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Letter of Support re Item 60A Request for Approval of a Density Bonus Agreement to Allow a 552 Unit Affordable Rental Project at 2110, 2114, and 2020 East First Street July 16, 2019 p. 2 working families. According to the report, workers need to earn $39.17 an hour to afford the rent for a typical two -bedroom apartment in Orange County. The typical fair market rent (FMR) for a two -bedroom unit here is $2,037 per month, ranking Orange County among the nation's top 10 most expensive metropolitan areas in the nation. The annual income needed to afford a two - bedroom FMR is $81,480 and a minimum wage worker needs to work at least 131 hours per week-3.3 jobs to afford a 2-bedroom FMR apartment. The report underscores the crisis facing Orange County Residents, and the housing crisis facing Santa Ana residents is especially acute. Many of the families that we assist are in desperate need of decent, affordable housing, such as the project that the developers propose with this Unit. In the City —a majority renter city, significant need exists to address and provide housing opportunities for all economic segments of the community. Families in the City use the majority of their incomes (over 50%) to pay for housing costs. This is unsustainable and it has led to actual and economic homelessness. As residents struggle to find available and affordable housing in the City, rents have continually increased. We have heard stories of landlords demanding that tenants pay rents that are in excess of 50-80%, or face eviction and almost certain homelessness or relocation out of the City, while this Council has remained silent to requests for a moratorium on rent increases or just cause eviction ordinance protections. As of April 2019, the average rent for a one -bedroom apartment in the City is $1,938 per month, while the average rent for a two -bedroom apartment is $2,582 per month.2 This Unit proposes to help ameliorate the crisis by adding 552 units to the housing stock in the City. Accordingly, the City Council should embrace this Unit and not try to find ways to crush it, as it will bring much needed affordable multi -family housing to the residents of the City. Pacific Companies and Jamboree Housing Corporation Are Eligible for a Density Bonus Exception The Density Bonus is a state mandate. An applicant who meets the requirements of the state law is entitled to receive the density bonus and other benefits as a matter of right. (See Gov. Code §65195, et seq.) A jurisdiction is required to grant the concession or incentive requested by the applicant unless the jurisdiction makes a written finding based on substantial evidence of a specific, adverse impact upon public health and safety, or on historic resources. (Gov. Code §65195(d)(1)(B).) The Staff Report for the June 4, 2018 Planning Commission hearing declared that there are no historic resources in the immediate vicinity that this project would affect and the project's designs and operations, will not be detrimental to the public health or safety. Moreover, none of the councilmembers during the City Council meeting of May 7, expressed concern with the project's impact on public health, public safety, or nearby historic resources. Because the Unit is a 100% affordable development and the City Council has failed to produce the required written findings based on substantial evidence of a specific, adverse impact of the Unit on public health, public safety, or historic resources, the City Council should grant the parking concession requested by the developers as a matter of right. z See www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-santa-ana-rent-trends/ (Last visited on June 19, 2019). 601 Civic Center Drive West • Santa Ana, CA 92701-4002 • (714) 541-1010 • Pax (714) 541-5157