A San Mateo County Superior Court judge dismissed Millbrae’s housing lawsuit against San Mateo County on procedural grounds.
The lawsuit challenged the county’s plan to convert a La Quinta Inn into homes for low-income residents. The dismissal was not based on the merits of the case but on the fact that it was filed prematurely. The city could choose to re-file the case later on.
In a decision dated June 17, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Nancy Fineman determined that the lawsuit was “not ripe for adjudication” because the language of the county’s resolution authorizing the property acquisition did not amount to an official legal proposal to convert the property to low-income housing using state funds from Project Homekey.
Since its start in 2020, the $3.75 billion Homekey program has funded the creation of more than 14,600 units of temporary shelter and long-term housing for homeless people. In the core Bay Area, Homekey has put more than $800 million toward 40 projects totaling about 3,500 planned or completed units. There are an estimated 31,000 homeless people in the five-county region.
However, a review by the Bay Area News Group revealed that certain facilities had habitability and drug issues, and that hundreds of individuals who stayed at these locations in the region ended up back on the street.
“Additionally, there is no final determination that the property will be used to house people with low incomes,” the decision read. “The reference to low-income residents in the Resolution is in a ‘whereas’ provision… a ‘whereas’ provision is a clause that has no legal effect.”
Opponents of the project argue that San Mateo County violated Article 34 of the California Constitution, requiring low-income housing to go through a local vote before it can be approved.
Meanwhile, San Mateo County asserts the project is exempt from Article 34 as it fits under recent updates to state law tweaking the definition of “low-rent housing.”
The project has been a polarizing issue in Millbrae.
Residents successfully put a recall measure on the ballot seeking to recall Vice Mayor Maurice Goodman and Council Member Angelina Cahalan due to their opposition to taking action against San Mateo County’s acquisition of La Quinta. Voters have until July 23 to decide on the recall.
Last month, California lawmakers abandoned a proposal to repeal the controversial state law requiring voter approval of affordable housing projects after it failed to make the November ballot, the Associated Press reported.