Laguna Niguel Wants Realtor Input on Affordable Housing

Laguna Niguel realtors will have a chance to weigh in on the city's plans for affordable housing projects before the city council sends its land use decisions for review by the state and signs them into law.

Low-income housing as well as special needs accommodations are required by state law to be included in the city general plan's housing element, said Laguna Niguel Housing Consultant John Douglas at Tuesday's council meeting. The general plan is a package of zoning and land use decisions, updated about every 10 years, that governs development in cities.

"[The Regional Housing Needs Allocation] is not a construction quota, it's a planning target," said Douglas. "Cities don't build the housing, but property owners are critical. The city has to be able to identify where the housing can be built if all of the stars align."

The Career Lofts as well as the Mill Creek Project in Laguna Niguel have committed five percent of the units to low-income housing. Calculating the price of rent for low income housing is based on the median Orange County income of $85,200 as well as a sliding scale for four-person families, Douglas said.

Along with the project's estimated increased population density, council also express concern about the lack of outdoor recreation areas.

"We need to step up to the plate, we have three housing elements and no outdoor community park," said Mayor Pro Tem Linda Lindholm. "The developers have incentive to do this project and they're building it wall-to-wall."

The general plan includes outdoor pools, barbeque areas and courtyards as well as access to the Oso Regional Trail, which leads into the Laguna Niguel park system, said Community Development Director Dan Fox.

"The developers are not anticipating these tenants will have a lot of kids," said Fox. "It is a different lifestyle, a lot of recent college graduates, young professionals and singles."

The council postponed its decision until the next meeting to allow interested parties to weigh in on affordable housing issues in town. Over the next two weeks, council will hear from local realtors before sending the housing element of the general plan for review by Housing and Community Development.