75A - PUBLIC HEARING 5 YR CONSOLITATED PLAN

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Community Opposition Community Opposition is a significant contributing factor to fair housing issues in Orange County. The County is now only plurality White,14 but recent political and demographic change have not slowed opposition to affordable housing in Orange County, as residents have mobilized to delay and prevent affordable housing efforts. For instance, city councils in Laguna Beach, Irvine, and elsewhere have voted to oppose or are preparing to oppose statewide plans to add 22,000 affordable housing units in the County.15 For the most part, residents and councilmembers opposed to the plan have cited procedural concerns such as insufficient concern for local participation,16 but recent opposition to housing for the homeless and affordable housing generally betrays a wider opposition to such initiatives based on "NIMBY" ("Not In My Backyard") sentiments. In Fullerton, for example, residents recently mobilized to stop the creation of an affordable housing complex, citing concerns that the complex would reduce property values, create danger to children, and "attract people from other cities" that would become the responsibility of Fullerton residents.17 Additionally, in early 2019, opposition to state plans to increase affordable housing forced California to sue the city of Huntington Beach to force compliance.18 Finally, landlord opposition groups have organized to oppose rent control and anti -eviction initiatives aimed at preserving low- income residents' access to housing.19 Overall, despite demographic and political changes, community opposition to fair housing in Orange County remains robust. Deteriorated and Abandoned Properties Deteriorated and abandoned properties are not a significant contributing factor to fair housing issues in Orange County. Although there was a surge in deteriorated and abandoned properties in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, particularly in heavily Hispanic areas and with significant harmful consequences for communities,20 that issue has gradually abated over the ensuring years. The table below reflects the proportion of vacant housing units in each city in Orange County that is categorized as "Other Vacant" in the American Community Survey. These are the vacant units "QuickFacts: Orange County, California, UNITED STATES CENSUS BUREAU, https://www.census.gov/auickfacts/oraneecountvcalifomia (last visited Jan. 16, 2020). " Hosam Elattar and Noah Biesiada, OC Cities Pushing Back Against Housing Targetlncreases, VOICE OF OC (Jan. 14, 2020), https://voiceofoc.org/2020/01/oc-cities-pushing-back-against-housing-target-increases/. 6Id. Complaints included that the state plan's "methodology was unfair" and not done in "good faith." Jill Replogle, 'Not In My Backyard': What the Shouting Down of One Homeless Housing Complex Means For Us All, LAiST (Oct. 15, 2018), https://prrojects.scpr.org/interactives/fullerton-nimble. 18 Don Thompson, California Sues Wealthy Coastal City Over Low -Income Housing, ASSOCIATED PRESS (Jan. 25, 2019), httns://apnews.com/f5c6edc6bd31442082f5b4964aObc5ld. 19 Marisa Kendall, California -Wide Rent Cap Advances Despite Landlord Opposition, O.C. REGISTER (July 10, 2019), httos://www.ocregister.com/2019/07/10/ab-1482-set-for-senate-hearing/. 20 Alejandra Molina, No More Eyesores: Santa Ana Asks Courts to Intervene and Fix Abandoned Properties, O.C. REGISTER (Mar. 11, 2015), https://www.ocregister.com/2015/03/11/no-more-eyesores-santa-ana-asks-courts-to- intervene-and-fix-abandoned-properties . 75A-587