Affordable housing

By Michael Picarellapic@theacorn.comIs there such a thing in Calabasas?

Talk is cheap when it comes to affordable housing, but in the city of Calabasas, where the median home price is $1 million and climbing, action is being taken by local officials to at least look at the matter and expand opportunities for housing assistance.

In 1998, the city created an affordable housing trust fund that accumulates money as residential and commercial developers contribute affordable housing fees.

The housing trust fund balance is now $1.4 million, according to Calabasas project planner Joyce Parker-Bozylinski. But the fund could be bigger, officials said. The city’s current developer fee is lower than most other jurisdictions and doesn’t reflect current market conditions, Parker-Bozylinski said.

To address the issue, city staff will hire a housing consultant to update the Calabasas housing inlieu fee for residential and commercial development.

City staff also will take steps to aid new construction of senior and workforce housing. They plan to identify the city’s housing trust fund monies available for affordable housing and will contact developers about putting those funds to work. The city council mentioned possible cooperative efforts with the city of Thousand Oaks, which has been a leader in the affordable housing arena, and Many Mansions, the nonprofit affordablehousing provider.

In addition, the council will develop a community workshop to discuss the benefits of providing senior and workforce housing and will further investigate six potential sites for affordable housing.

The sites include the following:

• The 6.6-acre Pet Kennel site at the end of Canwood Street at the western edge of the city;

• The 2.7-acre Malibu Hills Road site at the perimeter of Lost Hills Business Park;

• The 8.6-acre golf driving range site south of the 101 Freeway off of Calabasas Road;

• The 4.5-acre old courthouse site on the north side of the 101 Freeway off of Parkway Calabasas;

• The 41-acre Messenger site within the Las Virgenes Gateway scenic corridor; and

• The 7.5-acre Pontoppidan site on the west side of Las Virgenes Road, south of Agoura Road. (But James Bozajian, council member, said the Pontoppidan site isn’t a likely location for affordable housing because the owners don’t want to sell the land.)

On separate front, the city plans to expand its rental assistance program. Last year, residents of Calabasas Village Mobile Estates on Mulholland Highway were expected to pay an 8 percent rent increase. As a temporary fix, the city adopted an interim two-year senior voucher program that gives about $75 to $100 a month to qualified senior citizens or disabled people in need.

According to a city report, one of the most critical issues facing affordable housing in Calabasas is the steady increase in rent for local workers and lower income senior citizens, who are being priced out of the community.

Many residents are up in arms.

“The current lack of ordinance in the city of Calabasas, coupled with vague state codes and lack of specific legislation, has allowed the apartment rental industry to conduct business in a way that is now causing an uproar at Malibu Canyon Apartments,” Anthony Pecoraro, a spokesperson for the Malibu Canyon renters said in a statement.

Pecoraro has petitioned the city on the renters’ behalf.

“If there were good faith negotiations on behalf of the apartment owners, then the present dismay would never occur and tenants by the hundreds would never need to approach and address the city via petition and in person,” Pecoraro said.

Calabasas currently offers limited affordable housing, including 140 units at Malibu Canyon Apartments, 120 units at Malibu Meadows Apartments, six units at Malibu Creek Condominiums and several mobile homes at Calabasas Village Mobile Estates for senior citizens. Most of the units are occupied and the number of affordable units isn’t enough to meet demand, officials said.

State law requires that cities and counties identify affordable housing needs every five years in what’s called a housing element. Calabasas was to conduct a housing element by June 2005, but the state extended the deadline to June 2006.