newly Revamped Century City Tower Talent management and production firm Artists First has signed a...

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck Slash Price on Beverly Hills Megamansion

May 11, 2025

May 11, 2025

Celebrity Couple’s Former Estate Hits the Market Again at $59.95 Million Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck have lowered the price...

Brentwood Luxury Home Market Booms as Petra Ecclestone Lists $41.95M Estate

May 11, 2025

May 11, 2025

Formula One Heiress’ Home Hits the Market After Fires Impact Local Community Petra Ecclestone and Sam Palmer have listed their...