The state of California filed a lawsuit Monday against Norwalk, alleging that the southeast Los Angeles County city’s moratorium on new homeless shelters and supportive housing violates six housing laws.

“No community should turn their backs on residents in need,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.

In August, the Norwalk City Council passed a law banning these establishments, along with new laundromats, liquor stores and payday lenders, until at least next summer. Councilors said the city of 100,000 has become a dumping ground for homeless projects, straining budgets and causing chaos. Norwalk’s ban has already led to the cancellation of a hotel rental project that county officials thought would protect 80 people.

Mr. Newsom has called Norwalk’s law “beyond cruelty,” has threatened to sue for months, and has already rescinded state approval for Norwalk’s development plans and removed certain affordable housing projects. The project was excluded from funding.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleges Norwalk’s ordinance violates anti-discrimination laws, the Fair Housing Act and other laws.

Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta called Norwalk’s actions a “brazen and defiant violation of the law,” and said the city’s lumping of homeless shelters with other businesses is particularly problematic. said.

“It’s very revealing and frankly very offensive to compare shelter, housing, compassion and the ability to get someone off the street to what is considered a public nuisance,” Bonta said. spoke.

Norwalk is a majority-Latino city with a median household income of less than $100,000, and wealthy white residents of Beverly Hills, Coronado, La Cañada Flintridge and other areas that have challenged the state on housing issues. It stands out from the enclaves.

City leaders say Norwalk has a fair approach to homelessness, citing its Department of Social Services, which helps homeless residents, and its support for repurposing abandoned buildings at public mental health facilities as homeless housing. He stated that the above efforts are being made. Several supportive housing developments are expected to open in the coming months, which would be decommissioned under the ban.

The city is protesting a pandemic-era hotel-turned-shelter project that residents and business owners say was poorly managed and led to a surge in Norwalk’s homeless population. A 2021 ruling in Los Angeles County Superior Court allowed one such project to proceed, but deemed it a “public nuisance.”

“Why is Norwalk always the pinpoint for these programs?” City Councilman Rick Ramirez told the Times recently. “Where did the help from other surrounding cities go?” We decided to stand up for ourselves. ”

Bonta said the city has multiple avenues to resolve complaints with county and state authorities without resorting to shelter bans. Bonta said the state intends to continue working with Norwalk to repeal the ordinance out of court, but the law will be enforced.

“They want us to file a lawsuit, and we are doing so,” Bonta said. “We want it resolved quickly. They can control how quickly.”