Irvine Takes Lead in Affordable Housing . . .
Irvine is not the only community in Orange County or the state that is busy revising its housing element. State law requires all communities to do that by July 1.
What sets Irvine apart is how it is going about meeting that legal requirement.
Some cities, no doubt, will seek to do as little as possible to comply with the law. Irvine, true to form in its approach to people issues, is going to the spirit as well as the letter of the law in redrawing its housing component.
What the city Planning Commission has sent to the City Council with a do-pass recommendation are stricter requirements that will open the door to more lower-priced housing. It is risky ground--and unpopular with many land developers. But the stricter approach enables the city to more responsibly assume its fair share of affordable housing and meet the intent of the state law, which properly seeks to have each community provide a true housing mix that accommodates all economic segments.
What Irvine specifically is considering is increasing to 30% its policy that now requires at least 10% of new residential construction to include affordable housing. The requirement would primarily open more housing to residences with incomes less than $37,000 per year. To help builders provide those units, incentives like increased densities and reduced park and parking requirements would be offered.
The approach is rooted in reasonable economic considerations. For one thing, the Southern California Assn. of Governments projects a demand for those affordable houses and apartments. Irvine’s industrial parks are expected to add an estimated 50,000 new jobs in the next 7 years and the income of a large percentage of those workers will be below $37,000 per year.
It is a fact in Irvine and elsewhere that when people can’t find affordable housing near their jobs and must move, the economic stability of the business community is jeopardized because traffic congestion worsens, labor costs increase, the labor pool begins drying up, business firms stop coming in, and some companies relocate or expand elsewhere.
The growing awareness of the need for communities to provide more affordable housing was documented in a recent Times Orange County Poll in which 63% of the respondents said local government should help people who don’t have enough money to get into rental housing. And 64% supported “affordable housing” programs requiring builders to include in their new projects units for people at various income levels
At the end of February, the median price for a single family home in Orange County was $237,409, a jump of more than 32% over the previous year. That prices most people out of the home-buying market, especially young people and first-time home buyers. And with today’s rising prices and mortgage rates, homes become less affordable each month. Making affordable housing a mandatory part of each new residential development creates some problems. But not building enough affordable homes poses even greater ones. Irvine is seriously addressing the issue. The rest of Orange County should too.
