SENIOR CENTER AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROJECT

EARLY HOUR, SPARSE ATTENDANCE

Tuesday morning (at 9 a.m.!) I joined what turned out to be 26 other residents, mostly geezers like me, at the Costa Mesa Senior Center for the latest presentation by Jamboree Housing on their scheme to build a 68 unit (plus 2 management units) senior affordable project on the parking lot of the Senior Center.  This unusual early hour, mid-week, timing was a result of complaints that previous meetings were scheduled late, making it more difficult for seniors to attend.  I get that…  The number of attendees was surpassed by the number of city officials and consultants, but that’s OK…

CITY OFFICIALS KICKED IT OFF

The meeting was kicked off by Cecelia Gallardo-Daly, Assistant City Manager, who handed the baton to recently re-elected Mayor John Stephens for a brief word.  He stuck around for most of the meeting.  City Council Member Arlis Reynolds, who represents the 5th District, also briefly spoke.  Most of the senior staff from the Economic and Development Services Department attended.  I saw Planning Commission Chairman Adam Ereth in the crowd.

JAMBOREE HOUSING PRESENTS...

The Jamboree Housing presentation was led by Kelsey Brewer, who guided us through a slide show (each image is included below), and a young, energetic fellow named Derick (I didn’t get his last name).  The presentation was crisp and informative, but didn’t really have anything new since the last meeting.

QUESTIONS

Following the presentation a lengthy (but not quite long enough) Question and Answer session was conducted.  Many of the attendees managed to ask pretty darn good questions and most received answers, although a few folks didn’t like them. Attendees had many questions, most of which were carefully crafted well-presented. Among the highlights of the concerns expressed by the attendees, not in any particular order, were:

PARKING - Several speakers expressed concern that the current parking lot would be severely diminished by the housing facility.  We were assured by the consultants that, because the proposed structure would be a “podium” type of construction with the entire first floor used for parking spaces, that the total loss of parking spots would be right at 10 spaces.  We were told that the housing plan would be parked at .5 spaces per unit - roughly 35 spaces - with the remainder being available to all-comers.  93 parking spaces would be allotted to the Senior Center.  In response to a question about multi-story parking (subterranean), Brewer explained that it had been considered, but it would increase the construction costs by several million dollars.

ACCESS TO THE SENIOR CENTER DURING CONSTRUCTION - Several speakers were VERY concerned about being able to retain their current activity schedule at the Senior Center during 22-24 months construction period.  We were assured very few parking spaces would be used following the initial construction of the first floor, after which all construction materials/equipment would be restricted to that footprint.

PARKING DURING CONSTRUCTION - We were told that several solutions would be available while the parking lot was restricted during construction.  They included valet parking and shuttle bus service to and from a remote lot, each of which would be provided at no cost to the users.

WRONG SITE FOR HOUSING - A few speakers expressed strong opinions that the Senior Center parking lot was the wrong place for a housing development.  Representatives explained why this was a good choice.  Other’s suggested that the Fairview Developmental Center was a better choice.  Brewer agreed and practically salivated at the possibilty of building affordable senior housing at that location.  Former Planning Commissioner Diane Russell explained that we’re not going to see much happen at that location for 15 years.  This site gives us an opportunity to build much-needed affordable housing within a couple years.

PROJECT OWNERSHIP - In response to questions about the ownership of this project, Brewer explained that Jamboree Housing would have a 55 year lease to operate the facility.  At the end the property would revert to the City.

SAFETY - Some folks expressed concern about the safety of the area.  Brewer explained that similar projects (of the 100 they’ve done) actually resulted in a lower crime rate.  Specifically, this project would require a key fob for entry and would have extensive, monitored security cameras.  She said that if that proved to be inadequate full-time security guards would be provided.

NEARBY COMMUNITY OUTREACH - Questions were asked about the nearby neighborhoods that would certainly be impacted by the construction and by the loss of parking spaces.  Apparently some neighbors park in the lot after closing time at the Senior Center.  We were assured there had been significant outreach to that part of the community.

WHO QUALIFIES TO LIVE THERE? - Some folks were curious about just who could live in these units.  A comprehensive slide provided data and Brewer expanded on the qualifications.  Basically, folks 55 and older that meet certain income levels can qualify.  The attached chart shows those numbers.

OLGA

Among the attendees was Councilwoman Reynolds mother, Olga, who walked 1.7 miles to the meeting and spoke about the importance of drought-tolerant landscaping and the value of walking.

CARRIE TAI

We were introduced to our brand new Director of Economic and Development Services, CARRIE TAI, who wrapped up the meeting.

WORTHWHILE MEETING

I thought this meeting was valuable, even though it was not heavily-attended.  It’s my understanding there will be more community outreach.  The project still must be presented to the Planning Commission and the City Council for approval.  That should be happening in 2025 with construction to commence the following year.  For more information we were encouraged to visit the Jamboree Housing website at https://www.jamboreehousing.com/.