IRVINE : Affordable Housing Project OKd

The Planning Commission approved a low-income housing project this week by a 3-2 vote, but neighbors said they will ask the City Council to overturn the decision.

San Francisco-based Bridge Housing Corp. won approval to build 84 low-income apartments in eight buildings on a four-acre lot at Santa Alicia and Santa Clara streets. The company modified a previously rejected plan by incorporating all parking within the project.

Nearby homeowners in the Westpark II community say the development should not be restricted to low-income residents.

“This will segregate all of the affordable housing in one location, and that location is going to have substandard housing,” said John Kleinpeter, secretary of the Brindisi Homeowners Assn. “It will affect property values.”

Because the city required at least 5% of the apartments to be for low-income residents, the project would not have been financially feasible unless the developer made it entirely low-income, thereby qualifying for generous tax credits, Commissioner Dave Christensen said.

“My heart was with the homeowners,” Christensen said. “But the developers have satisfied all the city requirements, which are onerous.”

Commissioner David Kelly, who voted with commission member Chris Elliott against the project, said city requirements should be changed.

“The fundamental issue is the clustering of affordable housing in one area of the city,” Kelly said.

Councilman Greg Smith said the dispute indicates the need for an update of the city’s affordable housing regulations. “If the requirements are bad, then we need to change them,” Smith said.