Huntington Beach Shady Clowncil Continues to Lose Charter City Lawsuits

[Ranting Randy]

Last edited Fri Jan 2, 2026, 09:09 PM - Edit history (1)

* Huntington Beach Continues to Lose Lawsuits Arguing Charter City Rights “So far, city leaders have lost almost every case they’ve filed arguing their status as a charter city grants them greater local control, with their few victories they’ve gained being overturned on appeal.” 

“San Diego Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal also stipulated in her ruling that until they have a state approved housing plan, they have to green-light most developer projects and can’t try to rezone the properties or drive down the number of housing units.” 

“The City shall not enforce its planning and zoning laws to disapprove or reduce the density of any proposed housing development meeting the minimum densities … on the sites identified by the City to satisfy its obligation to accommodate its regional housing needs allocation,” Bacal wrote. “

It’s unclear how much taxpayers have spent on legal fees in those fights, but their city attorney’s office budget has grown from $2.5 million in the 2021/22 fiscal year to over $4.3 million this year in a city that’s grappling with a budget shortfall.

Last year, it was nearly $4 million

https://voiceofoc.org/2025/12/huntington-beach-continues-to-lose-lawsuits-arguing-charter-city-rights /

Hard to believe, one result may be they have unleashed the developers as a remedy. They are no longer able to block projects with zoning laws. Wonder if this was their original intent?