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Politics & Government

Could Affordable Housing Be Coming to the Gateway?

Laguna Niguel is moving forward with plans to rezone the Gateway for residential use, but plans for the inclusion of affordable housing are not concrete. However, there's one group that's not ready to give up.

It's still possible that affordable housing could make its way to the proposed , a project at the corner of Crown Valley Parkway and Forbes Road that has been 15 years in the making.

The Gateway Specific Plan was designed to attract new business and development to the 300 acre Gateway area. But before more plans can be made, Laguna Niguel must get approval from the state Department of Housing and Community Development for its new Draft Housing Element Update—the document that sets the guidelines for development of new housing in the area. 

The Kennedy Commission, which works with Orange County cities to foster development of affordable housing, has asked the Laguna Niguel City Council to adopt an affordable-housing-opportunities ordinance as part of the update. 

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Such an ordinance would give the city tools to ensure that more affordable housing units are included in multi-family housing plans that require new zoning.

The state income limit for a family of four to qualify for lower-income housing is $74,300.  However, the waiting list for such housing is usually long; applicants can often wait years. New affordable housing could serve to shorten the list. 

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The City Council has submitted the new document without adding the affordable-housing ordinance.

Cesar Covarrubian, executive director of the Kennedy Commission, is concerned that the city is missing an opportunity to create more affordable housing by submitting the document without this addition.

"Right now, there is no mechanism to ensure that affordable housing is built," Covarrubian said. "Just zoning for affordable housing is not enough. The next step is: What policy do you have in place to encourage the development of it?"

According to City Manager Tim Casey, affordable housing is already part of the conversation when new developments are proposed.

"Whenever somebody comes to us wanting to do multi-family residential development,  the question of how much you can set aside for affordable housing will come to the table. It's just part of the negotiation."

However, Casey said that not many opportunities for this type of negotiation have arisen. 

"Most of the city was either built out or entitled before we incorporated, so we haven't had much opportunity to set aside housing that is affordable," Casey said.

But the presents a new opportunity to take on the affordable-housing issue, and Covarrubian believes that this can be done without chasing away prospects for new development.

"I think that they are underestimating the value that they are giving to these developers," Covarrubian said.

And Covarrubian is worried that the Gateway plan will not include affordable units until a firmer requirement is adopted.

"In the case of The Career Lofts, the city requested that 15 percent of the new housing be affordable," Covarrubian said. "The developer responded that it's not feasible for them and that they want to do market-rate development."

The Career Lofts are likely to be the first new housing project to be approved in the Gateway area.

Casey said that developer resistance isn't the only factor to consider. The community can also be a source of resistance to affordable housing.

"A few years back, a local landlord had a general plan designation of 180 units to 214 on their property," Casey said. "Since he was asking for a density increase, we asked him to set some of the units aside as affordable." 

Although the developer agreed to the plan, it never materialized.

"The developer agreed to set aside 34 units and maintain them in perpetuity, but the plan met resistance from residents who did not want affordable housing in their area," Casey said.  "The City Council declined the plan as a result, and the developer built condos there instead, with no affordable housing at all."

Despite the hurdles that must be overcome, the Kennedy Commission isn't ready to give up on more affordable housing in Laguna Niguel any time soon and feels that the Gateway area presents an opportunity to both create affordable housing and please the community.

Casey is in agreement.

"I think that the Gateway area would meet this need well and would receive the least resistance from the community," Casey said. 

The city does have affordable housing, which includes the apartment complexes   Village La Paz Apartments, , and

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