The Huntington Beach City Council is doubling down on its efforts to limit new housing construction, despite opposition from state officials. The city’s latest notion – to put proposed affordable-housing projects to a public vote – is more defensible than some other policies, but it’s still misguided.
For instance, the city has filed a lawsuit against the state challenging Senate Bills 9 and 10 – new laws that make it easier for builders to construct duplexes and mid-rise condominiums. Despite the GOP majority’s “free-market” principles, its anti-housing lawsuit makes a pure NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) argument about “protecting” the city’s suburban character.
Now, the city is proposing a charter amendment that would require voters to approve any new housing complexes purchased through tax-exempt bonds. Even though the council’s transparent goal is to stop new affordable housing, it makes a reasonable point about the tax effects of these subsidized projects.
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In 2021, City Council approved two apartment-conversion projects that relied on a complex financing scheme. A joint-powers authority buys properties with taxpayer-subsidized bonds purchased through the California Municipal Finance Authority – and then rents out the units based on applicants’ income. The city pays off the bond and then eventually owns the apartment, per a Register report.
This is a counterproductive process that does not increase housing stock. Instead, taxpayers help fund the purchase of existing properties. The city loses property taxes. Cities should not own apartment complexes. The best way to boost affordable housing is to reduce regulations and make it easier for private builders to build what they choose.
Nevertheless, this Editorial Board is leery of putting development proposals on the ballot – an approach that has become a mainstay in liberal no-growth jurisdictions. No one’s property rights should be subject to other people’s vote. There’s an obvious way to stop taxpayer-funded projects: City Council simply needs to vote against them.
Instead of echoing the worst NIMBY policies, Huntington Beach needs to rediscover the value of the marketplace and let private developers build more units in the city while holding the line on any public subsidies.