Newsom warns Norwalk to end its ban on homeless shelters & support housing

September 16, 2024

Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday threatened a possible lawsuit against Norwalk, urging city officials to reverse its adopted moratorium on emergency shelters, supportive and transitional housing for the homeless.

Norwalk adopted an ordinance in August to ban the establishments of emergency shelters and transitional housing.

“It is unfathomable that as our state grapples with a homelessness crisis, Norwalk would pass an ordinance banning the building of homeless shelters,” Newsom said in a statement. “We can’t leave people in dangerous and unsanitary encampments — the city of Norwalk needs to do its part to provide people with shelter and services.”

The Department of Housing and Community Development today sent a Notice of Violation to the city of Norwalk for the city’s unlawful ban on the development of new homeless shelters and other housing sites. Governor Newsom cites the city’s move as counterproductive and immoral as the state continues to address the decades-long homelessness crisis.

The Norwalk City Council adopted the urgency ordinance on Aug. 6 to put a moratorium on a number of establishments, including emergency shelters, single-room occupancy, supportive housing and transitional housing.

While the city council noted the city’s power to make and enforce ordinances to regulate the use of land within its jurisdictional boundaries when it passed the ordinance, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development sent a notice of violation letter to Mayor Margarita Rios and other officials, saying the ordinance is “unlawful.”

The state said the city has not done enough to ban homeless shelters and other facilities when there were nearly 170 people estimated to be unhoused in the city.

Although Norwalk passed the moratorium based on the Housing Crisis Act, which allows local governments to issue a housing or facility ban when there’s “an imminent threat” to public health and safety, the state argued in the letter that “there are no findings of a threat specific to the housing subject to the moratorium, nor any finding of a citywide threat.”

In addition, Norwalk has failed to meet its housing goals as required by state law. The city has only issued permits for 175 units during this housing element cycle, a mere 3.5% of its 5,034 assigned Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), or the number of units required to ensure that communities have enough housing.

“The City of Norwalk’s disingenuous moratorium equates badly needed homes for people struggling the most with liquor stores and payday loans,” said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. “In doing so, they are harming their own community and blatantly violating a myriad of state housing laws. The only option is to repeal the moratorium and move past this regrettable episode.”

The Notice of Violation warns that if Norwalk does not reverse course, HCD may refer the matter to the Attorney General’s Office for litigation and may revoke housing element compliance. HCD found the housing element in compliance in November 2023. Norwalk has until September 23 to respond.

“At a time when many Californians are struggling to keep a roof over their heads or lack housing altogether, banning new emergency shelters and new supportive housing not just defies common sense — it is unlawful,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Norwalk’s residents — indeed all Californians — should be outraged. If necessary, my office stands ready to take legal action against Norwalk.”

With the notice of violation, the state implied the Los Angeles County city with the population of 100,000 could face the same fate as Anaheim and Huntington Beach. The two Orange County cities were forced to bring forward new housing plans after they lost lawsuits brought on by the state in similar fashion.