CITY OF
AGENDA REPORT
DATE: June 9, 2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
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FROM: Joe Pradetto, Director of Govemmental Affairs '
Item No.
7 SUBJECT: Authorize the Mayor to Send a Letter Opposing State Housing Mandates RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council authorize the Mayor to send a letter to Governor Newsom opposing the proliferation of state housing mandates and advocating for local land use control.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
The City of Yucaipa, a historically rural community of over 54,000 residents, has faced significant challenges due to recent state housing laws, including SB 9 (Atkins, 2021), SB 423 (Weiner, 2024), SB 4 (Weiner, 2024), and the proposed SB 79 (Wiener). These laws have overridden local zoning and general plans, promoting high -density development in areas incompatible with Yucaipa's rural character and safety needs, particularly in high fire hazard zones.
The Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) imposes unrealistic targets, and the housing element approval process, coupled with penalties like the Builder's Remedy, further limits local control. These policies have failed to deliver affordable housing while eroding the community's identity and endangering public safety.
The City of Chino has decided to voice its concerns related to the proliferation of state housing mandates in a letter to Governor Newsom dated April 23, 2025.
There is strength in numbers, and the attached letter to Governor Newsom outlines Yucaipa's position, emphasizing the need to restore local land use authority to protect the community's rural identity and ensure safe, responsible growth. Sending this letter will demonstrate Yucaipa's unified stance and strengthen the collective voice of California cities advocating for local control.
The letter aligns with the City's ongoing efforts to balance growth with the preservation of its unique character and safety priorities.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The recommendation does not result in a fiscal impact.
Attachment(s):
1. Draft letter to Governor Newsom
2. Letter from City of Chino to Governor Newsom
Approved by:
ATTACHMENT 1
June 9, 2025
The Honorable Gavin Newsom
California State Capitol
1021 0 Street, Suite 9000
California, CA 95814
Dear Governor Newsom,
I write to express concern over the proliferation of state housing laws that have eroded local control, disregarded our state -certified housing plans, and threatened the unique rural identity of our community.
We stand in solidarity with the City of Chino and many other municipalities across California in asking the state to restore land use authority to cities and counties.
Yucaipa, a historically rural community of over 54,000 residents, has long been defined by its open spaces, equestrian trails, and small-town character. Our residents cherish this identity, which has been preserved through decades of thoughtful local planning to concentrate development in areas where amenities are readily available and preserve more natural features as proper stewards of our land. However, recent state housing laws have overridden our general plan and local zoning regulations, forcing incompatible development into areas ill -suited for such growth.
First, the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the Southern California Association of Government (SCAG) region had imposed such unrealistic targets that failed to account for our, among others, community's unique geography and environmental constraints. It was known from the onset that there was not even the labor force to build the housing disproportionally allocated to Southern California, much less what the market could sustain. As the City has argued before, this meant failure for the region right from the start. But the City undertook the daunting task to develop and adopt a Housing Element and earnestly planned for the drastic increase and expeditated schedule needed for the RHNA.
However, despite our efforts and programs to meet the needs, we continue to face a flurry of new onerous laws that change the landscape and that essentially render our prior effort useless. New state laws, as well as continuous modifications or duplicative efforts from the different legislative chambers have removed the ability to objectively determine if these laws are successful. Rather than trying to find out what is and is not working, we are making a complicated web of requirements that are difficult for us as elected representatives to understand, difficult for our constituents to understand, and increasing the workload for staff to navigate, especially with the ever-increasing pitfalls should they miss a detail.
Beyond the rapid approach and clumsy barrage of never-ending new requirements, these unworkable solutions have not promoted good planning nor delivered the affordable housing they promise as housing costs spiral out of control. Of particular concern is the encroachment of denser housing, either through unique legislative exceptions or through substantive expansions of prior programs, into areas that are better suited for Lower -density development without any sort of discretion. The state's one -size -fits -all mandates are pushing housing into areas with limited resources and infrastructure, including fire -prone areas, endangering lives and property without the ability to comprehensive plan ahead. The various development carveouts for sites owned by specific groups that can now have high density, especially without nearly enough consideration for the site's context, is not effective land planning. These policies not only City of Yucaipa
34272 Yucaipa Blvd, Yucaipa, CA 92399
909-797-2489
undermine our ability to protect public safety but also erode the rural character that had made Yucaipa a desirable place to live.
As part of the new housing opportunities that have been now granted because of updated state laws, or may be granted with upcoming laws, there are also challenges to communities to meet the infrastructure obligations to facilitate the development. The continued increase in density, the additional exemptions from Development Impact Fees and/or reductions of what can be used, means that cities have less resources to make sure new development can occur while maintaining the solvency of those jurisdictions.
Further, a challenge specific to Yucaipa is the demand for higher density housing to meet our low and very -low-income housing — the taller structures that can meet the requisite densities means that the City needs to have an aerial ladder fire truck without impacting the citywide ISO score. However, this type of equipment is not a cheap endeavor— it is a multimillion -dollar upfront purchase with a million dollar increase in staffing cost. The residential project that would necessitate that equipment would not sustain the cost.
To be fair, not every law has been a detriment. The prioritization towards objective standards means that developers will know the rules before they begin, and that the process is transparent for all parties — the public and developers alike — which reduces political pressure in the project review process. However, the new state laws are providing many opportunities to skirt City requirements that it seems fruitless to even develop standards. Again, we have been unable to determine if prior efforts can be successful because the rules change before there is an opportunity to test them.
