ELK GROVE, Calif. — Elk Grove has agreed to a settlement with California after violating state law by denying a supportive housing project.
The announcement came Wednesday at a press conference with Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The city will now undergo additional state monitoring for future compliance, identify and rezone a new site for affordable housing development, and pay $150,000 in state attorneys’ fees.
“We can’t solve California’s homelessness crisis without creating new housing and supportive services," said Newsom. "Elk Grove is not immune to this challenge, and the city's decision to block these efforts — wasting valuable time and resources — is especially shameful. We expect Elk Grove to follow the law — continued refusal will not be tolerated."
Elk Grove released a statement about the legal settlement.
"Elk Grove is proud of the role it has played as a leader in the development of affordable housing in the region," Elk Grove said in a statement. "The city is hopeful that in the future the State will work more collaboratively with cities to partner in the development of affordable housing rather than use precious resources in the pursuit of unnecessary litigation."
Democratic State Senator Scott Weiner is the author of Senate Bill 35, the law the state said Elk Grove violated. The law streamlines construction of affordable housing in areas where there is not enough. Weiner applauded the the state for filing a lawsuit and enforcing the law.
“A large majority of cities are really making good faith efforts to follow the law and those are never going to result in lawsuits," Wiener said. "These housing laws, we do not pass them just to be able to say we passed housing laws. We pass them because people are struggling with housing; people cannot afford to live here.”
The governor during the news conference announced he intends to sign Wiener's new bill, SB 1037, which gives the Attorney General's office even more power to enforce state housing laws with fines against cities that commit egregious violations of the law.
TIMELINE
Elk Grove City Council voted down an affordable housing complex for the unhoused in July 2022.
The controversial Oak Rose Apartment project would have brought 67 housing units to an empty lot at 9252 Elk Grove Blvd.
At the time, officials said the project didn’t qualify under a state law meant to streamline housing approvals because it included residential units on the ground floor violating a zoning requirement.
Developers turned around and sued the city in October 2022, and in March 2023, Attorney General Rob Bonta said the city violated state laws. He urged the city to take corrective action and comply with state law, noting the zoning requirement didn’t qualify as an "objective" standard under the law.
Bonta also pointed to another housing project that was approved in the city that included ground floor residential units. The city pushed back against Bonta’s assessment.
The Newsom administration eventually sued the city over the project in May 2023, and the city was supposed to reconsider the project in September 2023. The vote was ultimately postponed.
Elk Grove city officials announced a legal settlement with the developers in February 2024 when they agreed to move the proposed project out of the city’s historic district to 8484 Elk Grove-Florin Road. The settlement with the developers was separate from the state’s legal action.
By May 2024, the city was trying to get out of the lawsuit with California, saying the lawsuit is moot since they settled with developers on a new project. The Attorney General’s Office maintained the city violated state law and “we continue to believe that the law requires accountability.”
Now, in September 2024, the city has reached a settlement with the state.
WATCH PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Elk Grove residents concerned over proposed affordable housing site
