CalHDF Press Release:
March 5, 2025 — The City of La Cañada Flintridge has asked the Second District Court of Appeal to dismiss its pending appeal in California Housing Defense Fund v. City of La Cañada Flintridge (L.A. Sup. Ct. No. 23STCP02614 and 2DCA No. B338985), a closely-watched land-use case that represents the first test of the “builder’s remedy” in California’s Housing Accountability Act. The City moved to dismiss its appeal eight days after CalHDF submitted its Respondents’ Brief in the court of appeal and four days after the trial court ordered the City to post a $14 million appellate bond. Rather than posting the bond and responding to the arguments in CalHDF’s brief, the City has indicated it will drop its appeal and comply with the trial court’s orders by processing a housing developer’s application to build an 80-unit apartment project (“Project”) located at 600 Foothill Boulevard.
The 600 Foothill Project will be the first multifamily housing constructed in the City in decades. Twenty percent of the Project’s apartments will be reserved for low-income residents, providing the only below-market-rate housing options in the entire City.
La Cañada Flintridge has tried for years to block the Project, despite a legal obligation to accommodate the City’s fair share of new housing development. “This project aligns with the City’s own housing policies, yet La Cañada Flintridge is spending significant taxpayer dollars to prevent it,” explains Dylan Casey, CalHDF’s Executive Director. “For too long, cities have set ambitious housing goals while actively working against their realization.” Now, rather than continuing to waste taxpayer money fighting housing, the City is finally accepting the need for change.
The 600 Foothill Project takes advantage of the “builder’s remedy,” a controversial provision of the Housing Accountability Act (“HAA”) that allows housing developers to exceed local zoning standards when a city’s “Housing Element”—essentially a long-range plan for expanding the supply of housing—is legally deficient. The trial court previously found that La Cañada Flintridge’s Housing Element was deficient, and that the City therefore violated the HAA when it refused to issue permits for the 600 Foothill Project. Now that the City has dismissed its appeal, it must set aside its previous disapproval of the Project and process the developer’s permit application in accordance with state law. CalHDF’s legal victory confirms that the HAA’s “builder’s remedy” is a valuable tool for combatting California’s housing shortage and provides a model for builder’s remedy projects throughout the state to follow. CalHDF was represented in the litigation by Staff Attorney Nicholas Eckenwiler, as well as Alex Gourse and Lisa Ells of Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP.
Selected Media
This wealthy California city just flirted with bankruptcy to avoid new housing, San Francisco Chronicle, March 6, 2025
City backs down after court orders $14 million bond in housing dispute, Daily Journal, March 7, 2025
California city abandons battle over affordable housing, Law360, March 7, 2025
La Canada Flintridge abandons builder’s remedy appeal, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, March 7, 2025