HUNTINGTON BEACH will appeal a court decision of state housing mandates (Shutterstock).

Undaunted by a defeat in the U.S. District of Central California in November, the City of Huntington Beach this week filed an appeal of that court’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging the state’s right to mandate zoning for housing.

At issue are Regional Housing Needs Assessments (RHNA) in which the state assigns a certain number of housing units the each city must zone for, but not necessarily build.

The legal argument being used by the city attorney’s office is that RHNAs are “unconstitutional for many reasons, including that they violate the First Amendment rights of city council members who are charged with exercising their independent judgment in their duties as local legislators,” calling it “compelled speech.”

The appeal now goes to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Michael Gates is the city attorney.