As part of its efforts to adopt an affordable housing program, Costa Mesa is considering how to require — and ensure — developers designate a certain amount of space for low and very low-income residents.
The City Council, along with the Planning Commission, worked through details for a proposed inclusionary housing ordinance on July 26. The ordinance, according to a staff report, would require a certain percentage of new housing developments — rental and owned properties — to be allocated for low-income and very low-income housing.
According to the California Department of Housing and Community Development, low-income and very low-income depend on the average median household income for the area. Low income is 50% to 80% of the average median income, and very low income is 30% to 50% of the median income.
“My generation has really been hampered by the fact that we have not had any housing stock really be built in Costa Mesa,” said Councilmember Manuel Chavez. “I still have friends my age who are living in their parent’s house because they have nowhere to go and want to stay in Costa Mesa.”
Costa Mesa hired real estate advisory firm Keyser Marston Associates in early 2023 to compile recommendations for how its affordable housing program should work. At the July meeting, Kathe Head, KMA’s president, said the firm surveyed Costa Mesa’s housing inventory — including information on land and sales value, typical unit mixes in apartments and houses and rents and housing prices — to make recommendations for an inclusionary housing policy.
For up to 39 units per acre, 6% of units should be required for low-income housing, KMA recommended. For 40 to 59 units per acre, 11% of the units should be used for low-income housing, 7% for very low-income housing and 9% for both low and very low-income housing, according to the proposal.
For apartments that hold 60 or more units per acre, 19% should be for low-income housing, 12% for very low-income housing and 16% for a combination of low and very low-income housing, KMA recommended.
For houses that are for sale, KMA recommended that developers be permitted to pay a fee in lieu of producing affordable housing units. The revenues generated by the fee could be dedicated to a first-time homebuyer program.
“I have been advocating for an inclusionary ordinance since before I was elected,” said Councilmember Andrea Marr. “The reality is that there are very few market mechanisms for generating housing for very low-income people in coastal cities. As a result, we see increases in traffic and pollution as those who work in Costa Mesa are forced to live farther and farther away from where they work.”
This ordinance began its development in mid-May, after the City Council and the Planning Commission, along with KMA, conducted a joint study to review the major components of creating and operating an inclusionary housing program.
The city is looking at income and affordability considerations and reviewing draft project prototypes for both rental and ownership housing.
Some residents, during that May 16 meeting, shared concerns about rising rental costs but also recognized the need for affordable housing in the community.
Details for the ordinance are still being settled, and the City Council is scheduled to bring a more comprehensive version to a vote in October.
“I believe that housing is in critically short supply in our city and an inclusionary housing ordinance further builds on that policy by ensuring that we create affordable units alongside market-rate units,” said Marr. “I hope my fellow council members will agree and vote for an ordinance that helps to alleviate housing-induced poverty in our city.”
