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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRDA Min 2003-04-28 4-28-03 Seal Beach, California April 28, 2003 I The Redevelopment Agency of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 6:47 p.m. with Chairman Campbell calling the meeting to order. ROLL CALL Present: Chairman Campbell Agencymembers Antos, Doane, Larson Absent: Agencymember Yost It was noted that the absence of Agencymember Yost from this meeting was excused by the City Council on April 14th. Also present: Mr. Bahorski, Executive Director Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Mr. Dancs, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Ms. Arends-King, Director of Administrative Services Ms. Yeo, City Clerk I APPROVAL OF AGENDA Doane moved, second by Larson, to approve the order of the agenda as presented. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson None Yost Motion carried I PUBLIC COMMENTS Chairman Campbell declared the Public Comment period to be open, noted that there were three agendized Agency items and the appropriate time for the public to comment on those items would be under Public Comments. Mr. Darrel Stoskoff, resident of Crestview Avenue and property owner of 1209 Ocean Avenue, expressed pleasure at seeing the owner-occupied home improvement loan program item on the agenda as he and surrounding homeowners have requested an action by the City for some time. Mr. Stoskoff made reference to the staff report in which it stated that should this loan be granted it would apply only to the owners unit, yet since the owners unit is upstairs over a rental unit why would the loan not apply to the entire property, he mentioned also an uncertainty as to the owners intentions, his understanding is that there may be some hardship issues involved, however he has watched this property for fifteen years and has never seen anything done as far as upkeep, paint, etc., even in a hardship situation his.belief is that one has to want to help themselves before others can help, again expressed support for the agenda item. As to the applicability of the item, the Director of Development Services explained that the . intent of the language in the staff report was that the loan would apply to the property which would allow work to be done on all three of the units, not just the owner occupied unit. In response to the reading of the language contained in the staff report the Director explained that is the verbiage of the current loan program, what is requested in this case is an exception so that the money can be used for this property, 4-28-03 the owner occupied unit as well as the two rental units. Ms. Joyce Parque, Seal Beach, made reference to the money that will be loaned to the people in the Trailer Park, asked if Linc will provide them a forty-five year loan agreement, noting that there are only twenty-seven years remaining on the thirty years for the Park residents, also asked if any loans have been let thus far. The Executive Director I suggested that the question be put in writing and he will research the question, and confirmed that loans have been made in the Park. The Development Services Director offered his recollection that one loan has been funded in the Trailer Park, it was not a substantial rehab as defined under the program therefore was not subject to the forty-five year term, there are other applications coming that will involve a forty-five year covenant of affordability, the loan documents require signatures of both the City and Linc Housing, the City has signed two of such loan documents, they have been forwarded to Linc for their signatures and it is understood that Linc will sign and allow the loans to be approved. Ms. parque charged that exceptions are already being made, allowing the borrowing of the money without a deed restriction on their property. To that the Director responded that there are no exceptions being made, there are separate provisions for what is called a substantial rehab as opposed to a less than substantial rehab, substantial rehab is when a program loan is more than forty-five percent of after-loan value of the property, a substantial rehab requires affordability covenants on the property, a non- substantial rehab under State and federal guidelines does not require an affordability covenant. Ms. parque mentioned also the $1 million MPROP loan that will not be forthcoming, the I City Manager said the $1 million is redevelopment money, what was read referred to the City of Seal Beach, it needs to be known whether that was City or Agency funds. There being no further comments, Chairman Campbell declared Public Comments closed. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Larson moved, second by Doane, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of January 27, 2003 as presented. AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson None Yost Motion carried OWNER-OCCUPIED HOME IMPROVEMENT LOAN PROGRAM - AUTHORIZATION TO UTILIZE - CODE VIOLATION REMOVAL The Director of Development Services explained that the intent is to seek authorization from the Agency to make a loan under the OWner-Occupied Home Improvement Loan program for a property that has two rental units, the loan amount would be used to rehabilitate all three units on the property. It is the opinion of staff that this is a more appropriate way to deal with the Code enforcement issues, as has been indicated this has been a long standing violation issue and the City has not been able to attain any compliance with the property owner, and if it is not possible to use this mechanism to accomplish corrective actions it would