More homeless than city thought

My recent column detailing Yorba Linda's official “homeless strategy” drew a valuable response from a local church worker who is able to provide up-to-date information on the number of homeless individuals seeking help within this community.

In the Aug. 8 article, I noted the city strategy focuses on preventing homelessness, by providing 521 affordable rental units and working with the county Housing Authority to furnish Section 8 rental aid to 95 low-income households, among other tools.

I mentioned that Yorba Linda's homeless population was estimated at four individuals out of a countywide number of about 35,000. The “four” figure, I said, was based on a 2009 survey of 571 homeless individuals who answered a question about their last place of residence.

The data came from the recently adopted Annual Action Plan, part of a City Council-approved Consolidated Plan that outlines how the city spends federal Housing and Urban Development grants, totaling $212,515 for the 2013-14 fiscal year, out of some $3 billion spent countrywide.

But Rieta Moreno, administrative assistant at Yorba Linda's First Baptist Church, is in a position to supply present-day information regarding the city's homeless population, based on her interviews and conversations with local homeless individuals.

Moreno estimates the city's homeless as from 17 to 21 individuals, a number she says is confirmed by her contacts with other local churches within the past couple of weeks. She noted, “Some are seeing more people than we have been.”

A majority of the homeless are in their 20s, Moreno explained. “Many do not look homeless, as they use the laundromat to keep their clothes clean and stash their personal items during the day in a safe place. Only a couple of them carry their items around with them.”

One of Moreno's contacts has been homeless since October 2012: “It wasn't his choice, nor does he want to stay homeless. It was a series of unfortunate life issues that caused this. He is very intelligent and willing to work.”

Moreno noted the individual has received help from local churches in the form of gift cards for food and daily bus passes, with several churches and groups offering hot meals and pantries. Basics such as clothing, toiletries, phone cards and hotel vouchers are needs less well met.

“I am contacting all the local churches to find out exactly what they provide. There are a lot of lists floating around, but so many of them are outdated and services are too far for most to travel. We want to know exactly what is offered here in this community and how we can help these people, so I am gathering that information,” Moreno stated.

Moreno added her contact said for the most part people treat the homeless poorly: “There are some good people who do kind things, but most people don't want to deal with them.”

City to sell Old Town property to developer

One interesting facet of Town Center redevelopment is the total dollars Yorba Linda will receive in the sale of city-owned properties to a private developer the City Council selected to build a retail district on 12 acres in Old Town, a project that should substantially boost the city's sales tax income.

Negotiations on price and terms of purchase for several properties are currently underway behind closed doors between city staffers, led by new City Manager Mark Pulone, and Zelman Retail Partners, the firm granted exclusive negotiating rights for the project in June 2012.

The five elected council members are updated on the progress of negotiations during executive sessions before each regular council meeting. Council input guides the city position in the Zelman talks, and members will approve a final agreement in public session.

The city purchased 27 of the 33 parcels needed for the downtown district through the now-disbanded Redevelopment Agency, dating from 1990, at prices ranging from $129,846 to a $2,712,864 tab for a two-lot package, with a 27-parcel total of $12,880,865.

Two of the lots, fronting Lemon Drive between Lakeview and Valencia avenues, just east of the fire station, total 13,709 square feet and are labeled as sites in the “cottage sub-district,” according to the city's 19-page Long Range Property Management Plan.

The plan, adopted earlier this month by a weightily named Oversight Board of the Successor Agency to the Yorba Linda Redevelopment Agency, was viewed by council before transmittal to the state Department of Finance for final approval. (The council is the “successor agency.”)

The “cottage sub-district” parcels, purchased for $178,941 and $181,297 in 1991, are planned for the “possible relocation of certain city-owned residential structures” that have “potential for restoration to period architecture” that will add to Town Center's “urban form and character.”

The lots are today worth $135,929 and $150,315, according to a city-hired consultant, due to “limited use of the land constrained by the Town Center Specific Plan,” as adopted by council.

The other 25 lots, also “constrained” by the Specific Plan, cost $12,520,627 and are now worth $4,612,460, based on “gross residual land value,” since “commercial land value is determined by deducting site improvements, soft costs and building construction costs” from “capitalized market value.”

