SEAL BEACH : Panel Rejects Plan for Housing Needs

The Planning Commission has rejected a proposed housing plan for the city, saying that it unfairly places the bulk of the planned low-cost housing in Old Town and the Hill Area.

The plan, which outlines how the city will deal with future housing needs, was also rejected because it didn’t point out that the high cost of land made it difficult to provide low-cost housing in Seal Beach, Development Director Lee Whittenberg said.

The commission decided to meet again on April 18 to amend and vote on the plan.

The document, which was sent to the state Department of Housing and Community Development last month for comments, includes suggestions that the city investigate the possibility of encouraging high-density, low-income housing on two five-acre sites in the city; the conversion of an unspecified building into one-room apartments for the homeless; zoning changes to encourage low-cost housing, and financial incentives for developers of low-cost housing.

After the state has commented on the plan, the city staff plans to revise it so that all areas of the city equally share the burden of providing low-cost housing. The staff will also add a section explaining the difficulty of providing low-cost housing in an expensive beach community.