California Attorney General Rob Bonta Monday, Nov. 4, announced that the state of California has filed a lawsuit against the city of Norwalk over its passage of an ordinance that blocks new homeless shelters and other housing projects.
“Norwalk has violated multiple components of the housing law in California,” Bonta said during a press conference.
Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday, Bonta said, the lawsuit also seeks an order compelling the city to repeal its moratorium.
The lawsuits lists the city of Norwalk, Norwalk City Council and Norwalk City Manager Jesus Gomez as defendants.
Levy Sun, a spokesperson for Norwalk, said Monday afternoon that the city had not yet been served.
“We’ll publish a response once received,” Sun said in an email.
The lawsuit alleges that Norwalk violated California’s urgency ordinance statute, the Housing Crisis Act, the Housing Element Law, the Anti-Discrimination in Land Use Law, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Law and the by-right laws for supportive housing and emergency shelters.
In August, Norwalk City Council approved a moratorium on land uses that included emergency shelters and supportive housing. The city extended the moratorium for an additional 10 months in September and since then has been the subject of threats and legal action from the state.
The moratorium was a response to L.A. County attempting to open an interim housing program at a Norwalk motel.