The City of Norwalk has agreed to repeal a citywide moratorium on homeless shelters and allocate $250,000 to affordable housing as part of a legal settlement with the State of California. The agreement, which still needs to be approved by a judge, represents a major defeat for the city and significant victory for Governor Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta.
The legal fight began more than a year ago when the city passed a 45-day moratorium on permits for shelters and supportive housing, as well as businesses such as liquor stores, laundromats, car washes, payday loan businesses and discount stores. The city described these establishments as posing an “immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare.”
The state told Norwalk that the moratorium violated California housing law and needed to be repealed. Instead, the city expanded it by 10 months and 15 days.
“As local leaders, we know best what our population looks like here, including those that are suffering,” Norwalk Mayor Margarita Rios told LAist at the time.
It was a state-funded Project Roomkey experiment that initially spurred tension, according to city officials. The project caused various problems in the surrounding neighborhood.
“Too often, cities have seen homeless programs rushed into place without adequate safeguards, accountability, or coordination,” city spokesperson Levy Sun said, as quoted by CalMatters. “That approach fails both the unhoused and the broader community.”
The Newsom administration said those challenges were no excuse for denying shelter to people in danger of living on the streets. The state sued Norwalk and the city ultimately backed down.
Bonta hopes this case will serve as a lesson for other municipalities.
“We are more than willing to work with any city or county that wants to do its part to solve our housing crisis,” he said. “By that same token, if any city or county wants to test our resolve, today’s settlement is your answer. 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.”