Affordable Housing

Eron Ben-Yehuda HUNTINGTON BEACH -- A City Council member is concerned that a legal loophole may have cheated some families out of affordable housing in Holly Seacliff. Councilman Dave Sullivan has accused PLC Land Co., which oversees construction of the 400-acre Holly Seacliff area, of taking advantage of the range of housing costs allowed under city regulations for affordable homes. "That just infuriated me," he said. "I don't think any affordable housing was provided."

A downtown developer is fighting a proposal to include affordable housing in a small Main Street lofts project. The city's Planning Department wants builder Jeff Bergsma to rent one of his three soon-to-be constructed housing units at a reduced rate as part of the city's affordable housing program. A host of state and local laws require residential projects in redevelopment areas -- in this case the downtown Huntington Beach zone -- to include a fixed percentage of affordable housing stock among the high-priced houses that go on the market.

Bryce Alderton Affordable housing in Huntington Beach may be a thing of the past if the City Council approves a proposed fee increase to new residential developments in the city. Developers and residents are irate at the skyrocketing costs proposed by city staff. "Where I do business it will stop [affordable housing]," said Randy Allison, a Downtown Realtor and builder. "The sales price [of a home] will increase." The heated debate centers on a fee increase developers would have to pay for new residential housing units built or rehabilitated in the city.

Surf City may soon add a skate park to its list of attractions, but the project may be met with opposition from a developer who instead wants to build affordable housing at the proposed location. The City Council gave its staff the green light Jan. 18 to enter into six months of exclusive negotiations with Vans to build a "world-class" skate park on a 2.7-acre parcel on Center Avenue near Gothard Street. The project calls for a 12,000-square-foot skate plaza, a 15,000-square-foot elevated skate bowl area, a walking space and a snack and skate shop.

Shortly after Joe Carchio was elected to his first term on the Huntington Beach City Council, he went for an orientation with the city's department heads. At one point, meeting an official, he launched into a spiel about all the things he wanted to accomplish in the coming months, only to be stopped short. "She said, 'Joe, slow down,'" Carchio said. "'We go at government speed. We don't go at Joe speed.'" It wasn't the first hard lesson Carchio learned about city politics — he had run unsuccessful campaigns in 2000, 2002 and 2004 — and it wasn't the last, as he endured his share of defeats on the dais over the ensuing year.

The Huntington Beach City Council voted Monday to amend the city's zoning code, paving the way for a state-of-the-art Vans skate park. Before VF Outdoor Inc., a subsidiary of Vans' parent VF Corp, proposed opening and operating the skate park on 2.7 acres on Center Avenue near Gothard Street, the parcel had been designated for residential uses with an affordable housing component, part of which fulfilled state law requirement. Now the city has to find somewhere else for the 175 affordable housing units.

ON THE AGENDA Here are some of the items the Huntington Beach City Council will consider at its next meeting: AFFORDABLE HOUSING The City Council will consider a zoning text amendment that would require developers to include affordable housing when constructing residential projects that include three or more units. WHAT TO EXPECT The affordable housing policy has been in place unofficially for several years, but recently Councilwoman Connie Boardman discovered that there was no official language requiring developers to include affordable housing in their residential projects.

Here are some of the things the City Council discussed at Monday's meeting: AFFORDABLE HOUSING The council adopted a new building code requiring developers to include affordable housing in residential projects. The ordinance was first conceptualized by the Planning Commission and has been the policy for most residential building, but was never formally adopted into law. WHAT IT MEANS All new housing projects built in city limits that include three or more units must make 10% of their project affordable housing.

Jenny Marder A decision on the 31-acre Pacific City development stalled in the Planning Commission Tuesday night. Lengthy discussions on affordable housing, parking, construction, storm water runoff and cleanup of the land dragged on into early morning hours and commissioners voted to continue the hearing to a special meeting on May 5. Plans for Pacific City, which would stretch along the coast and be ...

The Huntington Beach City Council voted Monday to amend the city's zoning code, paving the way for a state-of-the-art Vans skate park. Before VF Outdoor Inc., a subsidiary of Vans' parent VF Corp, proposed opening and operating the skate park on 2.7 acres on Center Avenue near Gothard Street, the parcel had been designated for residential uses with an affordable housing component, part of which fulfilled state law requirement. Now the city has to find somewhere else for the 175 affordable housing units.

The Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously Monday to send a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown opposing his proposal to eliminate the redevelopment agency. Mayor Joe Carchio said Huntington Beach would take a big hit if the agency is eliminated. "It would just devastate us," he said Tuesday. Brown's proposal to eliminate redevelopment agencies statewide is part of sweeping cuts to balance the state's nearly $20-billion budget deficit. But Huntington Beach is among many cities that credit growth and projects to the money that comes from redevelopment, Carchio said.

Surf City may soon add a skate park to its list of attractions, but the project may be met with opposition from a developer who instead wants to build affordable housing at the proposed location. The City Council gave its staff the green light Jan. 18 to enter into six months of exclusive negotiations with Vans to build a "world-class" skate park on a 2.7-acre parcel on Center Avenue near Gothard Street. The project calls for a 12,000-square-foot skate plaza, a 15,000-square-foot elevated skate bowl area, a walking space and a snack and skate shop.

Shortly after Joe Carchio was elected to his first term on the Huntington Beach City Council, he went for an orientation with the city's department heads. At one point, meeting an official, he launched into a spiel about all the things he wanted to accomplish in the coming months, only to be stopped short. "She said, 'Joe, slow down,'" Carchio said. "'We go at government speed. We don't go at Joe speed.'" It wasn't the first hard lesson Carchio learned about city politics — he had run unsuccessful campaigns in 2000, 2002 and 2004 — and it wasn't the last, as he endured his share of defeats on the dais over the ensuing year.

The Huntington Beach City Council voted narrowly to approve a pilot program to buy foreclosed properties and sell them as affordable housing. Council members voted 4-3 Monday night for the plan, which was billed by the city’s economic development department as a way to prevent neighborhood blight and help the city meet requirements for affordable housing. The city plan would use a little more than $1 million to buy up those homes most likely to cause blight in neighborhoods if left empty, then sell under special loans to approved applicants, said Stanley Smalewitz, the city’s head of economic development.

The Huntington Beach City Council voted narrowly to approve a pilot program to buy foreclosed properties and then sell them as affordable housing. On a 4-3 margin, council members voted Monday night for the more than $1 million plan, which was billed by the city’s economic development department as a way to prevent neighborhood blight and help the city meet requirements for affordable housing. The city plan would use a little more than $1 million to buy up those homes most likely to cause blight in neighborhoods if left empty, then sell under special loans to approved applicants, said Stanley Smalewitz, the city’s head of economic development.

An agressive manager has given 90 day notices to many low income seniors at Fountain Glen Seacliff.  The common thread between the low income seniors are that they have qualified through a Federal Agency to have low income, therefore they are helped in making rent. The Federal Agency sets limits to rents that they consider are reasonable to expect for people with low income, such as the City has done with 40 Apartments at Fountain Glen, Seacliff, which has been financed with  a Redevelment low interest loan of $2 M.  The City has set conditions on the property that 80 Apartments be kept for low income residents.

Assemblyman Jim Silva voiced opposition this week to a bill in the state Assembly that would put the Iraq War up for public referendum in California. He said such a vote would not be binding and would embolden terrorists in Iraq. If passed, SB 924 would ask voters during the 2008 primary election whether they support ending the war and withdrawing troops immediately. “As a father of two children who graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy, one of whom is still serving as a fighter pilot, I look forward to the day the war in Iraq is over,” Silva said in a news release.

Huntington Beach will lose about 40% of its workforce with the impending retirement of baby-boomer city workers in the next five to 10 years, City Administrator Penny Culbreth-Graft said at a recent economic conference in the city. City officials expect to lose the employees in five out of eight categories, with the public sector in general losing 40% to 50% of its workers in the next five years, according to figures released by Culbreth-Graft. City officials are also worried that lack of affordable housing, long commute times and a high cost of living are making it harder for the city to attract experienced workers from out of state.

Here are some items the council will consider Monday. HOUSING ACTION PLAN The City Council will hold a public hearing to consider a housing and urban development action plan for 2006-2007 proposed by staff and submit it to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. WHAT TO EXPECT Economic Development Director Stanley Smalewitz submitted the item for public hearing. The hearing is required by the housing department for the city to receive about $2.2 million in funds.