The council also declared a "housing state of emergency" at a meeting that drew more than 1,000 people from the multifamily and residential building industry, as well as buyers and tenants. Local housing advocates have tried for more than a decade to get affordability mandates from the city.

Both housing activists and building industry officials used words like "historic" to describe the City Council action Tuesday. Dismissing the concerns of building industry officials, the council voted 7-2 to support the affordable housing requirements. Mayor Dick Murphy and Councilman Jim Madaffer opposed the measures.

Councilman Scott Peters says the county's rapidly escalating prices and rents amount to a full-blown housing crisis. He pointed out that economic factors are forcing working people to move to Temecula and other parts of the Inland Empire in search of lower prices.