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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAGENDA REPORT 1992 0115 CC REG ITEM 11C12 4 I ((,) (i ;, ITEM _ RPARK 799 Moorpa�_ MgAark, California 93021 C� M E M O R A N D U M TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Donald P. Reynolds Jr., Management Analyst DATE: December 27, 1991 (805) 529 -6864 �- 'OORPARK. CAUFFORNIA City C Meeting of r ACTION: By SUBJECT: Council Consideration of the Draft Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy, ( "CHAS ") Introduction Staff is transmitting the draft CHAS document for review and comment by the Council. Attached is the draft CHAS, (Attachment 11111) and a listing of concerns identified by staff, (Attachment 112"), proposed to be forwarded to the County prior to completion of the final document. Staff is requesting that the Council consider the document and staff's comments, proposing changes where deemed appropriate, and allow staff to transmit these concerns to the County by January 24, 1991, in time to be included in the preparation of the final version of the CHAS. The document is now required by federal law to be approved by HUD prior to a jurisdiction receiving federal funds. The attached draft CHAS was prepared in cooperative manner by the Community Development Block Grant, ("CDBG"), Entitlement group, (which includes the County of Ventura, and the cities of Santa Paula, Port Hueneme, Camarillo, Ojai, Fillmore and Moorpark), and various non- profit service organizations. The data was synthesized and is presented here by the County Chief Administrative Office. Background Concurrent to the execution of the CDBG "Cooperative Agreement," (completed between the City and the County in July of this year with a term of three years) , the City was required to prepare a document describing the housing conditions within the jurisdiction which was formally known as the Housing Assistance Plan, ( "HAP"). In August of 1990, President Bush signed into law the Cranston /Gonzales Affordable Housing Act, which has had significant impacts on HUD administration, including the change in format from the HAP to the current requirement of the CHAS. The CHAS is a much more thorough analysis of current housing LAWRASON JR. BERNARDO M. PEREZ SCOTT MONTGOMERY ROY E. TALLEY JR. JOHN E WOZNIAK CHAS Input December 27, 1991 W. conditions in the jurisdiction then the HAP was, and is intended to be a useful, up to date tool for addressing the needs of the jurisdiction for HUD, the County and the City for the next five years. Therefore, the CHAS includes categories such as: A) An assessment of existing housing needs /conditions, or the "Community Profile;" B) An assessment of the "housing delivery system;" C) An attempt to identify barriers in the community that might prohibit the development of affordable housing; D) Identification of current housing policies and programs for addressing special needs; E) Identification of service support provided for low and moderate income persons which relates to housing, and; F) The development of a one year and five year strategy plan for the jurisdiction to follow in reaching the needs identified by the CHAS. Specific programs are identified in the many tables provided in the text. These include rental assistance, developing new construction, housing rehabilitation, and serving the needs of specific target groups in the community, (e.g., homeless, seniors, handicap individuals, etc.). Discussion The fist submittal of the CHAS is s o requirements proposed by HUD for the of the regulations for developing available until August of 1991, information to be derived from the the report, is not yet available. constraints by easing the format re q submittal. mewhat more flexible then the future. This is because many the strategy were not made and because some statistical 1990 census needed to complete Thus, HUD allowed for these uirements for this first time To complete the document, members of the CDBG Entitlement staff relied on several sources, including; the 1988 HAP, the Housing and Land Use Elements of the General Plan, the Department of Finance statistics, Southern California Area of Governments, and other data which is currently available from the 1990 Census. The data from these resources was then combined with data provided from several non - profit service organizations, each represented city and the County. For Moorpark, staff relied most heavily on information from the Housing Element, available 1990 Census data, and the 1988 2 CHAS Input December 27, 1991 HAP. The County coordinated the assimilation of the information into the final draft presented in this report. During the process from August until December 2, staff submitted requests for revisions. A final review of the document was completed by staff on December 11, 1991. December 10, 1991, marked the beginning of the mandatory 60 day public comment period. During this time, several of the CDBG Entitlement cities will solicit public comments from their community. Non - profit agencies are also invited to comment. When the public comment period ends, County staff will solicit input received at the local meetings, revise the plan for the final time, and present it to the Board of Supervisors. The County (as the "grantee" to HUD), is required to conduct a public hearing at this time, (cities are not required to do so as "sub - grantees "), which is currently scheduled for February 11, 1992 Presented in Attachment 2, "staff comments," are the result of the final staff review of December 11, 1991. Most of the revisions requested have been addressed, but there are still a few remaining concerns. Staff has identified the most serious concerns as either not addressed by the County, or partially addressed. Staff also proposes to request that some language be presented differently, or added to the existing document. The accuracy of the document is important, because as strategies are defined, monitoring of the grant will confirm that actions taken at the local level have been effective in meeting the needs. The Entitlement jurisdiction will update the annual strategies and assessments regularly, with a total revision of the CHAS to occur every five years. Monitoring will be conducted by the County on a periodic basis, similar to the CDBG program. Receiving HUD approval of the document is important, and needs to be accomplished as soon as possible. Staff has transmitted information to the Council about additional funds which may come available under the Affordable Housing Act, (such as the provision of Title II, Home Investment in Affordable Housing, or the HOPE and HOME