Locals want habitats for locals

Deirdre Newman

Some residents say they want the city to stop providing land at a

cheap price to Habitat for Humanity unless Costa Mesa residents are

selected to move into the houses.

Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit Christian housing ministry

that builds and sells affordable houses and loans money for the

mortgages to low-income families. The main criteria, which varies

with family size, is that qualifying families can only earn between

25% to 50% of the Orange County median income.

The organization has built 11 houses in the city. No families from

Costa Mesa have been selected to purchase these houses.

The disgruntled residents, including Martin Millard and Mike

Berry, say they appreciate Habitat for Humanity’s effort to provide

affordable housing, but the city has its fair share of low-income

residents who could benefit from Habitat for Humanity projects. They

would like the city to slap a condition on Habitat for Humanity

mandating that its houses in Costa Mesa go to Costa Mesa residents.

“I’m perfectly willing to say to the people of San Clemente,

Garden Grove and Santa Ana [that] if they need homes, those cities

should build it for them -- not us, when we have enough needs of our

own,” Berry said.

While sympathetic to these concerns, there’s just one problem with

Costa Mesa residents’ plan: it’s illegal, said Pete Major, executive

director of Habitat for Humanity Orange County.

“We are bound by the rules and regulations that we have and the

money we are spending,” Major said. “And as a lender, we can’t

discriminate,” Major said.

In addition to meeting income requirements, families have to have

some credit experience and be U.S. citizens. They also have to be

capable of making the down payment and closing costs for their homes.

Once Habitat for Humanity has chosen families to move into its

houses, family members have to put in 500 hours of construction work

on their house and take classes on how to budget their money, Major

said.

Habitat for Humanity has built houses at four sites in the city:

four single-family homes at two locations on Del Mar Avenue, six

houses on Pomona Street and a single-family home on Wallace Avenue,

City Manager Allan Roeder said.

Most of these projects have been on land the city owns. In these

cases, the city underwrites the cost of the land so Habitat for

Humanity can build affordable housing. This is achieved by using a

combination of redevelopment agency and federal funds that are

required to be used for affordable housing, Roeder said.

“We’re not giving free land away or using local tax dollars to

offset the cost of the property,” Roeder said.

In the case of the Pomona Street project, the city did not own the

land. The property owner was interested in selling the swath, which

was being occupied by renters, and Habitat approached the city about

partnering with it to buy the land, Roeder said. Habitat for Humanity

therefore had to take care of relocating the tenants and other

responsibilities that come with displacing tenants.

The city loaned Habitat for Humanity $621,000 for the Pomona

project. One-sixth of the loan will be forgiven as each of the six

home buyers enters into escrow. A majority of these funds were part a

pot of affordable housing money that the city was at risk of losing

at the time the loan was given.

Millard said that if the city is going to facilitate Habitat for

Humanity’s effort to build houses here, Costa Mesa residents should

be given priority.

“If we’re going to do a sweetheart condition, they should go to

people who live in the city,” Millard said. “Costa Mesa is doing more

than its fair share. We pick up the slack for cities like Newport

Beach, Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley. They’re dumping their

social problems in our backyard. That’s got to be spread out a little

bit.”

Berry accused the city of doing a double disservice to its own

citizens -- taking land away from projects that could benefit Costa

Mesa residents by letting Habitat for Humanity build on it and taking

money that could be used on Costa Mesa residents and loaning it to

the organization instead.

For example, the city could have used the money it loaned to

Habitat for Humanity for the Pomona Street project to help the senior

citizens who are being evicted from the El Nido and Snug Harbor

trailer parks, Berry said.

Habitat for Humanity checked the qualifications of the six

families living on the Pomona property to see if they could stay and

become Habitat homeowners, Major said, and none qualified.

While no Costa Mesa families have moved into Costa Mesa Habitat

for Humanity houses, at least two Costa Mesa families have moved into

Habitat for Humanity houses in other cities, Major said.

The desire to own a piece of the American dream typically

supercedes where that dream materializes, Major said.

“There’s a reason why we call home ownership the American dream,”

Major said. “And to take hope away from people just because they live

across the street [in another city], I don’t think is very American.”

Major said the only means Habitat for Humanity could employ to

increase the odds of Costa Mesa residents qualifying is a more

intensive marketing campaign letting residents know about the

opportunity.

Habitat for Humanity is contemplating another Costa Mesa project

behind the Home Depot on Harbor Boulevard, Major said.

Councilman Allan Mansoor said he agrees with those who have

complained about Habitat for Humanity projects benefiting residents

from other cities.

“In my opinion, the priority should go to Costa Mesa residents,”

Mansoor said. “It’s Costa Mesa’s money that’s being loaned.”