By MARISA KENDALL
In a win for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration, a newly inked courtroom deal would force the Southern California city of Norwalk to reverse its citywide ban on homeless shelters.
The legal settlement marks the end of a year-long battle between the governor and the city in Los Angeles County. If a judge in Los Angeles Superior Court approves the deal, Norwalk also will have to put $250,000 toward the development of new affordable housing in the city.
The fight started when Norwalk approved a ban on emergency shelters, supportive housing and several businesses that predominantly serve low-income residents, such asg liquor stores, discount stores, laundromats and payday loan establishments. In response, Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta sued the city in November.
Newsom today called the city’s refusal to support housing for its homeless residents “inexcusable.”
“No community should turn its back on its residents in need – especially while there are people in your community sleeping on the streets,” he said in a statement. “No city is exempt from doing their part to solve the homelessness crisis.”
A spokesperson for Norwalk said the ban was a temporary moratorium designed to address problems with past homeless shelter projects.
“Too often, cities have seen homeless programs rushed into place without adequate safeguards, accountability, or coordination,” spokesperson Levy Sun said in a statement. “That approach fails both the unhoused and the broader community.
In a memo to council members last year, city staff wrote that shelters and homeless housing could have “detrimental effects” on the community, potentially causing “over proliferation,” noise and economic impacts, and harming property maintenance and security. Then-Mayor Margarita Rios previously told CalMatters the city passed the moratorium after frustrations mounted over a state-funded Project Roomkey hotel that housed homeless residents during the pandemic.
The ban also blocked Los Angeles County’s plans to turn a hotel in Norwalk into homeless housing.
Newsom’s administration has made a recent effort to ramp up enforcement against cities it says are not doing their share to combat the state’s affordable housing crisis. Last year, the administration settled a lawsuit against Elk Grove in Sacramento County over the city’s denial of a housing project and got a court order forcing Huntington Beach in Orange County to follow state housing law. Newsom launched a Housing Accountability Unit in 2021 to hold cities to goals mandated in state housing plans.
“If any city or county wants to test our resolve, today’s settlement is your answer,” Bonta said in a statement about the Norwalk case. “All of us have a legal and moral responsibility to help — not hurt — those struggling to keep a roof over their heads or lacking housing altogether.”
