Mehdi Sinaki provides his insight on what pending housing litigation in Huntington Beach, California signals for charter cities, developers, and the broader market. In his most recent article published by the Daily Journal, Mehdi explains how the California Supreme Court’s decision to leave in place a Court of Appeal ruling marks a meaningful shift toward faster, court-enforced compliance with the state’s Housing Element Law, requiring trial courts to impose mandatory remedies once noncompliance is found and making prolonged delay far harder to sustain. The piece thoughtfully balances statewide housing priorities against charter-city autonomy, while underscoring a practical reality: regulatory uncertainty has real costs. As courts sharpen the consequences for delay, predictability is increasingly achieved through compliance, not contention.
