Local News in Brief : Irvine : City Council Accepts Irvine Co. Farmhouses

The Irvine City Council voted 4 to 0 Tuesday night to accept two run-down farmhouses from the Irvine Co. for use as homeless shelters.

Irvine Temporary Housing, a nonprofit agency, has agreed to operate the shelters after they are renovated. A project schedule is still pending.

“I think this is an exceptional opportunity to use these historic farmhouses for an important public purpose,” Mayor Larry Agran said Wednesday. “The city is doing its fair share to help address the homeless problem in America.”

The shelters will each house five people or two families.

Officials estimate that about two-dozen homeless people live in Irvine, mostly single women and children.

Several private organizations have offered free labor and materials--worth about $14,000--to make the improvements needed to bring the buildings up to health and safety standards. A city inspection found sagging floors, wall and ceiling cracks, poor wiring and deteriorating roofs.

The farmhouses, on Irvine Co. agricultural property near Sand Canyon Avenue and the Santa Ana Freeway, have been used by company field hands for the past 50 years.

Under fire from citizens’ groups, Irvine abandoned a previous plan to convert part of an animal shelter into a 50-bed homeless center. Also, the federal government rejected the city’s request for funds for the conversion.