Hidden Hills Plans Poll on Low-Cost Units for Seniors

The Hidden Hills City Council outlined a plan Monday to poll its residents early next year about a proposal to build a low-cost housing project for senior citizens on the edge of the gated community.

The city is considering a proposal to build 46 units of affordable housing for senior citizens outside the town’s two gates on a small portion of 25 acres the city would annex.

The proposal would allow the city to comply with state housing law as well as settle a lawsuit over its redevelopment agency. The redevelopment agency, formed in 1984 to fund a flood-control project, was the target of a lawsuit by Los Angeles County alleging that Hidden Hills is not a blighted area and should not reap the tax benefits of redevelopment. The settlement hinges on the city’s compliance with state law requiring that a portion of redevelopment funds be spent on affordable housing.

But at two public meetings last month, a group of residents emerged who strongly oppose the affordable housing proposal. Their opposition prompted the City Council to agree to conduct an informal poll of the town’s residents.

On Monday night, the council also formed a committee to advise it on how to conduct the poll. Mayor Chris K. Van Paski named himself and Councilman H. Brian Herdeg to the committee along with four residents, three of whom have publicly opposed the senior citizen housing proposal.

Van Paski suggested that the advisory committee forward its recommendations to the council on Nov. 20, two weeks after the council is expected to mail an informational letter to the residents.

In December, the City Council will accept written arguments on the proposal, which will be quoted in the poll forms, to be distributed in January.

City Atty. Wayne K. Lemieux has maintained that the senior citizen proposal would have little impact on the quality of life in the rural city of 2,000.

The 46-unit project outside the town’s gates would be separated from the existing city by a hill, and access roads would be separate from those leading to the city, according to Lemieux.

It would be built on about two acres of the 25-acre area proposed for annexation. The developer, Danny Howard, wants to build a small commercial area on about three acres next to the senior citizen project and nine luxury homes on the remaining 20 acres.

Last year, Hidden Hills told the Southern California Assn. of Governments that it had no room left to build affordable housing, but the regional planning agency rejected the argument.

Some support for the affordable housing proposal has emerged in the city.

Thomas A. Appleton, an active member of the town’s community association, last week sent residents a letter in which he appealed to what he called Hidden Hills’ “silent majority.” Appleton wrote:

“If we were talking about a leper colony or a maximum-security prison, I might understand the negative public outcry. . . . The inference that somehow these lower-class citizens will somehow sully our pristine community makes me ill. Many who currently live inside our gates could not afford it if they had to buy in at today’s rates.”