HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Statement 1985/02/19 Item 11 COUNCIL AGENDA STATEMENT
Item 11
Meeting Date 2/19/85
ITEM TITLE: Resolution 7/./ ( Approving Housing Cooperation Agreement
with Medici Equities for affordable senior housing units
SUBMITTED BY: Community Development Director j44/5ths Vote: YES NO X )
REVIEWED BY: City Manager
On December 13, 1983, the City Council approved Conditional Use Permit No.
PCC-84-5 and took other zoning actions which provided for the development of
Canterbury Court, an increased density, 207-unit senior apartment project.
The Senior Housing Development Policy under which the project was approved
requires that the project units be restricted to occupancy by and be
affordable to low-income senior tenants. An agreement assuring that tenancy
is required and has been prepared.
RECOMMENDATION: That the Council adopt the resolution approving the Housing
Cooperation Agreement with Medici Equities controlling occupancy of Canterbury
Court units.
BOARDS/COMMISSIONS RECOMMENDATION: The Commission on Aging unanimously
recommended the development of Canterbury Court for low-income senior housing.
DISCUSSION:
The Senior Housing Development Policy applies to senior rental projects
receiving density bonuses and/or other development standards waivers through a
conditional use permit under Chapter 19 of the City Zoning Text. In summary,
the policy, which is designed to assure that the project is established and
maintained for exclusive use of low-income seniors, requires that:
1 . Tenants be 60 years of age or over.
2. Tenants incomes be at or below 80% of median income.
3. Tenant income be certified.
4. Rental rates be at or below applicable Section 8 Fair Market Rents
levels.
5. The above conditions apply for a period of 25 years.
The attached Housing Cooperation Agreement has been designed to assure
compliance with the conditions of the Senior Housing Development Policy. This
document would be recorded and run with the land.
Some discussion would be appropriate regarding the issue of tenant income
certification and compliance monitoring. The Senior Housing Development
Policy specifies in paragraph 3 that:
Page 2, Item 11
Meeting Date
eligibility shall be determined for all renters by the County
Housing Authority or a similar agency. The unit owner would request
referrals from the County Housing Authority's Section 8 Existing waiting
list. If that list is insufficient, the owner will pay income
determination fees for applicants not on the Housing Authority's waiting
list.
Income eligibility determination of all renters by an agency has been
discovered to be impractical . An agency such as the Housing Authority would
charge a fee of $150 or more for each certification, regardless of whether the
certified household ultimately occupied the unit. Even assuming that every
certified household occupied the unit at initial lease up, the initial lease
up cost for certification for this 207-unit project would be over $30,000.
With turnover of occupancy of any unit, all new prospective tenant households
would need to be certified at $150 per certification.
The alternative proposed in the Housing Cooperation Agreement is that the
property owner/property management company certify the tenants using the
Supplemental Rental Application attached to the agreement, attest to tenant
eligibility on the supplemental application, and keep records on those
certifications which would be available to the City. To monitor the project's
compliance, the City would require the project to submit annually a certified
(notarized) rent roll which identified all tenant households and their
incomes. The Agreement gives the City the right to audit the project records
if discrepancies are suspected. The City of San Diego has used this method
effectively on their bond-financed apartment projects, and it appears to offer
compliance security at a reasonable level of work and cost.
It should also be noted that the test of income eligibility for a particular
household occurs at move-in only. Recertifications of existing tenants would
not only be burdensome, but could create the difficult situation of evicting
existing tenants as a result of a small improvement in the their
circumstances. Being that the occupancy will be primarily by fixed income
households, units should infrequently be occupied by households which will
increase in income over the policy limit. As a matter of precedent, federal
requirements for tax exempt bond financing consider tenant income at move-in
only.
Finally, the issue of waiver should be discussed. The Housing Cooperation
Agreement provides for approval by the Housing Coordinator of waivers of the
income requirements on specific units upon application by the property owner
(Section 3.4). Waivers would be granted by the Housing Coordinator only in
response to evidence submitted by the property owner that income-eligible
occupants did not respond to an appropriate outreach effort (Housing Authority
referrals, Senior Information & Referral Center referrals, advertising). The
non-eligible tenancies created as a result of a waiver would be month-to-month
tenancies, and those tenants would be required to vacate at the point that the
Housing Coordinator determined that eligible potential tenants existed and the
Housing Coordinator terminated the waiver.
Page 3, Item 11
Meeting Date 2/19/85
The intent of the waiver section is to protect the property owner from
long-term vacancies in the unlikely circumstance that the low-income senior
housing need wanes. The Agreement is written to give the City full discretion
in diagnosing that circumstance.
FISCAL IMPACT: Minor staff costs to be paid from the Redevelopment Agency Low
and Moderate-Income Housing Fund are associated with this action.
WPC 1387H