Voters to Determine Newport Beach Housing Plans

Newport Beach residents are going to get a say in their city’s state-approved housing plan and choose whether to slash the number of homes slated to rise in the ritzy coastal enclave.

The initiative is headed to the November 2026 ballot after former Mayor Marshall “Duffy” Duffield and local organizations collected nearly 9,000 signatures for the measure that would scrap the city’s current housing plan in favor of one that cuts its planned housing capacity by more than half, Voice of OC reported. The city council unanimously voted to put the so-called Responsible Housing Initiative on the ballot next fall at its meeting last week.

Under the proposed plan, Newport Beach would have to zone for 2,900 new homes as opposed to more than 8,000 as part of its current housing element. Of the 2,900, 2,160 would be set aside for low- and very-low-income families; the rest would come mostly from other housing projects already in the works.

Newport Beach, like every city in California, is under pressure to meet its Regional Housing Needs Allocation; it was assigned more than 4,800 homes by 2029, including more than 2,300 for low- and very-low-income households. Officials ultimately approved a plan that nearly doubled the required capacity, claiming the extra buffer was needed because not every project delivers affordable units, thereby “allowing for market-rate units to help support and subsidize the creation of affordable housing.”

If voters give the go-ahead next November, the City of Newport Beach could face off against state housing officials in court. Meanwhile, in neighboring Huntington Beach, city council members continue to challenge their own state-mandated housing quotas in court; a federal appeals court declined to hear the city’s challenge earlier this year.

Supporters of the Responsible Housing Initiative believe city leaders ignored the voter-approved Greenlight Initiative, a voter-approved law from 2000 that requires public approval for major changes to the city’s general plan. Opponents argue that state law supersedes local measures — a position supported by an Orange County Superior Court judge who rejected lawsuits last year seeking to force a citywide vote. In addition, detractors like Councilman Noah Blom believe the initiative is a developer-driven effort to kneecap competitors, calling out builder Ken Picerne as the endeavor’s primary funder.

“We were first told that you would comply with [the Greenlight Initiative], of the city charter by allowing us to vote on the housing plan, but after two years and at the last minute, you reversed course, claiming that California law barred a local vote,” former councilmember Jeff Herdman said at last week’s meeting. “You’re also improperly interfering with our constitutional rights to control the destiny of our community.”

— Chris Malone Méndez