Builder to Receive Grants Held During Dispute

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has settled a dispute with Ventura County’s only large private builder of housing for the poor, which will free up $145,000 in federal grants.

Distribution of the money, which should occur within two weeks, will enable the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp. to move forward with projects in several area cities, said Cabrillo Executive Director Rodney Fernandez. The funds have been frozen since last July.

The $145,000 represents nearly 40% of the annual budget of Cabrillo, which has gained national attention for innovative farm worker and “sweat equity” housing projects since its founding in 1976.

“We won,” Fernandez said Monday. “This allows us to pay back $100,000 we have borrowed this year and to try to expand some of the grant commitments to us.”

The funding freeze had slowed or stopped planning for nine new projects with nearly 700 units for families and senior citizens, he said.

In a letter to the county, which oversees distribution of HUD block grants, federal housing officials apologized for taking 10 months to rule on the Cabrillo case.

However, the housing officials said they would require more precise and detailed reports on Cabrillo’s activities. The additional reporting by Cabrillo through the county will eliminate points of contention, Fernandez said.

The funding dispute had centered on whether Cabrillo uses the HUD grants for what the department defines as administrative purposes, rather than for actual project development. An adverse ruling would have prevented local cities and Ventura County from passing along HUD community development grants to Cabrillo.

A maximum of 20% of such grants can be used for administration, and local governments, which oversee distribution of the funds to social service agencies, usually claim the full 20% for administration.

With the ruling, Cabrillo can spend federal housing grants of $75,000 from Moorpark, $60,000 from the county and $10,000 from Santa Paula. A request for a $60,000 county grant for 1990-91 also can now be pursued, as can a request for $50,000 to Camarillo, Fernandez said.

The Camarillo project is the largest proposed by Cabrillo, with 100 low-income apartments and 100 more single-family homes for so-called moderate-income families that make as much as $53,000 a year.

Projects are also planned for Ojai, Santa Paula, Oxnard and Ventura.

The HUD grants are essential, Fernandez said, because with the elimination of other federal subsidies in the 1980s, the grants have become the only stable source of income for private, nonprofit groups that build dwellings for the poor.

United Way of Ventura County, in a recent survey of social agencies, found that affordable housing was considered the biggest problem in the county.