CA metropolis to repeal ban on homeless shelters after Newsom sues

By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters

This story was initially revealed by CalMatters. Sign up for his or her newsletters.

In a win for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, a newly inked courtroom deal would pressure the Southern California metropolis of Norwalk to reverse its citywide ban on homeless shelters.

The authorized settlement marks the tip of a year-long battle between the governor and the town in Los Angeles County. If a decide in Los Angeles Superior Court approves the deal, Norwalk additionally should put $250,000 towards the event of latest reasonably priced housing within the metropolis.

The battle began when Norwalk authorized a ban on emergency shelters, supportive housing and a number of other companies that predominantly serve low-income residents, such asg liquor shops, low cost shops, laundromats and payday mortgage institutions. In response, Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the city in November. 

Newsom at the moment known as the town’s refusal to assist housing for its homeless residents “inexcusable.”

“No community should turn its back on its residents in need – especially while there are people in your community sleeping on the streets,” he mentioned in a press release. “No city is exempt from doing their part to solve the homelessness crisis.”

A spokesperson for Norwalk mentioned the ban was a short lived moratorium designed to handle issues with previous homeless shelter tasks. 

“Too often, cities have seen homeless programs rushed into place without adequate
safeguards, accountability, or coordination,” spokesperson Levy Sun mentioned in a press release. “That method fails each the unhoused and the broader neighborhood.

In a memo to council members final yr, metropolis employees wrote that shelters and homeless housing might have “detrimental effects” on the neighborhood, probably inflicting “over proliferation,” noise and financial impacts, and harming property upkeep and safety. Then-Mayor Margarita Rios beforehand informed CalMatters the town handed the moratorium after frustrations mounted over a state-funded Project Roomkey resort that housed homeless residents throughout the pandemic. 

The ban additionally blocked Los Angeles County’s plans to show a resort in Norwalk into homeless housing.

Newsom’s administration has made a current effort to ramp up enforcement in opposition to cities it says aren’t doing their share to fight the state’s reasonably priced housing disaster. Last yr, the administration settled a lawsuit in opposition to Elk Grove in Sacramento County over the town’s denial of a housing challenge and obtained a court docket order forcing Huntington Beach in Orange County to comply with state housing legislation. Newsom launched a Housing Accountability Unit in 2021 to carry cities to objectives mandated in state housing plans.

“If any city or county wants to test our resolve, today’s settlement is your answer,” Bonta mentioned in a press release in regards to the Norwalk case. “All of us have a legal and moral responsibility to help — not hurt — those struggling to keep a roof over their heads or lacking housing altogether.”

This article was initially revealed on CalMatters and was republished beneath the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.