The San Francisco-headquartered housing advocacy group YIMBY Law has filed a lawsuit against California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Executive Order that suspended SB 9 development in Los Angeles County areas impacted earlier this year by catastrophic wildfires.
SB 9, passed by the California Legislature and signed into law in 2021, allows property owners in qualifying single-family neighborhoods to split lots and build up to two homes and two Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on what was previously a single parcel. The law was designed to reduce regulatory barriers while adding new housing in markets where it is lacking.
Newsom’s Executive Order was issued in July, and YIMBY Law stated it was “an unprecedented move, making it harder and more expensive to rebuild.” The organization noted that many homeowners in the fire-impacted areas were underinsured and only have the value of their land to put toward rebuilding, to split their lots and sell unused land, or build ADUs and duplexes. YIMBY Law added the Executive Order makes it “nearly impossible for low-income and working-class people to return to and live in these communities.”
YIMBY Law’s suit asserts these the Executive Order violates the California Emergency Services Act, arguing that emergency powers can only be used to mitigate ongoing disasters, not to suspend laws preemptively for speculative future crises, and cannot be delegated carte blanche to localities.
“The scale of loss was all-encompassing, and we need to make it easier and more equitable to rebuild,” said Sonja Trauss, executive director of YIMBY Law. “Families of all types are struggling to return to their communities. Most homeowners were under-insured, and now rents are spiking, land values are falling, and rebuilding costs are astronomical. Making it harder for families to use the single most impactful tool they have left––their land––doesn’t make recovery safer. It raises the barrier of who gets to come back at all.”
Newsom did not publicly comment on the lawsuit.
Photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons
This man either does not give a rat’s rear about the people he claims to represent or is dumber than a box of rocks – or both. I vote BOTH.
Most of this article is hyperbole BS. The fact that many and I really have a hard time thinking most homeowners in the fire devastated areas were under-insured. If you have a mortgage then the lender will require a homeowners policy. If they didn’t have a mortgage and didn’t carry a fire policy then that was their fault. Most insurance companies have policy coverage that are close to replacement costs. There is an insurance option to guaranty reproduction new or replacement costs if the house is under-insured too. The ADU (accessory dwelling unit) allowances came about 10 years ago thru legislative action and zoning exemptions. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA & VA all accept a smaller dwelling unit addition to a single family home in their loan products. Multi-family or duplex style building on a single family zoned lot is another question. They could have paired single family homes with a common wall but yet are on separate deeds and lots. If there is an allowance to split lots into 2 parcels then the local zoning should have priority on its allowance. Usually a variance of standards can be awarded if the older zoning codes for that lot have not been recently amended and surrounding owners have little to no objections. The neighbors and neighborhood is notified of the request for building variances. They become remonstrators in the variance procedure. This silly organization wants to flip all local zoning codes on their head in the name of housing affordability and another low income advantage over others in certain areas.
If you want something from Newsom, it’s not complicated.
Bribe him.
Just donate to his political fund.
He believes he is entitled to the Presidency and California is already in his rear-view mirror.