Construction of Affordable Housing to Begin in Piru : Development: The planned low-income subdivision is gaining support among residents of the county’s poorest community. A county loan program gives them top priority.

Just off Piru’s Main Street, on land once covered with orange trees, construction is set to begin on 114 houses priced to give longtime residents a shot at owning their first homes.

Wary that it would attract gangs, graffiti and other urban problems, many residents in this town of 1,148 initially fought the subdivision, called Citrus View Homes.

 But although some remain skeptical, others have come to accept the development and even to view it with hope.

In part, the residents have been won over by the prospect of a county-run, no-interest loan program that will offer each qualifying family up to $20,000 toward a down payment.

Owners will make no loan payments unless they decide to sell the home or transfer the title, at which time the entire loan is due. If the original owner remains in the house for 30 years, the down-payment loan will be forgiven.

“We want to make sure all those people get a chance first before we let anybody from outside the area have an opportunity to buy,” said developer Lynn Jacobs.

Residents displaced by the Northridge earthquake also will be given priority for the loans, followed by people who work in Piru.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors last week approved the guidelines for the $475,000 federally-funded program, which will offer assistance to at least 24 families.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee, who represents Piru, said the new homes are needed to relieve a housing shortage and replace ones heavily damaged by the earthquake.

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In recent years, she said, “there hasn’t been much housing built in Piru, even by individuals.”

Jacobs, who is president of Ventura-based Affordable Communities Inc., has worked to build low-income housing in Ventura County since 1981. According to county planners, Citrus View Homes is the largest affordable-housing project targeted at home buyers in the unincorporated area of the county since Cabrillo Village was built in the 1970s.

In addition to the Piru project, which is expected to be complete in late 1995 or early 1996, she is building a 151-unit development in east Ventura.

Jacobs said she chose Piru in 1989 because of the unmet housing need, the income level and the availability of the 23-acre orange orchard, which was already zoned for residential use.

“This was the ideal piece of property,” she said. “We didn’t want to get involved with having to rezone property.”

With a per-capita income of $8,386 and a median household income of $27,000, Piru ranks as the poorest community in Ventura County. More than one-third of the town’s adults work in agriculture or related industries. More than half the people over 18 have not graduated from high school, and a quarter did not enter the ninth grade.

And one in 10 homes in Piru do not have phones.

Because of a lack of houses and apartments, young people have few options besides living with their parents or moving elsewhere.

“In talking to people there, I found a lot of them were frustrated because their families had been there for generations, but there was nowhere for them to live,” Jacobs said.

When Jacobs began meeting with community members to discuss her plans, she faced resistance from those who thought a subdivision would change the town’s character.

“People didn’t see any reason for it,” said Al Gaitan, president of the Neighborhood Council in Piru. “We’re a small, unique community and we hold tight. We don’t want to explode like Fillmore, Simi Valley or Moorpark. You look at all those towns, they were smaller than Piru at one time.”

Residents eventually were swayed by Jacobs’ appearances at town council meetings and by guarantees that the down-payment assistance program would be offered first to Piru residents, Gaitan said.

Now, the question on most people’s minds is whether they can afford to move in.

Designed to blend with the existing architecture of Piru, Citrus Views’ three- and four-bedroom units will feature wood siding and front porches. Grading and construction are scheduled to begin next month.

Prices have not been set, but the one- and two-story units are expected to sell for $139,000 to $170,000. Each will sit on a lot of at least 5,000 square feet, Jacobs said.

Unlike most for-profit developers who mix low-income housing within larger projects, Jacobs builds only low-income and affordable housing.

As a result, she does not ask for special concessions--such as higher density or laxer building requirements--in seeking approval for her projects.

“I think Lynn has a very sincere concern for those people who cannot afford to buy housing and a very sincere interest in providing products people can afford,” said Marty Robinson, deputy county administrative officer.

Even without the county loan program, Jacobs said she would have no trouble marketing the new homes. Already, 250 families--many from Piru--have filled out applications expressing an interest in buying.