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AHA2006/08/08ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA ANAHEIM HOUSING AUTHORITY MEETING AUGUST 8, 2006 The Anaheim Housing Authority met in regular session in the Chambers of the Anaheim City Hall located at 200 South Anaheim Boulevard. PRESENT: Chairman Curt Pringle, Authority Members: Richard Chavez, Lorri Galloway, Bob Hernandez and Harry Sidhu STAFF PRESENT: City Manager David Morgan, City Attorney Jack White, Secretary Sheryll Schroeder A copy of the agenda for the meeting of the Anaheim Housing Authority was posted on August 4, 2006 at the City Hall outside bulletin board. Chairman Pringle called the regular meeting to order at 5:35 P.M. in the Council Chambers of Anaheim City Hall, 200 South Anaheim Boulevard. ADDITIONSIDELETIONS TO THE AGENDA: None COUNCIL/AGENCY/HOUSING AUTHORITY JOINT PUBLIC COMMENTS: Johanna Gullick, Jamboree Housing Corporation, spoke in support of Item No. 6. To correct misinformation disseminated at the last Council meeting, she stated Jamboree held public and neighborhood meetings and offered tours of several similar developments. The comments and concerns received related to density, whether or not the units were for families, alternative uses of the site and points of contacts for any problems occurring on the site. She reported Jamboree had reduced the facility from 33 units to 25 units, increased the two bedroom units from four to ten and eliminated all studio units. She emphasized resident screening was extensive and sex offenders or those with violent or criminal backgrounds were prohibited from living on the site; in addition, there would be a property manager on site as well as two case workers. She added studies had shown that property values were not negatively impacted with the location of this type of resident facility and she believed the developer had come up with a design in the spirit of Anaheim's historical district and would continue to work with neighborhood residents. Helen Cameron, Executive Director of Homes Inc., addressed the Jamboree project, remarking that a similar home had been located in Anaheim for 15 years and had never received a complaint from a neighbor. She pointed to the need for this type of program in the community and described the typical resident clientele. Council Member Galloway explained to the audience she left the dais when William Fitzgerald took the podium during public comment session, having made the choice not to be victimized by an individual using the microphone for personal attacks. She added the relentless attacks on the Eli Home was an affront to a 23 year-old charity which does good work and was a travesty to the volunteers, staff and board members who dedicated their lives to this organization. Mark Refowitz, Director, Orange County Mental Health Agency, supported Item No. 6, indicating the health care agency provided behavioral services to more than 60,000 residents each year. Anaheim Housing Authority Meeting August 8, 2006 Page 2 When Proposition 63 was approved in 2004, funds were available to provide programs for the homeless mentally ill in Orange County and this funding allowed individual service to be provided to residents in safe affordable housing in partnership with cities to provide such housing opportunities. Erica Poa, former resident of a Homes facility, stated she had recovered her mental health through the programs provided at the housing facility and was now living on her own with HUD assistance. Caesar Covarrubias, Kennedy Commission, urged support for Jamboree Housing to provide more housing options for working families in the City and to meet the City's strategic plan goals. Howard Black, Alliance for Mentally III in Orange County, spoke on the issue of mental illness from his personal knowledge, addressing the need for programs and housing for such individuals. He stated Anaheim had an opportunity to step up and do the right thing for a group of people not able to help themselves. Jeff Thrash, Executive Director of Mental Health Association of Orange County, announced his organization provided services to 20,000 individuals a year, similar to the programs offered at Jamboree Housing. He emphasized these programs had taken the homeless, provided them with housing and care and 80 percent of those involved were no longer homeless and 50 percent were now employed. He strongly supported the Jamboree project for their proven track record of success. Alan Baldwin, Executive Director of Orange County Community Housing Corporation, expressed support for Jamboree Housing project stating Jamboree Housing and Homes, Inc. were exceptional leaders with proven successful projects and programs. Eric Altman, Orange County Community Organized for Responsible Development, stated that over the next few years thousands of market rate housing would be constructed in the Platinum Triangle, however, none would be affordable to low wage earners. At the same time, low wage service sector jobs would be needed in the City. His organization supported projects such as Jamboree's project and special needs housing as a part of the overall need for affordable housing. Martin Lopez, resident, currently financial treasurer of Hotel Employees Union, reported that many members were working in Anaheim but could not afford to live there as the average cost of housing in Anaheim reflected the need for $27 an hour wages. The union supported projects such as Jamboree Housing Corporation