Judge Gives Encinitas More Time to Come up With State-mandated Housing Plan

San Diego Union-Tribune (April 30, 2018) Encinitas can have another try at winning voter approval for a city-wide housing plan, but if that efforts fails, the city could find itself back in court. On Monday morning, Superior Court Judge Ronald Frazier told the plaintiffs in three housing-related lawsuits that he will wait until after the November election before ruling on whether the city has failed to comply with state law and whether it should be forced to adopt a previously written plan. But, he warned, Encinitas needs to make the August filing deadline for getting its new plan on the November ballot, or what's now proposed to be a Nov. 13 hearing will be rescheduled to earlier in the year. Attorneys for the BIA and the tenants' group argued that Encinitas ought to be compelled to get into compliance with state law now. BIA attorney Timothy Hutter said his client wanted the judge to impose the plan spelled out in the Measure T ballot item and noted that the city was supposed to get the housing plan project done years ago. Encinitas officials may say they're going to put the latest plan up for a vote in November, but they haven't yet submitted the paperwork to the county elections office and "nothing is on the ballot right now," he said.