Study Urges United Effort on Affordable Housing

Public and private organizations in Ventura County should work toward a countywide plan to address a growing need for affordable housing, a study released Wednesday concludes.

The study drafted by the Ventura County Community Foundation said many people are priced out of the housing market in the county and the problem will “not be solved by the disjointed efforts of individual entities.”

Also, a lack of political leadership and negative public attitudes about low-cost housing--including the “not-in-my-back-yard syndrome”--have been powerful deterrents to such projects, according to the study.

The unscientific study--based on interviews with about 40 housing experts, business leaders and public officials--follows a survey more than a year ago of about 300 community leaders. The earlier study, conducted by the foundation in coordination with the United Way, concluded that the lack of low-cost housing was the greatest social concern in Ventura County.

The Ventura County Community Foundation is an endowment based in Camarillo. Among its 10-member board of directors are developers, a banker, an accountant, farmers and a lawyer.

Only about 12% of the county’s households can qualify for a loan to buy a $241,290 median-priced residence, according to figures from the California Assn. of Realtors.

Affordability, according to state standards, is based on a household’s ability to pay the monthly mortgage or rent payments. For low-income families, a home is affordable if the monthly payments are less than 25% of the monthly household income, the study said.

A low-income family in Ventura County is defined as a household that earns less than $24,300 a year. Housing for that family is affordable if the monthly mortgage payments are less than $506.

While the study does not provide specific recommendations, it concludes that a county housing plan should address “the way our communities use land and regulate resources.

“If an overall theme has emerged from this study, it is that affordable housing is not a singular issue. Rather, it must be looked at in the context of the socioeconomic structure of the region,” the study said.

Supervisor Maggie Erickson Kildee said she had not read the study but agrees that the need for low-cost housing is one of the county’s major issues.

She said a county housing plan, however, would dictate to each city how development should take place and would probably face strong opposition from local residents and public officials who want to retain control over development issues.

“I’m not sure how you would make that work,” she said.

Rodney Fernandez, executive director of the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., a nonprofit organization that has built low-cost housing in Fillmore and Moorpark, said he has been pushing for a regional housing plan for years.

“We are hoping to get the public and private sectors to look at this issue through a task force,” he said.

Efforts by cities in the county to build low-cost housing have been unsuccessful at meeting the growing needs of residents in the county, he said.

“There is virtually no coordination,” he said. “Everyone is doing their own thing.”

A major deterrent to affordable housing projects has been the negative perception that such projects will deteriorate into slums, the study said.

The study also said the growing wave of slow-growth sentiment will further hinder attempts to build low-cost housing by setting limits on the number of housing units allowed.