that would pay standard wages to local construction workers. Kathryn Aiken, resident, spoke against the Jamboree project, recommending the site which was originally promised as a park, be utilized as a park for neighborhood children. Paul Kott, resident, objected to the Jamboree Housing facility, stating there would be repercussions to adjacent residents and it was not an appropriate use for the site. Stan Polowski, resident, spoke against the Jamboree project, remarking the Anaheim Housing Committee had voted against the project because of the area and density factor which still remained as concerns of the neighborhood. Anaheim Housing Authority Meeting August 8, 2006 Page 3 Debra Baker, resident, questioned why she had been denied a permit to build a granny flat unit for a sick relative because she lived in a sewer depleted area and the City would allow a 25 unit housing project in that same area. Mayor Pringle asked for a report back to Council as to why an individual would be denied construction based on sewer depletion. Marcia Garten provided a letter from the League of Women Voters, supporting the Jamboree housing project believing all citizens deserve to live in clean, safe housing. James Duran, resident, spoke of his neighborhood being saturated with low income residents, with unsupervised children, homelessness and graffiti. He felt the Jamboree project would further exacerbate the problem. Rachel Pedroza, current chair of Orange County Health Board, stated the Jamboree Housing project was a wonderful opportunity to provide decent housing to needy individuals. Lucy Methot, resident, stated the Jamboree project would not directly affect her, but her property in Fullerton had been adversely affected by the location of a halfway house near her property. Shaboo Berke stated she suffered from mental illness and now lived in a low income tax credit property on Beach Boulevard and Ball Road, adding it was a well maintained facility with strict regulations for the residents residing there, many of whom did not have cars and did not drive. Judy Adams supported Jamboree Housing, emphasizing mental illness was not a gateway to crime, drug use or other addictions. She indicated programs such as those provided by Homes, Inc. were for people like her to get back into the community. Sean Albiotti, resident, opposed the Jamboree project stating the numerous children in the neighborhood could be affected. Dane Lybart, resident, believed the project redesign had changed for the better as it would service families. He stated there would be much more oversight in this development than there would be with a regular apartment building as the residents of this project would be well looked after. At 6:35 P.M., with the conclusion of the public comments, the Housing Authority was recessed to consider the Redevelopment Agency agenda and reconvened by Chairman Pringle at 7:15 P. M. CONSENT CALENDAR: Chairman Pringle removed Item No. 6 from the consent calendar for further discussion. Authority Member Sidhu moved to approve the remaining consent calendar item, seconded by Authority Member Galloway. Roll call vote: Ayes - 5; Chairman Pringle, Authority Members: Chavez, Galloway, Hernandez and Sidhu. Noes - 0. Motion carried. 7. Approve the regular meeting minutes of July 11 2006. END OF CONSENT: 6. Approve an Affordable Housing Agreement between the Anaheim Housing Authority and 3963.A Jamboree Housing Corporation (Diamond Street Apartments), authorize the Executive Director to execute the agreement on behalf of the Housing Authority, and approve an Anaheim Housing Authority Meeting August 8, 2006 Page 4 extension of the Exclusive negotiation Agreement between the Housing Authority and Jamboree Housing Corporation for a period of 90 days in order to reach an agreement on the Greenleaf/Glenoaks site. Elisa Stipkovich indicated staff, after hearing issues raised at a previous Housing Authority meeting, had withdrawn the item from a previous agenda in order to refine the development concept. Since that meeting, staff had also met with Jamboree Housing Corporation and the public on a number of occasions with Jamboree electing to modify the design from 33 units to 25 one and two bedroom apartments and eliminating the studio units. She explained the project would serve the same special needs population, however, staff and Jamboree had worked with the community regarding the design and management of the property. Chairman Pringle remarked that much previous public testimony had already been received relating to the Diamond Street apartments and that staff and the Housing Authority had listened to those comments. Authority Member Sidhu asked staff what the total project cost was when the exclusive negotiation agreement had been approved last March. Ms. Stipkovich responded 33 units had been originally proposed assuming a nine percent tax credit and a ground lease. The current proposal, she stated, was to use a four percent tax credit in combination with a variety of different programs offered by the State with no need for additional subsidy from the City. The Authority would ground lease the site to the developer, who would be required to pay a lease payment of 85 percent of net revenues. Authority Member Sidhu stated he believed the scope of the project had now changed significantly and that the request for proposals should be re- advertised to be fair to all affordable housing providers. He added the total construction cost for the 25 units