Irvine Co. Can Set Prices at Will

Irvine Co. Vice Chairman Ray Watson’s primer on affordable housing in Orange County (May 6) had all the validity of a used-car salesman trying to sell us a lemon.

Watson’s solution to the exorbitant housing prices charged by developers in Orange County? “Build enough housing to meet the need and watch what old-fashioned competition will do to prices.”

Who are you kidding, Mr. Watson? According to your own article, Irvine has “a shortfall of 60,000 homes.” Assuming that this dubious statistic is accurate, just how the heck do you expect our overtaxed infrastructure to handle the impact of all those people?

In case you haven’t noticed, we haven’t enough water to satisfy our current needs. Our traffic system is at near-gridlock. How do you propose to pay for the huge increase in demand for municipal services?

Mr. Watson blames the controlled-growth policies of the Irvine City Council for the high cost of housing. Gee, Mr. Watson, why don’t you tell us how much it really costs the Irvine Co. to build one of those $300,00 homes? Why is a $100,000 house in Riverside three times more expensive in Irvine?

The truth, Mr. Watson, is that more housing has been built in Irvine in the last five years than during any other period. Despite that growth, prices have skyrocketed because the Irvine Co.’s status in the community as a monopolistic landowner permits it to set the cost of housing at whatever it darn well pleases. And that growth, without the necessary municipal resources, has resulted in taxing our traffic, our public safety and our water supply.

The Irvine City Council has shown farsighted restraint in restricting growth until the funding and natural resources are available to support it.

STEPHEN C. SMITH

Santa Ana