Affordable Housing: A City's Best Intentions Can Backfire

by Jim Caroompas

While the city of Orinda struggles to adhere with state requirements for low income housing, a cautionary tale is taking place not too far away, in the city of Martinez.

After years of contention and a lawsuit filed by citizens opposed to a particular housing project called Berrellesa Palms, a Berkeley-based developer--Resources for Community Development--received approval in 2010 to build a 49-unit apartment complex for low and mid-income seniors. Despite vehement opposition from nearby residents (which included the aforementioned lawsuit), the project got the green light from the City Council. 

The thinking was that the complex was near downtown, and would add nearly $1 million to local business coffers from the seniors and their visiting families. 

In 2012, RCD returned to the city with some bad news. Federal funding sources for the original project had fallen through. But state funding was available for a project that required a number of units to be set aside for very low income seniors, and those with chronic diseases. 

At this change, some members of the council balked and demanded that RCD return to the beginning of the approval process. Suddenly, the idea that very low income and chronically ill seniors would be spending money downtown seemed fleeting, at best. 

But the city attorney and city planner warned the council that, should the project be denied, it would likely result in a lawsuit, one that the city would probably lose. So while a majority of the council strongly opposed the new facility, they voted to approve it rather than lose what could have been a multi-million lawsuit. 

Today Berrellesa Palms is a work in progress. As promised, it is providing construction jobs and will ultimately give much-needed housing to those who desperately need it. These are, in fact, good things. 

But the water view property will also stand as a testament to what can happen when great intentions run up against mandated housing requirements, funding issues, and a legal system that takes little notice of community leaders and residents who feel helpless to dictate the ultimate outcome of a major housing project in their city.