Burbank City Council begins to fine tune its housing strategy to address shortage
Burbank is slowly working toward finding solutions to its housing shortage.
The City Council was briefed by staff from the Community Development Department during a meeting on July 11 about what city officials should focus on when addressing housing needs in Burbank.
Simone McFarland, an assistant community development director for the city, said council members should first redefine what affordable housing means locally.
The city has been following the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definitions of housing. Extremely-low-income households are labeled as having an annual income of $24,350 or less, very-low income as $24,350 to $40,550, and households making between $42,999 and $63,900 are defined as low income. Moderate income is defined to be between $64,990 and $70,000 a year.
Currently, residents in those housing categories can receive some type of subsidy through the Burbank Housing Authority and Section 8.
However, McFarland said that Burbank has a workforce with a higher median income who can afford to spend more on housing. Though the city’s workforce makes more than an average Burbank resident, those workers often live in different cities because of a lack of housing units, either apartments or single-family homes, available in the Burbank market.
Instead of using HUD’s definitions for housing affordability, McFarland said the city should adjust its definition, suggesting officials categorize residents in the affordable-housing spectrum in Burbank as those who make between $40,550 and $103,515 annually. The categories for subsidized housing as defined by the federal government would remain the same.
Additionally, McFarland said the city should consider having developers build micro-apartment units, which are less than 400 square feet. At about $3.21 per square foot, she said the prices for those units could go for about $1,200 a month, which would be affordable to the workforce.
In order for Burbank to attract more of its workforce to live within the city, McFarland said the City Council should continue looking into creating neighborhoods near the Hollywood Burbank Airport and in the downtown and media districts.
“These types of houses could include mixed-use, row housing, condos, duplexes and micro units, accessory-dwelling units and shared housing,” she said.
McFarland added that the city should consider offering incentives or mandates to build more affordable-housing units to developers whenever a residential project is proposed.
Fred Ramirez, an assistant community development director for the city, said staff will continue working with council members to implement the suggested policy changes over the coming years.
anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com
Twitter: @acocarpio
