As part of its efforts to adopt an affordable housing program, Costa Mesa is considering how to require — and ensure — developers designate a certain amount of space for low and very low-income residents.
The City Council, along with the Planning Commission, worked through details for a proposed inclusionary housing ordinance on July 26. The ordinance, according to a staff report, would require a certain percentage of new housing developments — rental and owned properties — to be allocated for low-income and very low-income housing.
According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, low-income and very low-income depend on the average median household income for the area. Low-income is 30% to 50% of the average median income, and very low-income is 30% to 50% of the median income.
“My generation has really been hampered by the fact that we have not had any housing stock really be built in Costa Mesa,” said Councilmember Manuel Chavez. “I still have friends my age who are living in their parent’s house because they have nowhere to go and want to stay in Costa Mesa.”
Costa Mesa hired real estate advisory firm Keyser Marston Associates in early 2023 to compile recommendations for how its affordable housing program should work. At the July meeting, Kathe Head, KMA’s president, said the firm surveyed Costa Mesa’s housing inventory — including information on land and sales value, typical unit mixes in apartments and houses and rents and housing prices — to make recommendations for an inclusionary housing policy.
For up to 39 units per acre, 6% of units should be required for low-income housing, KMA recommended. For 40 to 59 units per acre, 11% of the units should be used for low-income housing, 7% for very low-income housing and 9% for both low and very low-income housing, according to the proposal.
For apartments that hold 60 or more units per acre, 19% should be for low-income housing, 12% for very…
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