California AG Bonta warns Elk Grove to reverse denial of affordable housing or face legal action

California’s attorney general has warned Elk Grove officials that they must reverse their rejection of an affordable housing development planned for the city’s Old Town or face legal consequences.

In a letter Thursday to Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the city’s ruling last summer against the proposed 66-unit Oak Rose project violates state laws that require streamlining of affordable housing construction.

“Too many Californians across this state worry about keeping a roof over their heads, or lack housing altogether. State housing laws are in place to provide all Californians, regardless of income level, the opportunity to access affordable housing and have a place to call home,” Bonta said.

“We’re committed to enforcing the law, and we will not stand idly by in the face of housing discrimination. I urge Elk Grove to reconsider its unlawful denial of the Oak Rose Apartment project, or face the legal consequences.”

Singh-Allen in a statement Thursday evening denied that Elk Grove broke state housing law. She said the city wants to work with Oak Rose’s developers to find an alternate site for the project, but said the project’s developers have been “non-responsive.”

“Elk Grove remains committed to providing housing for all. We reject the notion that Elk Grove is engaged in unlawful discrimination. We remain committed to supporting solutions that balance the needs of all in the community,” Singh-Allen said. “The applicant has been non-responsive to our attempts to negotiate a solution that we think offers an alternative site with similar access to amenities. The city remains open to a productive dialogue with the applicant to come to a mutually beneficial resolution.”

Elk Grove’s dispute with the state and developers over Oak Rose, and the city’s record on affordable housing more broadly, stretches back months.

The city came under criticism almost immediately last July when it rejected plans for the three-story structure on Elk Grove Boulevard near Kent Road in east Elk Grove. It is near a bus line, shopping and a planned new library.

The building, developers said, would have been the first in Elk Grove to provide permanent housing and services for low-income families who had been homeless. The Elk Grove City Council maintained the project was too dense and said plans for ground-floor residences did not comply with Old Town’s zoning requirements. Leaders called on project applicants Oak Rose LP to work with the city to find alternate sites.

Oak Rose LP sued the city to allow the development to go forward and, days later, state housing officials issued their own scathing report that largely mirrored the Oak Rose suit.

The report alleged Elk Grove discriminated against the project, employed double standards, failed to fulfill its own goals of promoting and providing affordable housing stock and did not promptly notify developers that the project fell outside city zoning standards.

“The city’s response should include, at a minimum, a specific plan for corrective action, including allowing the project to move forward at 9252 Elk Grove Blvd.,” David Zisser, a state housing assistant deputy director, said in the October report.

Elk Grove responded in November, defending its record on affordable housing, and standing by its ‘no’ vote on the Oak Rose project.

“The city takes its housing obligations seriously and supports the state’s efforts to address the housing crisis,” its letter said.

Elk Grove’s rejection of Oak Rose and the lawsuit and report that followed came amid a revival of its east side Old Town historic district. Last spring, planners greenlighted a market-rate housing project that features ground floor units similar to those rejected in Oak Rose.

Elk Grove has about 2,300 affordable housing units, according to city officials. But it needs to build more than 4,200 units for very-low and low-income families this decade, according to a recent regional housing needs analysis by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments.

Elk Grove officials say the city is gaining ground. More than 1,100 new affordable housing units are in some form of development in Elk Grove, with nearly 800 of these units being built. More than 100 units are expected to open within the next month, officials said, while more than 350 additional units have entitlements or loan commitments from the city.

The 387-unit, 17-acre Poppy Grove apartments will be Elk Grove’s largest affordable housing development when it opens to residents in September 2024, and will include units for families with extremely low incomes. As many as 1,500 people will live at Poppy Ridge, developers say.

But affordable housing continues to be a need in Elk Grove, city officials acknowledge.

At an Elk Grove town hall on homelessness in February, city housing manager Sarah Bontrager said 5,600 people applied for 180 units at one such development.