Making Thousand Oaks Affordable

Saying the issue of affordable housing is too complex for quick solutions, the Thousand Oaks City Council has decided to form a citizens committee to study the objective of creating less expensive homes and apartments for those challenged by escalating prices and rents.

The council voted unanimously Tuesday night to create a seven-member committee this fall to work with consultants, city staff, building industry experts and residents to determine preferred methods for encouraging developers to offer dwellings at below-market rates.

The committee will include one representative each from two nonprofit groups that build and manage affordable housing in the city, Many Mansions and the Area Housing Authority of the County of Ventura.

“I see this as a very complex issue. There are a number of competing interests,” said Mayor Andy Fox, who unsuccessfully pushed for a larger committee that would have included two members each from the council and Planning Commission.

Fox suggested the council place one of its own members on the panel to facilitate future meetings and to bring “political reality” into the process. Certain suggestions for creating low-cost housing -- such as building apartments in industrial sections of the city -- may seem viable, he said, but have little chance of winning council approval or public support.

Several council members said the public usually is divided between slow-growth advocates who oppose any additional construction in town and those who support affordability but worry that lower-priced homes could harm property values. Residents also worry about how added housing will affect traffic, school enrollment, fire and police service, sewers and pollution, council members said.

“There’s never been an affordable-housing project where people have lined up and said, ‘Looks great. Let’s bring it into our neighborhood,’ ” Fox said.

Mayor Pro Tem Bob Wilson Sr., who has supported making builders set aside up to 35% of all new units as affordable, said a priority should be given to protecting the character of neighborhoods. “I think that’s what our focus can be, deciding where we can put affordable housing so as not to devalue existing homes,” he said.

Councilmen Ed Masry and Dennis Gillette questioned city staff about earlier subsidies for apartment and condominium projects that only required them to remain affordable for five- and 10-year periods.

Since 1990, nearly 1,200 dwellings that received city assistance have reverted to market rents or resale prices, and restrictions on 74 other units are set to expire by next year.

“I’m frustrated that we’re losing our inventory faster than we can add new units,” Gillette said.

Councilwoman Claudia Bill-de la Pena said it was crucial that the citizens committee begin its work soon and search for ways to keep existing affordable units from being converted. In Thousand Oaks, rents for new two-bedroom apartments start at $1,400, and new single-family homes sell for more than $600,000.

The council is expected to appoint members this fall.

Additionally, the council Tuesday approved a municipal code amendment to speed up processing applications for secondary dwelling units, or granny flats.

Homeowners no longer need to request a special use permit to build a one-story, two-bedroom attached addition of up to 499 square feet, provided it meets all other city standards. The change was made to conform to state law, which mandates swift approval of such applications submitted after July 1.

However, because Thousand Oaks also requires a homeowner to build a two-car garage with such additions, Fox argued that few people would ever apply.

Council members also directed city staff to analyze establishing a separate process to apply for larger expansions, including detached additions, although they would require public hearings and approval by the Planning Commission and council.

In a split vote, with Wilson and Bill-de la Pena opposed, the council eased limits on how many people can live in a rented home or apartment, another move to conform to state law.

As part of that decision, the council instructed the Planning Commission to review whether the city should periodically inspect rental units and consider whether the city should alter its regulations for boardinghouses, where tenants stay for less than a month at a time.