Affordable housing not popular
Morrison Ranch opposes plan
By Stephanie Bertholdo bertholdo@theacorn.com

The Morrison Ranch Homeowners Association board of directors doesn't want affordable housing units included in the Agoura Village residential plan, said Jim Lahana, the association's president, at last week's Agoura Hills City Council meeting.

During a public hearing on the city's plans for redevelopment, Lahana told the City Council that he thought low-income housing might attract crime, degrade the quality of schools and negatively impact home values.

"We want an upscale community, not downscale," Lahana said

His homeowners association wants a communitywide discussion on the impact that lowincome housing will have on local residents and the quality of life in Agoura Hills.

Under California Redevelopment Law, 15 percent of the total number of housing units developed in specified redevelopment project areas must be made available to very low-, low- and moderate-income households, said Mike Kamino, Agoura Hills' director of planning and community development.

The Agoura Village area around Kanan and Agoura roads is a designated redevelopment corridor, and under the law 100 of the 600 proposed units must be set aside as affordable. Forty of those homes must be targeted to verylowincome families. A verylowincome household is defined as a family of four with a total income of $35,000. A low-income family of the same size earns $56,000, moderate-income households $68,000 per year.

Rental units in Agoura Hills average $1,833 per month, which requires an annual income of $73,320.

California law requires every redevelopment agency within the state to allocate 20 percent of its tax increment to affordable housing in designated project areas.

Under the redevelopment rules, to be considered affordable, a lowincome unit couldn't sell for more than $115,000, and a moderateincome unit could be priced no higher than $195,000, Assistant City Manager Nathan Hamburger said in a previous report to the council.

The city will subsidize 50 percent of the price gap for real estate developers who incorporate lowand very-low-income housing in Agoura Village, but will not share the deficit with developers of moderate-income housing.

The plan also calls for subsidized units to be indistinguishable visually from other units in the development. Recognizable lowincome areas are not allowed.

Lahana said he wouldn't want to live next door to a family who paid less for their unit, adding that the plan "wasn't fair."

When Mayor Pro Tem Denis Weber said affordable housing is mandated, Lahana, an attorney, said Agoura Hills didn't need to be the "first on board" to embrace such housing.

Lahana said lower income families are generally less educated, and he equated verylowincome families with "fast food workers," crime and gang activity. He also said residents are worried that low-income families would violate housing codes and allow multiple families to move into single units.

City Manager Craig Steele said teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public workers fall into the low- and moderate-income range. (The city already has a "silent second" mortgage program to help public workers afford a home in Agoura Hills.) Workers who perhaps need affordable housing the most are those in the retail and service sectors. Single parents, construction workers and dual-income lowwage earners were also mentioned in the category of those who would benefit from the plan.

The Morrison Ranch HOA will distribute a letter to 1,226 Morrison homeowners asking them to contact their elected representatives and urge them to host future meetings to discuss the matter.

"Why are Calabasas and Westlake Village upscale and Agoura Hills always seems to be a poor sister?" Lahana asked.

The affordable housing plan, he said, will make Agoura Hills the "repository for lowincome housing in the Conejo Valley. If you can't afford the rent or you can't afford the prices in Agoura Hills, should you live in Agoura Hills? My inclination is that we are not moving in the right direction."

Acorn Bits

In the house

Cities throughout California are required to provide affordable housing, although the mechanisms to meet local and state requirements differ from town to town.

According to Mike Kamino, director of community development for the city of Agoura Hills, California law requires all cities to provide their "fair share" of affordable housing for very-low- to above-moderate-income households.

A study by the Southern California Association of Governments requires cities to create a specified number of housing units for the lower income brackets through 2014.

The SCAG assessment plan calls upon cities to include a housing element in their general plans, evaluating existing and future housing needs. Cities are mandated by state law to include their "fair share" regional housing needs allocation for all income groups, including verylow and lowincome earners. Moderate and abovemoderate-income earners are also included in the equation.

Affordable housing in Calabasas is provided in two apartment buildings- Archstone and Malibu Canyon- but rents are subsidized through the Los Angeles County Housing Authority, not the city, said Taylyn Mirzakhanian, a planner for the city of Calabasas,

Kamino said other cities count "granny flats" or second units built on existing property as part of their affordable housing equation. But while second units meet some affordable housing mandates, they don't meet all of the requirements under the law, Kamino said.

The need to build affordable housing is imperative. "(Cities) can't avoid it," Kamino said.