Parks Will Press for Low-Cost Homes
Pointing to an updated housing plan as proof the city needs more affordable units, Councilwoman Linda Parks said she will continue fighting to maintain a pledge for 350 low-cost apartments her council colleagues have agreed to eliminate.
The council in October voted 4 to 1 to craft a deal with Dos Vientos developers and Shapell Industries that would replace those proposed units with more expensive condominiums in exchange for receiving 180 acres of open space known as the Western Plateau.
Parks voted against that proposal, largely because it lacked low-cost housing. Newly elected Councilman Ed Masry said he agrees with Parks that there is a great need for lower-cost housing.
The Western Plateau plan is due to come back to the council for a final decision in the next couple of months.
Proponents of the land swap, including Councilman Andy Fox, have said the developers were not mandated to build the 350 units under their original agreements with the city. The Western Plateau deal, however, would provide $500,000 for housing subsidies and 50 new affordable units.
Council members will consider approving the new housing plan Tuesday. According to the updated document, the city added 1,972 housing units since 1997, but only 135 were considered affordable to low-income or very low-income residents. Another 2,692 affordable units are needed by 2005, according to projections by housing authorities.
Parks said the 350 original Dos Vientos units belong in the housing plan under the section detailing housing goals and how to meet them. But Deputy City Manager Scott Mitnick said it is not the intent of the document to spell out where all of the low-cost units will go.
Mary Harris, an affordable-housing advocate who served on a committee that reviewed the revised plan, said she’s not satisfied with it.
“I feel they could go a lot farther for affordable housing if they really wanted to,” she said.
The City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd.