Consultant Don Lamm of Diamond Star Associates pegged the “net land value” of the 25 “commercial district” parcels at $821,461, after trimming $3,790,999 in road and parkway, utility, traffic and lighting improvements and Lakeview Avenue storm drain costs.

Interestingly, only one of the city-owned parcels, occupied by the Original Pancake House, currently earns revenue for the city, at a yearly rent of $95,000. Zelman intends to relocate the restaurant within the project, assuming terms can be reached between the two parties.

Zelman also is negotiating with the owners of six project-area parcels not owned by the city.

How Yorba Linda uses federal funds

Yorba Lindans who identify themselves as political conservatives hold differing opinions regarding this city's use of the Community Development Block Grant Funding dispersed country-wide by the federal Housing and Urban Development Department.

Some say Yorba Linda's leaders should take a principled stand against wasteful and inefficient government spending that extracts an ever-increasing number of tax dollars from residents and not accept a formula-based allocation of $212,515 for the 2013-14 fiscal year.

But others maintain city officials should take back as much of the money the federals collect from city taxpayers as possible or risk seeing the tax-funded grants go to other communities.

Yorba Linda has amassed $1,218,184 in community block funds in the past five years, with this year's grant down nearly 28 percent from $294,551 collected in the 2010-11 fiscal year.

Overall, the Housing and Urban Development agency expects to sprinkle about $3 billion in grants to some 1,200 local governmental units. The community grant program is one of the agency's longest continuously run operations, with allocations beginning in 1974.

Generally, local governments are supposed to use the funds for affordable housing, anti-poverty and infrastructure development programs. Some local officials like the program's flexibility over categorical grants and because the cash doesn't flow through the states.

Yorba Linda's yearly allotments are used for projects outlined in an Annual Action Plan that follows priorities established in a City Council-adopted Consolidated Plan for 2012-14. The 2013-14 Action Plan won council approval on a 4-1 vote, with Craig Young dissenting.

The new Action Plan includes a summary of last year's performance levels, achieved with a $195,930 grant that focused on senior citizen nutrition and neighborhood improvements.

Specifically, 500 individuals used the Community Center's Senior Nutrition Program and nine low-income homeowners were helped in repairs by the Neighborhood Improvement Program.

Also, funding was allotted to upgrade park facilities to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and rehabilitate historically significant commercial properties in Town Center.

Last year, $22,000 was allocated for the park facility program, with $12,538 remaining to be used this year to complete four park upgrades by Dec. 31. A $60,000 allocation for housing repairs has $22,517 remaining to reach a goal of 12 total homes.

This year's plans include an additional $50,000 for housing rehabilitation for lower-income residents, dispersed in grants of up to $5,000, with exceptions for high-cost improvements such as roofing, for owner-occupied single-family residences and mobile homes.

The city expects to spend $88,135 assisting a minimum of four private owners of historically significant commercial buildings in Town Center in rehabilitation, code violations and facade improvements and $31,877 for senior citizen (age 62 and above) lunches on weekdays.

And 20 percent of the grant cash, $42,503, will pay for administration, such as preparing applications, budgets and certifications; coordinating activities; and monitoring programs.

City has an official 'homeless strategy'

Many Yorba Lindans might be surprised to learn the city has an approved “homeless strategy” with “actions” intended to prevent homelessness, address emergency shelter and transitional housing needs and preserve and maintain existing affordable housing.

The strategy is one component of a City Council-adopted Annual Action Plan, which is, in turn, a part of a previously approved Consolidated Plan that outlines how Yorba Linda will spend federal funds received through the Housing and Urban Development Department.

This year, the city is seeking $212,515 in Community Development Block Grant funding to be added to $35,056 left from $195,930 received last year, both down from $294,551 in 2010-11.

None of this year's funding will directly address the “homeless strategy” detailed in the city's second-ever Action Plan, although $50,000 is planned for low- and moderate-income owner-occupants of single-family residences and mobile homes as rehabilitation grants.

