California affordable housing programs face new legal challenge
By: Jonathan Delozier | Published: 2025-08-04 21:44:00 | Source: www.housingwire.com
That legislation requires developers to either build a share of new homes at below-market rates or pay into a fund supporting affordable housing.
Legal opposition could reverberate statewide and potentially undermine similar rules in more than 140 cities and counties, according to a 2017 estimate by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
Lawsuit background
New litigation was brought by Wesley Yu, a homeowner who planned to build a new house and guest cottage for his family.
Under East Palo Alto’s ordinance, his project triggered a mandatory $54,891 fee or the requirement to make one unit affordable.
Yu — represented by the libertarian Pacific Legal Foundation — argues this violates the Fifth Amendment, which limits government takings of private property.
The…
