City OKs Low-Cost Housing Inducement

The Santa Paula City Council on Monday approved a plan to grant construction bonuses to developers who agree to set aside a portion of their projects for low-cost housing.

The vote was 4 to 1, with Alfonso C. Urias dissenting.

Under terms of the ordinance, a builder who agrees to set aside a certain portion of a project’s units for low-income or very-low-income tenants will be allowed to build 25% more housing units than zoning allows.

To qualify for the so-called density bonus, a developer must set aside 10% of its units for tenants with very low incomes, as defined by federal housing guidelines, or 20% for low-income tenants.

Projects where half the units are set aside for senior citizens also would qualify for the bonus.

The units must remain affordable for at least 10 years, and up to 30 years if the city grants the developer any additional concessions. To ensure that the units remain low-cost, the city included a 10% penalty fee, plus any excess profit, for those developers who rent or sell the properties above the established rental or sales prices.

Urias, who voted against the measure, criticized the penalty as too severe.

Before approving the measure, the council wrestled with a provision that would allow a builder to sell or rent any units at market rates that remain unsold or unrented after a period of time. In the end, the council dropped the escape clause, saying it could jeopardize the intent of the ordinance.

One of the first to benefit from the ordinance could be an apartment complex that the council rejected a month ago. The developer had asked for a zone change to increase the allowable units from 15 to 21. The density bonus would allow 19 units.