Voice of OC56%
Yorba Linda Moves to Get Approved Housing Plan to Avoid State Legal Threat 21%
By Lauren Contreras23%
7/29/2026, 5:58:00 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 20 faulty reasoning types, including Status Quo Bias, Pessimism Bias, and Slippery Slope, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 7.7% saturation with 84 hits. Analysis detected 900 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,091 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 28.3% and a BS Rank of 21% (23,045 of 28,846 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 79.90% of the article peer group.
The city of Yorba Linda seal.
Yorba Linda is on track to get a state-compliant housing plan after Attorney General Rob Bonta recently sued Costa Mesa and four other cities for not having such a plan.
“The state recently has filed a number of lawsuits against cities who have not implemented the programs that they have said they would, particularly the city of Costa Mesa in Orange County and other cities throughout the state, with the remedy for the state being potential decertification of the housing element,” Yorba Linda City Attorney Todd Litfin said at the July 21 city council meeting.
Litfin said these updates are required by state law and the Department of Housing and Community Development will check to make sure cities meet those requirements.
Yorba Linda City Council members implemented the final four out of 23 programs in the 2021-29 housing plan to avoid penalties – like a lawsuit and fines – from the state.
It will also maintain the housing plan’s certification while retaining as much local control as possible.
If the city doesn’t comply with state law, the city may face penalties from the state ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, loss of local control, decertification of the city’s housing plan and builder’s remedy projects, according to the city’s consultant, David Blumenthal.
Housing construction on Main and Fourth St. in Santa Ana on Jan.
20, 2023.
Under state law, builder’s remedy allows a developer to build a housing project without city approval if the municipality doesn’t have a state-approved housing plan.
According to Nate Farnsworth, Yorba Linda’s community development director, retaining the city’s housing plan certification protects the city from builder’s remedy within the city.
“By not adopting certain ordinances and only relying on state law, the city opens itself up for losing local control,” Farnsworth said at last week’s meeting.
The overhauled housing plans include a lot consolidation incentive ordinance, and updates to affordable housing density bonuses and to special needs housing types.
Additionally, it includes reviewing a streamlined review process for qualified housing developments and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities.
“Lot consolidation is intended to incentivize development in underutilized areas of the city and to support multi-family residential developments that are affordable for moderate- and lower-income households,” the ordinance reads.
The definition of lot consolidation is the process in which neighboring parcels are combined by eliminating or modifying their shared property lines, according to the ordinance.
According to the state income limits for housing , a family of four living in Orange County would be considered low income if they make less than $148,850 per year.
The Orange County limit for moderate income for a family of four is $166,300.
Blumenthal, the city’s consultant, said the updates to affordable housing density bonuses are the minimum requirement of state law.
“The new ordinance achieves the minimum requirements to state law for density bonuses and does not go above anything that the state law doesn’t already require,” Blumenthal said.
If approved, bonuses can include financial incentives and land donation.
Developers can also request waivers or reductions in developmental standards and parking requirement reductions.
During the meeting, Blumenthal said that special needs housing types incorporate transitional and supportive housing and homeless shelters.
According to the ordinance, it will also include emergency shelters.
A “For Lease” sign is posted in front of a commercial property in Costa Mesa, Calif., on Friday, April 5, 2025.
CREDIT: KADE MCKENNA, Voice of OC
In addition, the entitlement process for affordable housing developments would be streamlined, according to the ordinance.
It also coordinates the processing of permits, design review and environmental clearance.
Lastly, the plans include the creation of a new procedure for individuals with disabilities to request accommodations to enjoy and access their homes.
“The city can consider requests for modifications or exceptions to land use or zoning regulations that present a barrier to someone’s access and enjoy their dwelling unit,” Blumenthal said.
The current housing plan was adopted by voters in 2024, according to the presentation at the June 21 meeting.
Karen Krueger, a resident, raised concerns during public comment about how updating the zoning code will affect residents.
Krueger questioned the council if the updates would impact development standards such as height restrictions, if this will affect residents’ right to vote on zoning for certain parcels with Measure B , and why certain zoning privileges were being taken away with this ordinance.
“I’m just wondering, you know, where the beginning [is] and ends,” Krueger said at the July 21 meeting.
During the meeting, Councilmember Peggy Huang criticized the staff report because it did not include some information the public should know while also including legal jargon, following Krueger’s public comment.
Huang said that the public may not be able to understand complex issues like these updates to the zoning code.
“These penalties [and] all that should be in [the staff report], so that the public can read it and not have to come to the council meeting just to get the slide show, tying things together,” Huang said.
Farnsworth said that residents will continue to have the right to vote on zoning for certain parcels in the city through Measure B.
He also said that the city will continue to implement local standards for development standards and height restrictions to the extent that state law allows the city.
“This does not grant any additional right for developers to come in and work around our local development standards outside of what state law already allows for them to do,” Farnsworth said.
According to Councilmember Tara Campbell, a past project on Yorba Linda Boulevard, was allowed by the state to zone for more units than what the council had zoned for.
However, the city was still able to make over 160 changes on the project because the city had a compliant housing plan.
Campbell said adopting the planning overhauls are something that the city must do — warning the city will lose more local control if officials don’t get a state-approved housing plan.
“These are state laws that are the law of the land, so they apply whether we adopt them or not, but by adopting them, we sadly do protect ourselves from it being worse.”
Lauren Contreras is a Voice of OC intern.
You can reach her at laurencontreras615@gmail.com .
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Speakers
6speakers56%attributed speech483writer words
Selected voice
100%flagged-word coverageTara Campbell
81 attributed words13% of attributed speech47% writer coverage
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