The state sued Elk Grove final yr, alleging that the town unlawfully denied a 67-unit homeless housing improvement in a historic neighborhood regardless of having just lately permitted an identical market-rate improvement in the identical space. Wednesday’s settlement requires the town to determine one other web site in a high-resource neighborhood for low-income housing, settle for state reporting and monitoring necessities for compliance with housing legal guidelines and pay $150,000 in lawyer charges and prices.
The suburban Sacramento neighborhood of 178,000 already had settled with the developer, Excelerate Housing Group, to permit for a separate low-income challenge at a distinct location.
Excelerate first proposed the challenge, Oak Rose Residences, on a vacant web site in 2021 underneath state legal guidelines supposed to streamline the approval of low-income housing in communities behind on mandated housing manufacturing objectives. Underneath strain from close by residents, metropolis officers repeatedly rejected the event, saying it was inconsistent with the character of the historic space, the state’s lawsuit mentioned.
The developer sued the town in 2022 and the state adopted with its personal litigation in Might 2023. Town’s prior settlement with Excelerate referred to as for the developer to desert Oak Rose Residences. However it allowed Excelerate to place ahead an 81-unit low-income challenge, Coral Blossom Residences, on a distinct vacant parcel within the metropolis. Town voted to advance Coral Blossom Residences this summer time.
Elk Grove spokesperson Kristyn Laurence mentioned in a press release that Wednesday’s motion had no impact on the prior settlement with the developer and that the settlement with the state was “without significant impact to the city.”
“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,” Laurence mentioned.
California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta mentioned, regardless of the town’s settlement with Excelerate, the state wanted to implement the legislation towards Elk Grove, given the depths of California’s housing disaster.
“While I am pleased that this is now behind us, and that Elk Grove ultimately approved even more homes for those most in need, the city’s refusal to do the right thing over and over again cannot be swept under the rug,” Bonta mentioned in a press release. “These are not ordinary times.”
