Countywide : Supervisors Urged to Attack Housing Issue

Representatives of community groups urged the Board of Supervisors Wednesday to work for more housing for low-income people and large families in the county.

Officials of church groups and nonprofit organizations told of helping thousands of people unable to save enough money to pay the two months’ rent and a security deposit needed to move into an apartment, even if they could find one that they could afford.

Bob Johnson, chairman of the county Fair Housing Council, questioned whether the county should continue to urge builders to provide housing for people earning up to 120% of the median income in the county, which is $42,000 per year.

“Can we make more efforts to address those households making less than $21,000 a year, 50% of the median?” Johnson said.

The county had a mandatory affordable housing program for several years, requiring developers in unincorporated areas to set aside 10% of their housing for people earning up to 80% of the median income, another 10% for those earning 80% to 100% of the figure, and 5% for those earning from 100% to 120%.

The program will become voluntary next month, except in such communities as Aliso Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita, where building plans were approved when the mandatory program was still in effect.

For people with nowhere near the money to buy a home, the problem of housing is often severe, especially for families with two or more children and incomes below $20,000, several people told the supervisors.

Jean Forbath, director of the Share Our Selves group, said the county needs more temporary shelters for people who need several months to save enough money to move into an apartment.

The supervisors agreed that more needs to be done on the housing issue but said that with more than 80% of the county’s residents living in cities, housing is a problem for all agencies.

The board directed the county’s interagency coordinating council, headed by County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish, to study the problem and recommend ways to lessen it. Parrish said he hopes to find a way to work out collective action with the county’s 26 cities because “the problem will not go away.”