was almost $9.8 million and he felt a new request for proposal process should be undertaken to insure that cost was appropriate. City Attorney Jack White indicated the City was not obligated legally to send this out again for further proposals. He stated the City negotiated with a developer chosen through a competitive process and had now downsized the project which was part of the request for proposal negotiation process. Chairman Pringle confirmed that when this site was put out to bid, Jamboree Housing and one other developer were both proposing 33 units. He added Jamboree was selected because there was no additional subsidy requested and the other developer was looking for a greater subsidy from the City. Now, because of the Housing Authority's concerns over the number of units, Jamboree had reduced the amount of units proposed through a negotiation process, and Chairman Pringle did not feel this proposal should be denied because the developer did what the City asked. He added the land was being provided on a long-term lease but unlike other affordable housing projects, there would be no additional City subsidy. Ms. Stipkovich pointed out the land value in the pro forma reflected a $2.3 million value; however, the City did not pay that amount. Chairman Pringle confirmed that the City purchased 19 parcels of remnant land from Orange County Transportation Agency (OCTA) eighteen months ago at less than market value due to the number of parcels being purchased. Authority Member Chavez stated he was supportive of staff's recommendation. He indicated there was much discussion regarding the project and the residents who would be served by the housing. He pointed to the success of the AIDS hospice in the west end of town in which the adjacent residential community had expressed their fears, remarking there had not been a single complaint since the project was built and it was now considered an asset to the community. He pointed to the affordable housing complex on Anaheim Boulevard which was Anaheim Housing Authority Meeting August 8, 2006 Page 5 now a shining example to the nation of what affordable housing could be. He believed the Diamond Street project would bring up the value in that immediate area and provide services to special needs families with strict oversight while also addressing the homeless issue in Orange County. Authority Member Galloway thanked Jamboree for its redesign and making the units more available for families. She spoke of the strong opposition to the Eli Home, a shelter for homeless abused children and mothers in Anaheim Hills which had made front page news, stating none of those fears expressed by nearby residents had been realized and she was very supportive of the Diamond Aisle project. Authority Member Hernandez had asked staff to provide a history on this property. Abel Avalos, Community Development Department, indicated he had conferred with Planning staff and members of the GIS Department in researching historical records and found that on the eastern portion of this site which was designated for residential development, there were two single family residential units. On or around 1988, the owner of the properties submitted a request to develop a 22 unit, three-story apartment complex on that portion of the site, but later withdrew his request. Authority Member Hernandez pointed out there once was a plan to build a 22 unit apartment complex to house the general population and the only qualification for living there would have been to have a good credit rating. In this instance, Jamboree Housing had strict rules and regulations on who should live in the residences. He added the density issue had been addressed and would decrease with the new configuration because occupancy was dependent on the number of wage earners and there was a limit to how many wage earners would be allowed to live in the complex. He pointed out this was not a mental illness facility for the general population nor was it a half-way house but it would be a well regulated tenancy not only monitored by the management company but monitored by the public Housing Authority. Chairman Pringle indicated Anaheim was like every other community struggling with the various issues but unlike those communities, those issues were on the table in the City because there was a commitment to address affordable housing needs. He was supportive of Jamboree Housing because of the quality of their work and was comfortable in having awell-run organization monitoring the project for 65 years and believed it would be an asset in the community. Authority Member Hernandez moved to approve an Affordable Housing Agreement between the Anaheim Housing Authority and Jamboree Housing Corporation (Diamond Street Apartments), authorize the Executive Director to execute the agreement on behalf of the Housing Authority, and approve an extension of the Exclusive negotiation Agreement between the Housing Authority and Jamboree Housing Corporation for a period of 90 days in order to reach an agreement on the Greenleaf/Glenoaks site, seconded by Authority Member Chavez. Roll call vote: Ayes - 4; Chairman Pringle, Authority Members: Chavez, Galloway, and Hernandez. Noes - 1; Authority Member Sidhu. Motion carried. Anaheim Housing Authority Meeting August 8, 2006 Page 6 Adjournment: There being no further business, Chairman Pringle adjourned the Anaheim Housing Authority Meeting at 7:50 P.M. Re ctfully submi , Brine Godo Interim Secretary, Anahei ousing Authority