South Orange County Housing Discussion

August 29, 2009

Workforce housing is a major problem in Orange County. It is essential to a sustainable, functional local economy. Just ask the Orange County Business Council.

Earlier this month, the community center in San Juan Capistrano served as the venue for a public community dialog about housing organized by The South Orange County Alliance for Housing Our Communities, with the woefully brutal acronym SOCAHOC, which, the emcee soon told the audience, was pronounced “Sok-a-whok.” Like I said: brutal. But that’s neither here nor there.

The point was to host a public discussion of “cities’ legal responsibilities to develop affordable homes in response to economic, environmental, transportation and social demand.” The format of the event started with a few minutes of open conversation at each of the 15 or so round tables in the room, with the objective of having each table write down questions for the panel. Then came some opening remarks, a moderator and a panel of four presenters.

The mayor of San Juan Capistrano, Mark Nielsen, gave opening remarks and offered some context for the day’s discussion. Some highlights:

• Orange County income threshold for affordable housing: $65k per year for a family of 4
• Housing isn’t just a policy “issue,” it is at the base of Maslow’s pyramid of needs: shelter
• There are inherent problems with in-lieu fees as an alternative to fulfulling regulatory housing requirements
• Renovating a neighborhood with fair housing covenants is an idea whose time has come because it can:

1. uplift existing neighborhoods
2. provide economic stimulus for local tradesmen
3. increase affordable workforce housing
4. meet regulatory and social responsibilities (more…)