funds). Because the HOME funds will be made available during fiscal year 1992/93, strategies for the use of the funds have to be included in the CHAS and approved by HUD, (this matter has been addressed in a separate report to Council on this agenda). Therefore, the cooperating agencies need to move as fast as possible in order to qualify for these new resources. No indication of the time when HOPE funds may become available has been provided to staff at this time. In summary, the CHAS will be a valuable tool for the City and the 3 CHAS Input December 27, 1991 It- Ventura County CDBG Entitlement group. Staff has taken steps to identify programs that will work towards developing affordable housing in the City of Moorpark and the other Entitlement jurisdictions in the County. Final comments, submitted by the City, will complete the process. By completing the document, the City moves towards making funds available for the creation of new programs which will be needed in order to reach the ambitious goals set forth in the CHAS. Recommendation That the City Council approve and /or amend the comments of the draft CHAS provided in Attachment "2," and authorize staff to transmit these comments to the County for their consideration prior to the completion of the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy. Attachments: 1) Draft CHAS, December 1991 2) Staff Comments Regarding the Draft CHAS 2 ATTACHMENT 2 The City of Moorpark hereby requests that the following amendments to the draft CHAS document be considered and inserted by the County of Ventura prior to its submittal to HUD in February, 1992. Language to be added has been marked in bold type. SECT., Page Number Comment Sect. II.1 Pg. 9 Second paragraph, the phrase "in Moorpark" after Villa Campesina was added but is not sufficient. Please identify this project as one created and put in place by the combined efforts of the City and Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation by stating after "Villa Campesina" ,(a combined effort of Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation and the City of Moorpark). "C- 5 Year Results, Rationale" Pg. 44 Please insert the following and delete the existing second paragraph of this page: The City of Moorpark has developed programs to assist families in acquiring home ownership. First time moderate income home buyers are essentially priced out of the housing market. Without some form of assistance, many of these families would be unable to finance a down payment and closing costs associated with buying a house in Moorpark. As presented on Page 46, the City recently completed a First Time Home Buyer program which assisted five families. "Rationale" Page 47/48 Please add section that defines the programs in Moorpark for its senior and other special needs population: Moorpark: The precise data for the number of seniors in Moorpark is unavailable at this time due to the extensive growth of the City over the past 7 years, and the fact that 1990 Census data for this item has not been made available yet. Roughly 1,800 seniors reside in Moorpark, (7 %), and the City has taken steps to address their needs as follows: renovation of the senior center to include a kitchen and more complete social 1 n. ATTACHMENT "2" atmosphere; daily hot lunches both available at the Senior Center and home delivered; support to the Long Term Care Ombudsman program; support to the Senior Survival Mobile; Ten (10) Lifeline Devices made available free of charge to especially needy seniors, and the Food Share program. The Senior Center, rented by the City to the Moorpark Seniors for $1 per year has become a location for many social activities to be held for this population, from bingo and card games, to special dinners and functions. Lastly, the City provides 30 rental housing units to seniors via the management of the Area Housing Authority at the Tefoya Gardens apartment complex. The City also recognizes the need to provide other services within the community to address special needs, including: bi- lingual legal assistance to low and moderate income persons, hopelessness service referrals, adult literacy and support to the Catholic Charities organization. Moorpark has commissioned Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation Economic Development Corporation with the task of locating and assisting in the development of affordable housing units within the City. Priority E: Programs Bottom of Page 51, and top of page 52 This section was as amended as requested by staff, but only part of it is presented in the draft CHAS. Please insert the remaining portion at the end of statement to include: Adult Literacy Program- one on one tutoring of adults who can read very little or no english Channel Counties Legal Services- provides free legal counseling to low and moderate income pgrsons to assist them with legal for housing related matters, immigration and other civil law issues. Moorpark Senior Citizens- City is purchasing g(WipmentZturniture for the senior citizens to use at the Senior Center new facility. Senior Lifeline Devices- providing ten free devices to eligible seniors for an added emergency provision in their house. Homeless Ombudsman- a County wide sponsored program that helps to coordinate homeless person's needs with available resources. Food Share and Food Pantry provide staples for the needy persons in Moorpark. E ATTACHMENT "2" In the same section, Page 51, please amend the description for services provided by Catholic Charities to read: Catholic Charities: A direct provider of many social services for the community, including: food for the needy; clothes and temporary housing; loans to families in need of emergency assistance; health and legal consultation. The agency also acts as a referral center for other services available in the eastern Ventura County region for specific needs of the citizen. "Moorpark" Pg 115 Typographical error, last paragraph of the "Moorpark" section; The sentence should read "Le Club Apartments," not "L Club." Pg 157 Please add a section for Moorpark, (previously requested), under the section "...offered the following comments "; Special needs of the elderly and persons with disabilities include: 1) the removal of architectural barriers needed through out the City, and replacement of the barriers with handicap ramp access, (1989 and 1990 CDBG project); 2) senior transportation; 3) senior meals; 4) furnishings for the Moorpark Seniors at the Senior Center: 5) development of kitchen facilities and renovations to the Senior Center, ($200,000 worth of improvements completed in 1990), and; 6) "life line" devices for low income seniors. 3