SANTA ANA, Calif.—A federal judge in Santa Ana March 21 rejected the city of Huntington Beach’s bid for a temporary restraining order preventing the state from enforcing its affordable housing laws.
U.S. District Judge Fred Slaughter ruled that the city would not have any chance of winning on any of the constitutional challenges it filed against the state’s requirements for an affordable housing plan. The emergency restraining order was sought because the city council had the issue on its agenda at Tuesday night’s regular meeting.
“Plaintiffs state that these issues will be decided at the City Council’s March 21, 2023, meeting,” Slaughter wrote. “However, plaintiffs do not sufficiently explain why this meeting date, which plaintiffs appear to have known about for some time, necessitates emergency relief or why the application could not be heard according to regular noticed procedures.”…