IRVINE : Project to Include Affordable Housing

The Irvine Co. said this week that its affordable-housing plan for the 2,885-home Northwood 5 project includes a goal of selling and renting 432 units--15%--to families earning close to or less than Orange County’s average income.

The company said 144 of the condominiums in the project will be affordable to Orange County families with average incomes, and another 144 apartments will rent to families earning between 50% and 80% of the county’s average income, which is about $55,000 for a family of four.

The company unveiled its affordable-housing plan for the Northwood 5 subdivision at the Irvine Planning Commission meeting held Thursday--the second of four to five such hearings on various aspects of the project. A hearing on the project’s environmental impact review is scheduled Tuesday.

Northwood 5 is the most recent residential project submitted by the Irvine Co. for city review.

The hearings on Northwood 5 come four months after the firm’s inability to resolve the fate of its 3,850-home Westpark II project, which has been stalled by a voter referendum scheduled for a November ballot.

Northwood 5’s affordable-housing plan includes a goal of 15% occupancy at prices within the range of families earning close to or less than the county’s median income. Another 288 units might be provided at similar price levels elsewhere in the city in order to help meet Irvine’s affordable housing requirements.

But the number and type of affordable units proposed by the Irvine Co. falls short of the non-binding goals adopted as part of the city’s 1989 housing plan, approved by the previous City Council. That plan calls for builders to provide 25% of new units at prices affordable to families earning 80% or less of the county’s median income.

Irvine resident David Levy criticized the Northwood 5 plan. He said the 1989 housing goals call for 12 1/2% of the units to be affordable to residents earning 50% or less of the county’s median income. The Irvine Co.’s proposal almost completely ignores such residents and guarantees no housing for them, Levy said.

In February, the City Council voted to interpret the 1989 affordable housing percentages as goals. The council also said that certain incentives in the 1989 plan should not be utilized, such as allowing the builder to provide fewer parks and to build more units than normally allowed under city guidelines. The incentives are meant to reward builders for providing affordable housing.

In addition to Tuesday’s meeting, another public hearing on Northwood 5 is scheduled for May 30. The project then faces rejection or approval by the City Council.