Huntington Beach city council members voted Monday night to put a charter amendment on November’s ballot that opponents say would allow officials to cite environmental concerns in trying to fend off state housing mandates.Councilmembers Natalie Moser, Dan Kalmick and Rhonda Bolton, said in a statement that the charter amendment itself was “poorly drafted and likely unenforceable suggesting its true aim is to evade state housing laws.
Councilmember Casey McKeon said the ballot measure stemmed from when the majority of the council was voted in last year and were then “forced to zone for the state mandated 13,368 housing units.” The language on the ballot measure states that “city planning and zoning is a local municipal affair beyond the reach of state control or interference, a local activity reserved for the city and its people, not the state.” If approved, the new law would require residents to vote on any"city-initiated" change to the city's zoning or general plan that could negatively affect the environment.
“I personally believe it's too important to be left up to a majority of four council members and so this proposal...puts it back into the hands of the residents and voters who this will affect,” he said.
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