This summer, Gov. Gavin Newsom blocked the construction of duplex apartments in the wildfire-torn community of Pacific Palisades, quelling a rebellion by local homeowners.
Now, he is facing squeeze from development forces.
The San Francisco-based group YIMBY Law is suing public agencies to clear the way for more housing. The group threatened to take Newsom to court after he signed an executive order in July that essentially banned the construction of duplexes in the Palisades and other Los Angeles neighborhoods affected by the January fires.
Sonja Trauss, executive director of YIMBY Law, said that during a last-minute meeting with senior staff in Newsom’s office on Friday, the group agreed not to sue if the governor’s office issues a new order that restores property owners’ ability to build duplexes after a year.
“We made the request and are awaiting their response,” Traus said.
Tara Gallegos, a spokesperson for the governor, said she “cannot confirm” whether Newsom is considering changes to his duplex order.
Whatever the governor does, the potential lawsuit (in draft form reviewed by POLITICO) would reignite a debate over the shape of redevelopment in Los Angeles, which lost 13,000 homes to fires this year. Councilmember Tracy Parker, who represents the Palisades, said the community will continue to resist the developments.
“After what this community just went through, the idea of forcing more people into high fire severity areas shows not sound housing policy but ideological extremism,” Parker said in a statement to POLITICO. “The threat of lawsuits is absolutely tone-deaf to reality.”
At issue is Senate Bill 9, a high-profile 2021 state law that effectively ends a ban on building multiple units on land restricted to single-family homes, which account for the majority of residential properties in California. Under SB 9, property owners could build a duplex on a single-family lot, then subdivide the land and build on both.
When applications for the SB 9 project in Palisades started rolling in this summer, residents were quick to sound the alarm. They worry that the proliferation of duplexes will destroy the character of the neighborhood, which was dominated by single-family homes before the fire, and that increased density will make fences more dangerous. Chaos during the fire on January 7 caused fleeing residents to abandon their cars and walk along key evacuation routes, forcing bulldozers to clear the way for emergency crews.
Parker implored Newsom to take action.
“When SB 9 was enacted into state law, it was never intended to capitalize on a horrific disaster,” Parker wrote in a letter to the governor.
Newsom agreed that widespread use of SB 9 could make evacuations more difficult in future disasters. He issued an executive order allowing local governments to suspend enforcement of the law in areas with the highest fire risk. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass immediately took advantage of the newly granted authority and issued her own order halting future SB 9 projects throughout Pacific Palisades. Leaders in Malibu and Pasadena have followed suit, as have Los Angeles County officials in the limited areas where the order applies in Altadena because much of the community is not officially designated as a very high fire severity area.
Newsom’s decision to side with homeowners runs counter to other efforts he has made during his tenure as governor to speed up housing construction and promote denser development. The order comes weeks after the governor forced historic changes to California’s landmark environmental laws through the Legislature to spur more urban construction.
In this case, YIMBY Law plans to claim that if the lawsuit proceeds, Newsom will cave in to “the communities with the deepest pockets and the loudest voices.” The group argued that the executive order exceeded the emergency powers granted to the governor and violated the power of the state Legislature, which as part of SB 9 would have allowed duplexes to be built in fire zones subject to additional safety standards, according to a draft complaint reviewed by POLITICO.
The draft complaint states that prohibiting SB 9 development “has nothing to do with mitigating the effects of existing emergencies but rather represents a policy choice about where SB 9 projects should be allowed to proceed given the potential for future fires.” “The Legislature has already decided this issue.”
The group believes some victims of January’s wildfires may need the flexibility provided by SB 9 to return to their communities. Andrew Post, a 36-year-old attorney and software developer, is rebuilding after his parents lost their home in the Eaton Fire in Altadena. With limited retirement income and limited insurance payments, Post said his parents are designing their new home to fit half of their land so they can sell the other half if they need money to pay for rebuilding or need long-term medical care if their health deteriorates.
“Without SB 9, my parents in many cases would never have set foot in Altadena again,” Post said.
While SB 9 remains in effect in the Altadena area, Post said Newsom’s order creates uncertainty about the future of local laws that his family’s experience shows is beneficial for fire survivors.
Sue Kohl, president of the Pacific Palisades Community Council, said the environment in Palisades is different. Lots are too small, roads too narrow and windy to accommodate more housing, as January’s grim evacuations showed, she said. Cole said it’s developers, not wildfire survivors, who are pushing for duplexes in neighborhoods.
“I’ve been to countless meetings over the past 11 months,” Cole said. “I’m not saying there aren’t people who don’t want to do it. But I’ve never heard of anyone doing it.”
She urged the governor to reject any projects allowed under SB 9 for the foreseeable future.
“Anyone who comes to Palisades and puts forward the idea of increasing density, whether it’s low-income housing, high-income housing, whatever it is, we will, without a doubt, be strongly opposed to it,” Cole said.
Traus said her organization plans to file a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday if the governor doesn’t take action first.
Since its founding in 2019, YIMBY Law’s housing litigation has frequently targeted Los Angeles. Last year, the group won a case against the city for refusing to provide low-income housing in single-family neighborhoods.