Measure H: the facts

Measure H is the Responsible Housing Initiative. If adopted, it would amend the City's General Plan, replacing the City's current limit of up to 8,174 new housing units in five areas of the city with a limit of up to 2,900, all reserved for extremely low- to moderate-income households. CONFIRMED[2] [3] [7] It is on the County ballot for November 3, 2026, as "CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT," not on the separate City ballot for Measures P, Q and R. CONFIRMED[1] [2] Measure H reached the ballot by a petition from the Newport Beach Stewardship Association (NBSA), which the Orange County Registrar of Voters certified on November 5, 2025. CONFIRMED[11]

The question voters will see:

"Shall the measure to amend the City of Newport Beach's General Plan Land Use Element allowing 2,900 new affordable housing units (2,160 reserved for extremely low-, very low-, and low-income households; and 740 for moderate-income households) with densities of 20 - 50 dwelling units per acre, plus State of California allowed housing density bonuses, in Dover/Westcliff (174), Newport Center (870), West Newport Mesa (406), Airport Area (929), and Coyote Canyon (521), be adopted?" CONFIRMED[1]

A yes vote amends the City's General Plan (Policy LU 4.4), replacing the City's limits for the five areas with Measure H's limits (compared in the graphic below). A no vote leaves the General Plan unchanged by Measure H. CONFIRMED[2] [3]

State law requires every city and county in California to plan for new housing. The state sets how much housing each region needs, and a regional agency divides it among cities. CONFIRMED[4] [18] For 2021 to 2029, Newport Beach was assigned 4,845 new units, 3,436 of them for very low-, low- and moderate-income households. CONFIRMED[4] [5] [6] The City must update its housing element, part of its General Plan, every eight years, with enough land use capacity to meet those needs, to stay in compliance with state law. CONFIRMED[4]

City staff: the City does not have to build these homes. City staff wrote in 2024 that "The City is not required to build housing units to meet its RHNA allocation, only to establish the appropriate zoning designations and development standards to allow the private market to develop these units." CONFIRMED[20]

The state housing department says a city out of compliance can lose or face delays in certain state funds, be referred to the state Attorney General, face court-imposed fines, lose local land use authority to a court-appointed agent, and face the "builder's remedy." CONFIRMED[6] Under a 2024 state law, in cases the Attorney General or the state housing department brings to enforce housing element revisions, a court can impose a penalty of $10,000 to $50,000 a month for each violation, and the state recovers its costs and attorney fees when it wins. If a city then misses a court-ordered deadline, the court must raise the penalty to $50,000 a month until the city complies. These penalties apply only when a city's acts or omissions are "arbitrary, capricious, entirely lacking in evidentiary support, contrary to established public policy, unlawful, or procedurally unfair." CONFIRMED[19]

Newport Beach's state housing requirement for 2021 to 2029: how many homes each plan makes room for, and how many each side says are left to plan for to meet the state requirement. By each side's count, both plans make room for more than that. If Measure H passes, the state housing department says it would review the City's housing element.

Step 1. How many homes each plan allows

Most homes allowed in five areas, not forecasts

These figures are the most homes allowed, not forecasts. The City's environmental review of its housing plan (2024) and its 2026 update analyzed development capacity and did not propose any development. Both say future housing would depend "upon numerous factors such as market conditions, and economic and planning considerations, and at the individual property owners' discretion." CONFIRMED[8] [9] No official estimate of how many homes would be built under either plan, or under Measure H, has been located.

Step 2. Homes left to plan for to meet the state requirement

Each side's count, after homes already counted

Step 3. How far each plan goes beyond what is left to plan for

The "cushion"

* Pipeline projects are homes already in the planning process, which count toward the state requirement. The City's Housing Element counts 1,662. Measure H's findings count 2,945 in "projects that received entitlements from the City before December 2024." Both documents also count 240 accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and 327 units on older housing sites. Each side subtracts by income level, so the totals do not subtract straight down. The two counts differ mainly in market-rate homes (1,455 vs 2,597), which do not change what is left to plan for. The difference in lower- and moderate-income pipeline homes accounts for the whole difference in what each side says is left to plan for. Both cushions are measured against the same state requirement for each income level. Differences calculated by the Civic Ledger from these figures.

Sources: Step 1, City CONFIRMED[7], Measure H CONFIRMED[3]. Steps 2 and 3, City CONFIRMED[10], Measure H STATEDNBSA's findings [3]. Comparison in the intro calculated by the Civic Ledger; state review [6].

The full ballot arguments, rebuttals and the City Attorney's impartial analysis are on the City Clerk's election page.

On August 19, 2026, the Superior Court denied the City's petition to remove Measure H from the ballot. The Court of Appeal (August 25 and September 9, 2026) and the California Supreme Court (September 30, 2026) denied the City's later petitions and stay requests. CONFIRMED[13]

As of October 17, 2026, the Superior Court docket in that case (No. 30-2026-01580961) shows no entries after September 1, 2026, and no hearings scheduled. CONFIRMED[14] NBSA's Greenlight appeal, a separate case (Court of Appeal No. G065816), has no decision and no scheduled actions listed. CONFIRMED[15]

From Our Glossary, where each definition has its own source.

Housing Element

The chapter of a city's General Plan that plans for housing. Every California city must have one. CONFIRMED

Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)

Said "REE-nuh." A city's share of the new homes its region needs. HCD sets how much housing each region needs, and a regional agency divides it among cities. CONFIRMED

Homes allowed

Also called housing capacity. The number of homes the zoning allows on the sites in a housing plan. It is not the same as the number that will be built. OUR WORDS

Pipeline projects

Also called pipeline units. Housing projects already approved or in the works when a housing plan was written. CONFIRMED

Accessory dwelling unit (ADU)

A small second home on the same lot as a house, such as a backyard cottage or a converted garage. OUR WORDS

Lower income

Extremely low, very low and low income combined. CONFIRMED

Buffer

Allowing more homes than the state requires, as a cushion in case some planned sites end up with fewer homes than expected. OUR WORDS

Builder's remedy

What can happen if a city's housing plan falls out of compliance with state law. Builders of qualifying affordable housing projects can bypass the city's zoning and General Plan, and the city is "effectively prohibited from denying" the project "except in unique circumstances." CONFIRMED