Tough Plan Urged for Affordable Housing : Construction: Huntington Beach lacks residences for low- and moderate-income families, reports say.

This still-growing city--the third largest in population in Orange County--woefully lacks affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, a citizens’ task force reported on Monday.

The report added that tough new measures are needed, including a requirement that developers make at least 10% of all new residences affordable to moderate- and low-income residents.

“The community need for affordable housing has not been adequately addressed by the city and, therefore, should be considered as part of all new development projects,” said the report presented to the City Council.

A city staff report that accompanied the citizens’ task force recommendations also called for tougher action to secure affordable housing. The staff report said that 20% affordable housing should be required of builders entering into exclusive contracts, such as development agreements, or requesting zoning changes for their projects.

“A 20% requirement would be more beneficial to the city in meeting its goals,” the city staff report said.

The task force also suggested that the city have an alternative for developers who don’t think they can build low-cost housing on the site. That alternative would be a $1-per-square-foot fee charged to the developer for new projects. The city would use that money to secure affordable housing in such ways as converting existing buildings.

The citizens’ Task Force on Affordable Housing was appointed by the City Council in September. For purposes of the group’s study, very-low-income households were defined as those earning less than $26,100 a year. Low-income families were defined as those earning $26,100 to $41,760, and moderate-income households were put at $41,760 to $62,640.

The task force said that very-low-income families can afford mainly rental housing.

“The city should identify locations for single-room-occupancy projects and other innovative projects which target the very-low-income (households),” the task force report said.

The City Council last year approved guidelines for developing one-room-housing projects for the poor that would be similar to hotels. But no such project has gone beyond the talking stage.