RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

May 2007

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Sixth District Upholds General Plan’s Housing Element Despite Findings by Department of Housing that Plan Did Not Comply with Housing Element Law
Fonseca v. City of Gilroy, ___Cal.App.4th___

This case involves a challenge to the City of Gilroy’s current housing element of its general plan. State law requires local governments to submit their draft housing elements to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The department, in turn, reviews the drafts and makes written findings as to whether the drafts substantially comply with the requirements of the state’s land use and planning statutes. In this case, the DHCD reviewed the city’s draft housing element three times and each time determined that it was in non-compliance with the state’s “housing element law” as codified in the Government Code. Despite the DHCD’s findings, the Sixth District Court of Appeal held that the city’s draft housing element substantially complied with the version of the housing element law that was in place at the time the city adopted its current housing element.