Few new homes needed in Newport Beach

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- There’s not much room to grow here, and apparently

that’s OK.

The city’s need for new homes over the next five years is less than a

quarter of what had to be built in the early 1990s, according to a draft

document on housing needs that planning commissioners will discuss at

their meeting tonight.

While the city set a goal of 2,062 new housing units for the period

from 1989 to 1994, city officials expect 476 new homes will be enough to

meet the city’s needs until 2005.

State law requires cities to assess their housing needs every five

years, and Newport Beach officials have just done so by preparing a draft

housing plan. The document -- once approved by the City Council and

certified by the State Department of Housing and Community Development --

will eventually form part of the city’s general plan and serve as a road

map for housing needs.

Because a deadline to adopt the document already passed in December,

Assistant City Manager Sharon Wood said the city had to move quickly.

“There’s an urgency to get it done as soon as possible,” Wood said,

adding that pending state legislation could cost the city gas tax funds

or vehicle license fees if the housing plan remains out of compliance

much longer.

On top of that, “it’s really important for the city to take serious

our responsibility for affordable housing,” Wood said, adding that an

affordable housing group sued the city about two decades ago and alleged

negligence.

The new housing plan is expected to include a new policy that states

the city’s goal to bring affordable housing developments to Banning

Ranch, Bayview Landing and Newport Center. City officials also will

review three proposals for affordable housing projects that developers

recently submitted.

Newport Banning Ranch LLC proposes to build 82 low- and

moderate-income apartments at Banning Ranch, an undeveloped area at the

city’s westernmost edge.

Newport Beach-based KDF Communities is offering a project for the

parking lot at the Oasis Senior Center in Corona del Mar, where the

company would build 46 apartments for residents with a very low income,

as well as a project at the municipal parking lot behind Mariner’s Mile,

which would include 51 units for residents with very low and low incomes.

Wood said she will evaluate the proposals, adding that she will bring

them before the city’s affordable housing task force as soon as possible.

The proposals came in response to a solicitation for such projects

that city officials sent out in April. Newport Beach now has about $2

million city officials may use to subsidize affordable housing projects.

The money came from the One Ford Road project, where developers chose to

give the city money rather than build required affordable housing units

themselves.

Planning commissioners will review the draft document and take

comments from residents at their meeting tonight. The state department

must inform the city within 45 days about changes to it that are

necessary for certification.

FYI

Planning commissioners will meet at 6:30 p.m. tonight at Newport Beach

City Hall, 3300 Newport Blvd.