Agency Asks City to Buy Land for Low-Income Housing

The fate of a $3.5-million housing project could be decided tonight when the nonprofit affordable-housing agency Many Mansions asks the City Council to buy the land under the project.

The purchase plan is the latest attempt by Many Mansions to get its new low-income housing project past restrictions imposed by Measure E, a growth-control measure approved by city voters in 1996.

If the council follows Planning Department recommendations and supports the purchase, it would bolster the argument that conversion of the Village Inn motel into a housing development meets the definition of a “public land” project. Such a designation would exempt it from Measure E.

“This proposal will take the project right out of the gray area and put it in the black and white,” said Dan Hardy, executive director for Many Mansions, who contends that the project deserves to be considered a public-land development.

Because the Thousand Oaks Boulevard motel now is designated for commercial use, the city would also have to change its zoning and grant a special-use permit if the Many Mansions project is to go forward.

If the council finds that the project doesn’t qualify for the public-land designation, voters would need to approve the project before it could proceed.

Many Mansions hopes to support the public-land argument by selling the land underneath the Village Inn motel, but not the building itself, to the city. The land would be exchanged for the $1 million the city already was contributing to the project; Many Mansions would pay rent of $1 a year.

To further underscore the public-land argument, Many Mansions is proposing to set aside 10 of the motel’s 60 units for use by public and nonprofit agencies, such as the Sheriff’s Department and Lutheran Social Services. Many Mansions would convert the remaining 50 units into low-income housing.

The Thousand Oaks City Council rejected the public-land argument in the original Many Mansions proposal in February. It decided the housing project was subject to Measure E and consequently needed voter approval, but it is unclear how the council will handle the amended proposal.

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“I have no intention of providing any exception to Measure E,” said Mayor Mike Markey. “But Many Mansions has come back with a different request and a different use, and I’ll evaluate their proposal on the basis of the new request.”

City councilwoman and Measure E booster Linda Parks said she remains skeptical of the project. “If it’s a residential project on public land, it’s still a residential project,” she said.

“There’s a difference between a residential use and a hotel,” Parks continued. “People in a hotel don’t use the schools. People in a hotel don’t generate seven car trips a day.”

If the Many Mansions project is approved, the company would rent apartments with kitchenettes for no more than $400 a month. The low-rent units would serve the area’s burgeoning population of low-income service and retail workers.

The project also would reserve a dozen apartments for disabled or homeless residents who receive federal Section 8 housing support.

Many Mansions director Hardy said he is confident the City Council will approve the amended proposal.

“This is obviously the just thing to do,” he said.

If Many Mansions does not receive City Council approval by June 15, it could lose state funding and a purchase agreement with the current Village Inn owner.

City housing services manager Olav Hassel said the project’s location and proposed multiple uses make it ideal for low-income residents and the community as a whole.

“I doubt very much we’ll ever see anything like this again,” he said.