But that time if they try they'll fail. Almost all avenues to municipal NIMBYism have been closed:
Strict SFH zoning? It can often be ignored now and build duplexes and four-plexes by right (no CEQA necessary!)
Amply sized commercial lots but no residential multifamily zoning? Those can be residential now. No CEQA necessary in some cases. I believe it's <400 units.
Parking requirements? Gone. In fact a city cannot even consider parking in deciding to issue a permit or not.
Procedural tactics? New laws have been passed capping the amount of required public comment meetings to 3, along with various other things like maximum review windows and mandatory ministerial approvals.
Bad zoning? Cities for which CA decertifies their zoning codes (housing elements) can be considered to _have no zoning_ until they present a housing element the state is satisfied with. Such cities include Santa Monica (recently fixed, but not before 4000+ units qualified), Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Redondo Beach, Davis, soon to be Palo Alto and San Francisco.
The only thing that's left, really, is CEQA reform. California is _so close_ to realizing a building boom. You have the Coastal Commission, too, but that only affects properties directly within the vicinity of the beach, and as a state agency is not something a city itself can really influence.
Well, I hope you’re right about this, but if experience is any guide, I bet that new obstacles will be invented, and in a decade you will still believe that the building boom is just around the corner.
The big issue now will be financing, with increased fed rates, leading to drastic drops in prices. It’s extremely high risk for a builder to build in a market with dropping prices.
It will lead to a boom in 4-5 years most likely after big turnover in existing boomer home owners and resets in price expectations lead to cheaper house valuations, which lead to lower land values, which lead to lots being somewhat affordable again.
Then tear downs and builds at higher density become more economic, and the rules unblock it.
I guarantee they when Charlie actually does that, Lucy will nevertheless pull away the ball again.