COSTA MESA : Anaheim Takes In 24 Homeless Houses

The city of Anaheim on Wednesday saved 24 houses from the wrecking ball by agreeing to let county officials move them from Costa Mesa onto the site of a former waste-hauling station near Anaheim Stadium.

The county wants the homes for low-income housing to replace dilapidated houses in unincorporated areas such as El Modena, next to Orange, and Colonia Independencia, next to Anaheim. But the county had no place to store the homes temporarily until Anaheim came to the rescue.

“We are really grateful to the city,” said Bob Pusavat, program manager at the county’s housing and community development agency. “The bottom line is it will really help poor people.”

The county will begin moving the houses along a 1 1/2-mile strip of Victoria Street between Harbor Boulevard and Canyon Drive by June, Pusavat said. The 7 1/2-acre site in Anaheim is at Douglass Street and Katella Avenue.

It costs about $15,000 to move each house. Costa Mesa has pledged $150,000 toward the moving costs, and the county will contribute up to $550,000.

Costa Mesa wants to clear a total of 69 homes from the Victoria Street area to make room for a $25-million street-widening project scheduled to start in early August.

Bob Brock, Costa Mesa’s assistant city engineer whose division is overseeing the street-widening project, said the city will probably have to demolish any homes the county does not take.

The county may eventually move a few more homes, Pusavat said.

Joel Fick, Anaheim’s planning director, said Anaheim agreed to accept the houses because the lot is not located near residential areas. He said the county also agreed to move the houses off the lot within one year.

Fick said the city does not foresee any security problems. The county has agreed to board up the houses it places on the lot, which is fenced off from the surrounding area.

The County Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the move of the houses at a meeting next week. In March, the supervisors approved saving up to 35 homes on Victoria Street for use as low-income housing.