Affordable Housing

City leaders will discuss affordable housing issues in the San Fernando Road corridor Tuesday. A joint meeting of City Council members, redevelopment agency representatives and housing authority officials will be at 2:30 p.m. on the second floor of City Hall, 613 E. Broadway. They will discuss so-called "in lieu" fees, an option developers have to pay money to the city instead of including affordable housing in their projects. State law requires developers to make 15% of their projects include affordable housing in a redevelopment zone.

Josh Kleinbaum It happens all the time at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Glendale -- homeless people come in to pray and the Rev. Mark Weitzel or someone else at the church refers them to Project ACHIEVE, the city's case- management program to help the homeless get back on their feet. "People would be surprised at how many people we refer there," Weitzel said Thursday. "We just referred one yesterday." Helping the indigent is a basic tenet of most religions, and churches and temples follow that in a variety of ways, such as running soup kitchens and homeless shelters or just giving financial support to others.

Rima Shah Developers looking to build in the San Fernando Road Corridor Redevelopment Project Area in Glendale will have to pay considerably less to meet the affordable housing requirement after a joint meeting of the City Council, Redevelopment Agency and Housing Authority set the "in-lieu" fee at $17 per square foot. State law requires developers to make 15% of their development affordable housing in a redevelopment zone, and the in-lieu fee is an amount that developers can pay to the city as an option instead of including affordable housing in their projects.

Josh Kleinbaum Seeing the opportunity to achieve two of the city's long-term goals with one deal, the city's Housing Authority will acquire nearly an acre of land on Doran Street for a mini-park and affordable housing, city officials said. The city will buy three neighboring parcels, at 339, 341 and 343 W. Doran St., for $2.79 million and develop the near-acre lot with both a park and affordable housing. "We can't build [affordable-housing projects]

Karen S. Kim It's no secret Glendale is in dire need of more affordable housing, but providing it is easier said than done. The city already offers 3,500 affordable-housing units, according to Community Development and Housing Director Madalyn Blake. But the supply still doesn't outweigh the demand. According to numbers released in 1998 from the Southern California Assn. of Governments, Glendale is expected to need an additional 3,660 affordable-housing units by 2005.

The city's role in the alleged over-billing of Advanced Development & Investment Inc. for at least one Glendale affordable housing project, Vassar City Lights, was a major topic of discussion during the public comment period of the City Council meeting Tuesday night. Nearly two dozen residents were split between distrust and support of those on the dais. "What I wanted to know is council members: Are you going to return all the alleged funds?" said resident Charles Hooker.

CITY HALL - Glendale this week committed millions of dollars to a new affordable housing project for military veterans, making good on a pledge to provide more support for local veterans. The City Council, acting in its dual capacity as the Redevelopment Agency and as part of the Housing Authority, voted to commit roughly $4.5 million in federal and redevelopment housing funds to a proposed 48-unit multi-family development. The development is a joint venture between Glendale Memorial Hospital, national nonprofit housing developer Mercy Housing, and New Directions, a nonprofit veterans social-service provider.

Jackson Bell The Glendale Housing Authority today will mull plans to build a $9.6-million affordable-housing project for the disabled that would replace a blighted apartment complex on San Fernando Road, officials said. The authority will consider entering an agreement to let the United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties build the 24-unit project. The proposal would house people who are developmentally and physically disabled, and live at least 50% below the area's median income, said Ronald Cohen, the nonprofit's chief executive.

That thousands of people would clamor to get onto a waiting list for affordable housing that already has thousands of names on it is a testament to the crushing demand that this and other cities will face for years to come. This week, 3,848 applicants took part in a lottery to get one of just 1,200 spots on the waiting list for Casa De La Paloma, an affordable senior housing complex on Kenwood Street. As Gov. Jerry Brown and legislators continue to press for the elimination of local redevelopment agencies to redirect their tax revenues to cash-starved Sacramento, cities like Glendale will lose a key tool for building affordable housing projects.

CITY HALL — The city’s ability to pursue affordable housing projects should not be affected by a projected $9.7-million budget deficit, city officials said Tuesday. Community Development and Housing Director Madalyn Blake, who is retiring at the end of this month, presented the department’s proposed $39.2-million budget to the City Council during an afternoon budget session. Nearly all of it — $35 million — comprises federal and state grants and other earmarked funds.