Senior housing dream nears fruition

June Casagrande

Since the late Phil Sansone began the push about 10 years ago for a

senior affordable housing complex at Lower Bayview Landing, this is

the closest the city has ever come to see that dream materialize.

The Irvine Co. has committed the land at the 15-acre site, the

city has approved the project, a developer is ready to apply for

state funding and the City Council has voted to approve the permits.

Now, a single Coastal Commission vote stands as the last hurdle to

building 150 units of affordable housing for seniors at the site.

Commissioners will consider whether the site should be protected as

wetlands, and their decision could make or break the longstanding

plans.

The project now on the verge of approval includes three buildings

situated on the lower five acres of the site at Jamboree Road and

Back Bay Drive. The 10 acres on the bluff would be developed as a

park.

If the site gets built, it won’t be the first senior housing

complex in the city or even the first affordable senior housing

complex. A 100-unit complex on Pacific View Drive operated by the

Lutheran Church provides affordable housing for seniors. Another

complex near the Oasis Senior Center provides housing for seniors

regardless of income.

Affordable housing for all ages is spread throughout the city.

Apartments in the area of 15th Street and Superior Avenue qualify as

affordable housing, as do other units spread throughout the city.

“One of the nice things about the way Newport Beach does

affordable housing is that you can’t tell it’s there,” said Patricia

Temple, the city’s planning director. “It blends right in with the

area. No one complains about it.”

Still, the city is far short of the state requirements for

providing homes affordable to the average family. According to the

state’s formula, the city needs about 254 more units. And that number

could grow as existing properties opt out of the affordable housing

program. The 150 unit proposed at Lower Bayview Landing have gone a

long way toward winning the state’s approval.

Last month, the state Department of Housing and Community

Development ruled that the city had taken enough steps toward its

affordable housing requirement that the department agreed to certify

the housing element portion of the city’s general plan. That’s

important because without state certification, the city could be

vulnerable to a lawsuit.

The Lower Bayview Landing apartments would be available to Newport

Beach residents 55 and older who qualify as very low income. Based on

last year’s income levels, a one-bedroom unit would be available to a

family of two that brought in no more than $36,300 a year. The rent

limit would be $908.

For more general purposes, in Newport Beach, low income means 80%

of the average Orange County earnings. For a family of four in

Newport Beach, this means they must earn no more than $60,500, which

is 80% of the countywide average of $75,600.

The clock is ticking on the project because the deadline for the

city to apply for tax credits for the project is July 15. Tax credits

will help finance the low-income projection. If the city misses that

deadline, it will mean that work can’t start until after state

prevailing wage laws kick in. That would add about $1 million to the project cost, of which the city covers half.

City officials had originally predicted that they needed Coastal

Commission approval no later than the commission’s June 11 meeting.

The item is on that agenda, but now city officials think it may be

better to wait until the July 7 meeting. That would give them more

time to address the commission’s environmental concerns while eking

under the tax credit application deadline.

The project’s fate is uncertain because environmentalists

discovered plants at the site they say qualify a portion of Lower

Bayview Landing as protected wetlands. Coastal Commission staff has

recommended that commissioners deny the city’s request for a permit

to build the housing complex, based on a survey of the site.

Proponents of moving ahead with the project, led by Mayor Steve

Bromberg, say that the wetlands question was created by

environmentalists in a struggle for power over how the park on Upper

Bayview Landing is developed.

Both sides say they’re committed to bringing more senior

affordable housing to the area -- they just disagree on what must be

done to compensate nature for building over the supposed wetlands.

“This community has a very serious need for senior housing,” said

Sheila Hatchell, president of the Friends of the Oasis Senior Center.

“I hope very much this happens soon.”

* JUNE CASAGRANDE covers Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport. She

may be reached at (949) 574-4232 or by e-mail at

[email protected].