Another $31,877 will help fund the lunch-time Senior Nutrition Program used by some 500 seniors at the Community Center. The rest will go to Town Center rehabilitation ($88,135) and program administration ($42,503).

The most recent figures available from Orange County's Housing and Community Services Department puts the county's homeless population at about 35,000, 30 per cent individuals and 70 percent families, with about 3,400 “available beds” identified at shelters.

Yorba Linda's homeless population was noted at four individuals, based on 2009 interviews with 571 homeless individuals who answered a question about their last place of residence.

The Placentia-Yorba Linda school district reported 19 homeless children in 2006-07, and officials pegged the city's homeless as “principally transient” along Imperial Highway and Yorba Linda Boulevard, with small one- to two-person camps at Featherly Regional Park.

Yorba Linda is part of the Orange County Partnership, a county-wide effort by government and community agencies to address homelessness on a regional basis, and the city has promised to seek more partnerships and funding opportunities to target homeless needs.

The city's Action Plan focuses on preventing homelessness by providing affordable housing in 521 apartment or condominium rental units with 55-year covenants, and coordinating with the county's Housing Authority to provide Section 8 rental aid to some 95 low-income households.

The city also “will continue to contract with the Orange County Fair Housing Council to provide a wide range of fair housing services to ensure equal housing opportunities....” and mediate disputes “to minimize evictions and unfair rent increases,” the Plan noted.

And, in 2011, along with a state-mandated Housing Element, the city adopted zoning implementation measures to allow “transitional and supportive housing as a permitted use in all residential zones subject to the same standards as similar residential uses.”

Also allowed are emergency shelters for up to 30 occupants in M-1 (manufacturing) zoning, permitted use in M-1 for shelters with more than 30 occupants, and single-room occupancy hotels in RM-20 and RM-30 zones.

No city property tax in the past

One promise by Yorba Linda's early leaders—to not levy a city property tax—helped secure the positive 1967 vote for incorporation, with the promise becoming policy as fledgeling City Councils avoided the tax until 1978's Proposition 13 altered the revenue landscape.

The city's voluntary “no property tax” stance turned mandatory because the measure prevented Yorba Linda councils from imposing the land tax to pay for a growing city's need for more services, including higher levels of police and fire protection.

In fact, a few prescient city staffers, including veteran City Manager Art Simonian, and council members seriously questioned Yorba Linda's future financial stability.

So Simonian lobbied Sacramento politicians for special legislation that allowed Yorba Linda a 10 percent share of what is now labeled the “basic levy rate” on annual property tax bills from the county, totaling $1.5 million the first year.

Now, property taxes account for 45 percent of the city's income, followed by sales tax revenue at 20 percent. Together, the two tax streams are expected to fund $19.2 million in city services for the fiscal year that began July 1, and another $19.8 million next year.

Two key council goals since Proposition 13 have been to increase property values and boost opportunities for sales tax generation. Council created a property tax-funded Redevelopment Agency in 1983 for the Savi Ranch area, amended to include Town Center in 1990.

However, the state forced cities to dissolve the agencies in 2012, complicating Town Center redevelopment and rejuvenation proposals for this city's portion of Savi Ranch, named for a firm founded in 1877, the Santa Ana Valley Irrigation Company.

Savi Ranch is the city's largest employee base and accounts for a significant portion of the city's property and sales tax collections, so the center's success is a vital concern to Yorba Lindans who benefit from the city's many tax-supported services.

That's why keeping the Savi Ranch business-mix relevant into future years is important, and that's one aim of a new study, briefly mentioned in last week's column. A $240,000 Caltrans grant and $24,000 city allotment will fund the utile land use and mobility survey.

According to a report from Community Development Director Steve Harris, a completed plan “will provide a planning analysis that is intended to enhance the coordination of land use and transportation planning and to establish policies that promote livability and economic stability.”

Harris noted “key features” will include a community outreach process, development of a concept-level mobility plan, strategies for economic development, refinement of land use policies and the development of urban design concepts to promote livability.

Council has approved low-income apartments for some six acres of the 200-acre Savi Ranch site, as allowed by 2012's voter-approved Measure H. A non-profit housing firm will build and administer 123 units.