In 2024, the number of new homes permitted in Encinitas skyrocketed. That is exactly what state lawmakers have been wanting to happen. And it is exactly what the majority of Encinitas voters have been fighting desperately to stop.

Mayor Bruce Ehlers has been leading the fight against housing density in Encinitas for years. He said many residents are not pleased with the construction they see.

“They hate it,” Ehlers previously told me.

Ehlers would know. He was elected mayor in 2024 along with a slate of other anti-development candidates, whose singular campaign promise was to fight state housing dictates harder than previous elected officials.

But for now at least, Encinitas is a case study in how state housing laws are working as intended: They are forcing housing-resistant cities to

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