HUNTINGTON BEACH : City to Introduce Rental Plan for Poor
The City Council tonight is scheduled to introduce an ordinance designed to encourage commercial construction of hotel-like homes for the working poor.
Such buildings rent single-room occupancy accommodations--known as SROs--at rates affordable to low-income workers. SROs have been extensively and successfully used in San Diego County for several years.
The ordinance before the Huntington Beach City Council would amend the city’s building and housing codes to allow commercial SRO buildings.
The ordinance would require that each rental unit have toilet facilities and a small kitchen built into the single room. The ordinance also would require 24-hour professional management, much like a hotel, to oversee cleanliness and security in the buildings.
Huntington Beach is under pressure to build more low-cost housing because of redevelopment. State law requires 15% of all new housing built in a redeveloped area to be affordable to low-and moderate-income families. The city, which has had extensive redevelopment, is failing to build enough low-cost housing to keep up with state requirements, city staffers have said.
Construction of SROs would help the city fulfill its obligation and would also help low-income workers in the city, according to a recent city report.
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