It’s Attorney General Rob Bonta’s second such action after proponents of denser housing said more than a dozen communities across California had been hurrying to adopt restrictions before the law took effect Jan. 1. More than 150 cities opposed the law as it was being considered in the Legislature last year.
Less than a month before the state law took effect, Pasadena, a Southern California city of roughly 140,000 people, passed an ordinance that among other restrictions allows officials to exempt eligible areas by declaring them "landmark districts."and denies residents the opportunity to create sorely needed additional housing, under the guise of protecting ‘landmark districts,’" Bonta said in a statement. "This is disappointing and, more importantly, violates state law.
While Bonta told Pasadena officials that there is no such thing as a "landmark districts" exemption under the state housing law, individual properties can be exempt if they are part of a landmark, historic property or historic district.