be necessary to use a nuisance abatement process, likely eviction of tenants, and considerable legal processing issues that is felt this process can avoid. Councilman Antos asked if this would involve any additions or expansions to the nonconforming building. The response of the Director was that it-does not, this involves mechanical, electrical, plumbing Code violations. Doane moved, second by Antos, to I 4-28-03 authorize the utilization of the OWner-Occupied Home Improvement Loan Program to assist in the removal of Code violations at a specified property address within the City with a maximum loan amount of $50,000.00. I AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson None Yost Motion carried I STANDARD PLANS DESIGN - REPLACEMENT MODULAR HOMES - AUTHORIZATION TO REOUEST PROPOSALS - CONSIDER SEPARATION STANDARD TWO STORY CABANAS - SEAL BEACH TRAILER PARK The Director of Development Services presented the staff report, explained that it has been found that there are about forty-three spaces in the Trailer Park that are very small and one can not realistically find a replacement unit for those spaces other than an old travel trailer or recreational vehicle that will fit on those spaces, to that staff is suggesting that as a way to try to find a way to improve the livability of those units that staff be authorized to issue a Request for Proposal where a couple of manufacturers of modular homes would prepare standard plans that the people could utilize, hopefully at a reduced cost, for someone who may wish to participate in the program. The Director mentioned that as part of that there is also a discussion relating to two story cabanas where the City for a number of years has had a twenty foot separation distance for those structures, yet as staff has looked at this issue it is felt that on the greenbelt area of the Park in particular it may be advisable to look at those regulations because the spaces are so small that if there is a two story cabana on one unit it basically precludes three or four adjoining spaces from being able to have such a unit because of the small areas on which the units are located. Councilman Antos moved to approve the requests for the purpose of discussion. Councilman Doane seconded the motion. I Agencymember Larson expressed concern with doing anything in the Trailer Park until the litigation is settled, there is a lawsuit involved, he does not know the nature of the lawsuit or what the plaintiffs want or if a settlement of the lawsuit is possible, there is no guarantee that this development will ever be completed, no guarantee that at some point the bond holders or some interested party will bring a lawsuit and force the sale of the Trailer Park to payoff the bonds, in that case the buyer can do whatever he or she wishes, the Coastal Commission at one point suggested it would be a good place for a catch basin for flood waters, and offered that he is hesitant to help develop more improvements on that property when it may not exist as a Trailer Park for very many years. Agencymember Larson said the fact that the City does something good for these residents does not make the Agency any stars, and indicated that he would be voting against the item. Agencymember Doane inquired if any interest has been shown in manufactured homes. The Director responded that of the forty-three spaces within the greenbelt area there are about five or six people in discussions with the housing consultant to try to see what can be done for their property, that is the reason for bringing this issue to the Agency, other than this no cost effective way, in the opinion of staff, has been found to provide anything other than buying a used trailer or something like a fifth wheel unit which is basically all that will fit on those lots, most of the older single wide mobile homes are about eight feet by 4-28-03 / 5-26-03 thirty-eight or forty feet in length, the lots are not of a size that can accommodate that type of a structure. Agencymember Antos clarified that should the motion be adopted the only thing that staff would be doing at this point is developing and sending out an RFP to obtain information that would eventually come to the Agency for some type of action, this would not be buying units or placing a unit on a lot at this point. To that the Director confi~ed that the action would merely direct staff to prepare a Request for Proposal, the Request will come back to the Agency prior to distribution to the manufacturers. Chairman Campbell said she understands the concern of Agencymember Larson as a result of litigation, however people are moving forward, improving their homes, homes are being bought and sold in the Trailer Park, all this is doing is allowing people who live there to have the opportunity to find out what is available in the event they want to upgrade their home, that is their choice, if the vote is against this item it basically shuts down all improvements in the Trailer Park, that is not necessarily healthy. Antos moved, second by Campbell, to authorize_staff to . prepare a Request for proposals for the design of standard. plans for replacement manufactured homes within the Seal Beach Trailer Park, present the draft RFP to the Agency for approval prior to distribution, also, authorize staff to review the current development standards for two story cabanas with the Trailer Park. I AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson None Yost Motion carried I ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting at 7:06 p.m. '1~~r;~ Seal Beach, California May 26, 2003 The Redevelopment Agency regular meeting was canceled by action of the City Council. I