YIMBY Law is suing Gavin Newsom

This article discusses the Governor's Executive Order N-32-25, which suspended SB 9, a California law allowing duplexes and lot splits in single-family zones, in fire-affected areas. The order was justified on fire safety grounds, but critics argue it is exclusionary zoning in disguise. The article examines the human stakes for fire survivors, the empirical claims about evacuation and fire safety, the historical context of exclusionary zoning in California, and the legal question of emergency powers. It argues that the Governor's order ignores a cascade of structural failures in insurance markets, construction supply chains, and public safety capacity, while performing responsiveness to a wealthy constituency.