(The Center Square) – Homelessness in Norwalk, California spiked 85% between 2020 and 2022, due to what it says is an influx of homeless individuals coming in from elsewhere. While it has increased spending and resources over the past several years, the small city finally decided enough is enough, and placed a ban on new homeless shelters and associated businesses such as alcohol-selling convenience stores and payday loan storefronts.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently issued an executive order banning homeless encampments on state property and said he would be withholding state homeless spending from municipalities that aren’t taking enough action, is cracking down on Norwalk, a small, heavily Democratic, and nearly ¾ Hispanic city of just over 100,000 in the southeast portion of Los Angeles County.
“After the state has provided cities and counties with unprecedented funding to address the homelessness crisis, it’s beyond cruel that Norwalk would ban the building of shelters while people are living on the city’s streets,” said Newsom in a statement on his decertification of Norwalk’s housing element. “No more excuses — every city, including Norwalk, must do its part and follow state housing laws.”
Newsom also announced the city no longer qualifies for state homelessness funding and that he may sue the city if it does not change course.
On August 6, Norwalk’s city council unanimously approved an emergency ban for “immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety” from the “detrimental impact” and “deleterious effects” of new liquor-selling convenience stores, discount stores, personal laundromats, car washes, payday loan establishments, emergency shelter, single-room occupancy and supportive and transitional housing.
Through a field deputy surrogate, Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn thanked Norwalk for taking significant action on homelessness, such as hosting the county’s first conservatorship Care Court site (Newsom had rebuked the county for demanding Care Courts as a tool then dragging its feet on any implementation), and for offering to host a Care Campus mental health center that would largely serve homeless individuals at the local Metropolitan State Hospital.
Hahn’s deputy shared the supervisor’s concern that the ordinance was targeting a single project, a proposed conversion of the 210-room Saddleback Hotel into an interim homeless shelter. Saddleback had been embraced by Norwalk as a Project Roomkey facility when state funds were used to convert the entire hotel into a homeless shelter during the COVID era. But after Roomkey ended, the shelter, which the city says was one of the “largest” in the state and drew in homeless from all across California — went back to being a hotel, and its residents dispersed onto the streets of Norwalk.
Despite Norwalk’s leadership on Care Courts and openness for hosting a Care Campus, Newsom took time to hammer the city during a press conference announcing the awarading of a new $131 million round of state homelessness spending.
Norwalk has taken significant measures to reduce homelessness since 2018, after its homeless population rose to 316 in 2017. The city created a homelessness task force and street engagement team to quickly connect homeless residents with available resources from other agencies, leading to a rapid decline to 168 individuals in 2020, the eve of the pandemic.
“They know they’ve broken the law, it’s pretty crystal clear. I think there wasn’t anything in [Norwalk’s] comment that suggested otherwise,” said Newsom. “It said ‘We don’t care, we’re done,’ well that’s not how it works.”
The day before, Norwalk issued a statement explaining its ordinance was done to protect city residents.
“Our ordinance was specifically designed to protect residents by promoting responsible development. However, our experience with housing programs, particularly Project Roomkey, which placed a substantial number of homeless individuals with high acuity needs, near homes, schools, and public spaces, has raised significant concerns,” the city wrote. “This project has negatively impacted public safety and community well-being. We urgently need improved communication and collaboration from the state to address these issues; we must tackle this in a spirit of cooperation rather than under the threat of penalties.”
A city spokesperson said the city would not be issuing any further statements while it is negotiating with the governor, whose decertification of the city’s housing element means housing projects that meet certain affordability requirements must be quickly given administrative approval. These requirements scale with relative affordability compared to area median income, with a project that has 7% of units affordable to extremely low income households making 30% or less of AMI (the rest of the units can be market-rate), to 100% of units affordable to moderate income households making up to 120% of AMI (in Norwalk’s case, allowing a building for families making over $100,000 per year).
