Irvine Says No Fair! Wah!
The state says more than 21,000 low-income units must be built in the city in the next seven years.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
IRVINE – A mandate to add 35,660 housing units in the next seven years has left city officials reeling, even as they start work on plans to accommodate those numbers.
Irvine housing planners are crying foul about the sheer number of units and object to the fact that 21,282 of them must be deemed "affordable" for moderate, low-income and very low-income households.
"It is unreasonable, inequitable and unfeasible," said Mark Asturias, housing manager for the city. "We don't have the land to do something like that."
The requirements are part of the state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment, a periodic process meant to ensure that areas throughout the state provide their fair share of housing needs as the population grows.
After a nearly yearlong process, the Southern California Association of Governments earlier this month decreed that Irvine must zone for and build 35,660 units – almost 44 percent of the total number of homes mandated across Orange County.
The city has 64,500 total housing units, built since its inception 35 years ago.
Irvine has exhausted the appeals process and must incorporate these numbers into its next housing plan, due in July 2008, "whether or not we agree with them," Asturias said.
In the meantime, the city will ask for guidance from the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which must certify each city's housing plan before construction can begin.
A legal challenge to SCAG's recommendations is another option that city officials will likely consider, Asturias said.
State law says housing numbers must be distributed in an equitable manner, Asturias said, and Irvine officials believe the city has been burdened more than any other in the county.
Under the recommendations in the assessment, Santa Ana needs to add 3,393 units by 2014, Anaheim 9,498 units and Huntington Beach 2,092 new homes.
While those three cities are larger, Irvine is the only major Orange County city that has and will continue to see significant growth, said Victoria Basolo, a professor of planning, policy and design at UC Irvine.
"When they go to assign those housing units, they do it formulaically," Basolo said. "Irvine has grown, and so it has been hit with the large numbers based on those projections."
Jeff Lustgarten, a spokesman for SCAG, said that Irvine's job growth and available space were also factors in the agency's decision to allocate 35,660 units to the city. He said SCAG officials had no comment on Irvine's objections, and stood by their recommendations.
Housing manager Asturias said that while Irvine does have remaining open space, most vacant land is already locked into development agreements.
He said that 1,180 acres – or almost 2 square miles – would be necessary to accommodate the recommended residential development.
Mayor Beth Krom said she found the recommendations frustrating.
"I feel we already do far more than any other city in the county to ensure we have a better balance of housing opportunities for all income levels," Krom said.
Basolo of UC Irvine agreed, saying the city has a good reputation when it comes to providing affordable housing.
"Irvine ranked No. 1 in the Orange County Business Council's recent Workforce Housing Scorecard," which graded how cities have balanced job and housing growth, Basolo said. "Now these numbers from the RHNA are essentially telling the city, 'Do more.' It's an interesting problem."
Irvine's housing ordinance requires 15 percent of new housing units be deemed affordable; under SCAG's projections, about 60 percent of new housing units will have to be affordable.
SCAG spokesman Lustgarten said cities have sued the agency in the past if they disagree with recommendations; the state and affordable housing advocates, in turn, can sue cities if they don't comply.
Contact the writer: 949-553-2914 or echavez@ocregister.com
1 comment:
This is part of Larry's long range plan. If he can import a bunch of poor people who are more dependent on government(i.e Democrats) then he can make elections for he and his cronies easier. I like Mayor Krom's faux outrage at this plan. She is such a bad actress.
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