CORRESPONDENCE- 75B - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

gOCCORD STRONG VOICE FOR A FAIR ECONOMY December 19`x', 2016 Mayor Miguel Pulido and Members of the City Council City of Santa Ana 20 Civic Center Plaza P.O. Box, 1988 M31 Santa Ana, CA 92701 RE: Opposition — Amendment to (Development Agreement No. 2015 -03 Dear Mayor Pulido and Councihnembers: Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development is a community -labor alliance that promotes inclusive public decision - making in a region where a profound civic disconnection exists between our governing class and the increasingly diverse constituent base it seeks to represent. In Santa Ana, there is a significant need to address and provide housing opportunities for all economic segments of the community. Families in our City are extremely rent burdened, as most of their limited income (over 50 1/4) is used to pay for housing costs. As residents struggle to find available and affordable housing in Santa Ana, rents have continually increased. A minimum wage earner needs the equivalent of 3.2 full -time jobs to afford the rent of a typical two- bedroom unit. In the City, the 2016 average rent for a large rental complex was $1,786.00, which was a 3.7% increase from the year before. These rents are far out of reach for many lower income working families in the City, leaving families to make tough choices between paying for their housing or other essential life necessities such as food, transportation, and healthcare. The City has recognized the dire need for affordable housing and created the Housing Opportunity Ordinance. This ordinance was reviewed in 2015 with a working group created by the city that consisted of housing advocates and developers, including the developer of the Heritage Village Project. This working group agreed to clear standards that were established in the 2015 amendment of the Housing Opportunity Ordinance. During the 2015 amendments negotiation, pipeline projects such as the Heritage Village Project received incentives to a pay a reduced inclusionary housing in -lieu fee. The amendment gave certainty for the development of market -rate and affordable housing projects and provided different options to meet the city's affordable housing goals. In particular, it provided the developer with the option to provide affordable housing units on -site or to pay an in -lieu fee. In February of 2016, the City Council made a big decision to rezone over 18 acres of land from light industrial to residential, allowing for the development of a 1,221 unit market -rate development, the Heritage Village Project, and providing a significant windfall profit to the developer. At that time the developer elected to receive the incentives and entitlements in full in exchange for paying the reduced in -lieu fee. The Heritage Village Project developer cormnnitted