Pittsburg's low-income housing efforts disputed

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Apr 7, 2009 | by Paul Burgarino

Pittsburg will likely fall short of clearing the first low- income housing hurdle set by a 2005 lawsuit settlement.

The East County city must create 200 affordable housing units and make them available by July 1 of this year. Pittsburg is also mandated to add 990 units of affordable housing by 2014; 396 of them for people with very low incomes. Units can be apartments, new homes, or conversions of existing dwellings.

Though the units will likely not all be built by July 1, the city has made a "good-faith effort" to meet that number, Redevelopment Director Randy Starbuck said. The biggest challenge is that "funding is short for everyone" given the economy, he added.

Richard Marcantonio, an attorney with Public Advocates Inc. who represents the plaintiffs from the 2004 suit, maintains Pittsburg is significantly behind on both build-out deadlines. While Pittsburg has made some progress toward the meeting the court's deadline. city officials have not created a strong implementation plan, he said.

Housing advocates will be discussing the deadlines with city officials before deciding what steps to take to enforce the judgment, he said.

Thus far, Pittsburg's redevelopment agency has put roughly $27 million into creating the subsidized living, not including the Siena Court senior housing project. That project's development agreement will be considered later this month, Starbuck said.

"I think you'd be hard-pressed to find another city of comparable size and socioeconomic makeup putting this much effort (into affordable housing) and following through," he said.

Extremely low income is defined as below 30 percent of the area median income; very low income is 31 to 50 percent; and low is 51 to 80 percent. In Pittsburg, a family of four earning $25,850 or below is considered extremely low income, while $43,050 is very low income and $66,250 is low income. About 54 percent of Pittsburg households fall in this range. The median price of a home in Pittsburg last year dropped to about $265,000 by last summer, according to the city's draft housing element.

Completed Pittsburg housing projects with a portion subsidized for low income include 103 senior units at Presidio Village and 13 at the Entrata building. Projects in construction include 30 units by Mercy Housing and 34 by Resources for Community Development called Los Medanos Village. The Siena Court project by Domus Development could add at least 100 affordable units.

The 2004 lawsuit by the Rev. Gregory Osorio and the Pittsburg affiliate of community group ACORN challenged the city's 2003 housing plan, contending it favored high-end homes, limited zoning and other steps restricting a broad range of housing options. The lawsuit also contended Pittsburg didn't budget enough redevelopment money for affordable housing.

Since the lawsuit, Osorio said the city is "doing a pretty good job of trying to provide housing" though "there are still some things that need to happen."

Initially, Osorio said Pittsburg took a "knee-jerk reaction" by trying to convert the Marina Heights and Belmont apartment complexes. Pittsburg tried to invest rehabilitation funds into the apartments, but since they never showed verifications required to count those units, plaintiffs concluded those units don't meet the settlement criteria, Marcantonio said.

Pittsburg's housing element is also up for state review. The city has a regional housing needs allocation of 1,772 housing units, meaning the city must designate with the state where units could be built; including 223 for low income and 322 for very low income. The draft document is inconsistent with their redevelopment obligations, Marcantonio said.

Reach Paul Burgarino at 925-779-7164 or pburgarino@bayareanewsgroup.com.