Despite all these new housing laws, we continue to avoid the elephant in the room — CEQA reform. The fact remains that the process is weaponized, and good projects are often collateral damage. The heaps of new housing laws address CEQA in convoluted manner and simply stay within the periphery of the law.
While SB 607 is meant to provide some direction, we are still missing the mark according to those entrenched in the process.
Another suggestion is to look inward — many state agencies work contrary to the state's housing goals with onerous regulations and requirements. Rather than continue to erode the City's ability to govern, which has resulted in a more challenging environment for civil discourse between residents, council members, commissioners, developers, and staff, the burden should be better shared.
We echo the sentiments of the City of Chino and other municipalities in opposing legislation that diminishes local discretion. The state's approach has sidelined our residents' voices, ignored our carefully crafted plans, and jeopardized our community's safety and identity. We urge you to reconsider this top - down approach and work collaboratively with cities to address the housing crisis in ways that respect local conditions and priorities.
Sincerely,
Jon Thorp
Mayor
CC: Senator Rosalice Ochoa-Bogh,
Assemblyman Greg Wallis
League of California Cities
City of Yucaipa
34272 Yucaipa Blvd, Yucaipa, CA 92399
909-797-2489
ATTACHMENT 2
EUNICE M. ULLOA
Mayor
CURTIS BURTON
Mayor Pro Tem
CITY of CHINO
April 23, 2025
The Honorable Governor Gavin Newsom
California State Capitol
10210 Street, Suite 9000
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: HOUSING LAW
Dear Governor Newsom,
KAREN C. COMSTOCK
CHRISTOPHER FLORES
MARC LUCIO
Council Members
DR. LINDA REICH
City Manager
On behalf of the residents, businesses, and stakeholders of the City of Chino, I write to firmly oppose the relentless proliferation of state housing laws that have overridden local control without regard for State - certified housing plans, effectively sidelining the voices of our community and undermining years of responsible local planning.
The City of Chino is a growing community of over 95,000 people. Our progress has been shaped by our philosophy of "smart growth," which has allowed us to retain the small-town feel that has defined our community for generations. It's the reason why more young families are choosing our community to grow and thrive, and the decades of dutiful planning that has crafted our community into one of the most desirable cities in the Inland Empire.
Since the elimination of redevelopment agencies (RDAs) in 2012, our City's ability to retain local control over development has been chipped away year after year by a litany of housing bills designed to increase ministerial or by -right housing approval processes. While the City of Chino respects the pursuit of housing production amid a statewide crisis, the way forward is to work with cities to allow for growth in ways that make sense for their communities. Instead, cities have been virtually shut out of the process, and these new laws have diminished general plans, stripped away authority over local development, and left community members demanding answers from their local elected officials.
The Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA), a distribution of housing units assigned to every California city, is an impossible number to attain that will not lead to the level of increased housing growth that it intends. The rigorous process of getting a housing element approved by the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has left cities vulnerable to draconian penalties such as loss of grant funding and the Builder's Remedy. Most importantly, the laws are not providing affordable housing as intended.
g9,
13220 Central Avenue, Chino, California 91710
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 667, Chino, California 91708-0667 (909) 334-3250 • (909) 334-3720 Fax
Web Site: www.citvofchino.ora
Hon. Gavin Newsom
April 23, 2025, p.2
Local control continues to be undermined by a slew of new bills each year. These bills override general plans, ignore local zoning and land use plans, and steadily erode the ability of residents and their local representatives to shape the future of their communities. Despite Chino's opposition —as well as that of the League of California Cities and other municipalities statewide —we have been inundated with legislation that further limits our ability to plan for growth responsibly. SB 423 (Weiner, 2024), which significantly expanded ministerial approvals for affordable housing projects; SB 4 (Weiner, 2024), which requires a housing development project to be a "use by right" on land owned by an independent institution of higher education or a religious institution; and SB 9 (Atkins, 2021), which allows homeowners to subdivide their lots and add up to two duplexes in most single-family neighborhoods, are just a small example of how the new laws diminish local control.
This year, many onerous bills have been introduced that will impose additional state housing dictates on issues of critical local significance. One such example, SB 79 (Wiener), defies cities' general plans and grants transit agencies unlimited land use authority on property they own or on which they have a permanent easement, regardless of the distance from a transit stop. Transit agencies would have the power to determine all aspects of development, including height, density, and design, without regard to local zoning or planning regulations.
And yet, housing prices are still spiraling out of control. It is imperative that we raise the question of how the state plans to evaluate these housing policies when the intended outcomes are currently not being achieved.
As Mayor of Chino, I have heard from my constituents, as well as local officials in neighboring cities, about the effects of these new housing laws. Our communities are suffering, and Sacramento has regrettably turned a blind eye to the effects these laws have had on cities across California.
The time to act is now. I ask that you meet with me and the City of Chino so we can work together on a sustainable, reasonable process that addresses this decades -in -the -making housing crisis while keeping cities in the conversation and allowing us to grow in ways that include local discretion and public engagement. Please contact Deputy City Manager Vivian Castro at [email protected] or 909-334- 3307 to schedule a meeting. Thank you.
Sincerely, 514
Eunice Ulloa
Mayor
cc: Senator Scott Weiner
Senator Susan Rubio
Assemblymember Michelle Rodriguez
Assemblymember Phillip Chen
League of California Cities