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Anaheim may soon join a growing list of Orange County cities that require developers to build affordable homes in certain residential projects or pay a fee instead to support housing for low income families.
Home to the Disneyland Resort and two professional sports teams, Anaheim has long struggled to spur the creation of affordable homes in a city where about half the population is on a public health plan and about 13% of residents live below the poverty line.
“The City of Anaheim, like many cities in California, is experiencing a significant housing affordability crisis. With escalating housing costs, low-and moderate-income households struggle to find affordable options, often resulting in displacement, overcrowding, and an overall decline in the quality of life for many residents,” reads a staff report.
Now, officials at the request of Mayor Ashleigh Aitken will publicly consider placing such a mandate on developers at tonight’s 5 p.m. city Council meeting that can be streamed live on the city’s YouTube channel or website.
[Read: How Will Anaheim Build More Affordable Homes?]
It comes as a host of local activists and residents have called on various city council members for years to create such a requirement – often dubbed an inclusionary housing law – to boost the city’s stock of low income housing.
Local nonprofits like Chispa and the Kennedy Commission are mobilizing people to show up at tonight’s meeting in support of an inclusionary housing ordinance and have launched an online petition to support affordable housing funding.
Cesar Covarrubias, executive director of the Kennedy Commission, said in a Monday afternoon phone interview that there is a tremendous need for affordable housing for Anaheim families.
“Without a proper policy in place the city will continue housing production in an unbalanced way and not address the affordable housing needs in Anaheim for low income, working families who are struggling to remain housed,” he said.
Critics of inclusionary housing ordinances – including real estate interests – say mandates like these can create more hurdles to producing homes in the city and stifle the current level of development.
Adam Wood– vice president of the Building Industry Association of Southern California OC chapter – said in a Tuesday morning interview that these types of ordinances essentially tax housing production when cities should be making it easier to build homes.
“We’ve seen inclusionary zoning policies up and down the state for decades. They’ve been around forever. Who has solved the housing crisis with them? Which city is saying affordability isn’t a problem for us anymore we have inclusionary zoning,” Wood said.
“It’s a supply problem, so let’s do everything we can to increase supply first.”
Carolina Mendez, a resident and local activist, said in a Monday afternoon phone call that it’s important that developers invest back into the residents of the communities they build in.
“If you come into the city looking to make a profit off the very least, you should contribute to ending the housing crisis that we’re currently facing,” she said.
Mendez also said fears that an inclusionary ordinance would scare away developers in a tourism city like Anaheim are disingenuous.
Anaheim’s Proposed Affordable Housing Mandate
If adopted, Tuesday’s proposal would require 10% of rental residential projects with 20 homes or more to be housing for low and very low income families or require the developer to instead pay the city $10 per square foot of the project.
The money would go towards the city’s recently created housing trust that could help fund programs like eviction protection assistance, neighborhood revitalization, down payment assistance for homebuyers and gap financing for affordable homes.
[Read: Two More OC Cities Create Housing Trusts; Are They Effective?]
The proposal would also require developers building a for-sale residential project with more than 20 homes to create 5% of the units for moderate income families or pay the city $5 per square foot of the project – which would also go towards the housing trust.
Orange County’s median income for a four-person household is close to $128,000, roughly 13,000 above what’s considered low income, according to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development.
A four-person household making less than $72,000 a year is considered very low income.
Will Another OC City Require Affordable Housing?
If adopted, Anaheim would join a host of cities including Irvine, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach and Brea who have already implemented such mandates on developers.
But officials in Anaheim have long resisted calls to create such an ordinance with some local leaders questioning if these mandates create affordable homes or stifle development.
City leaders have also struggled to get developers to build affordable homes in recent years.
Between 2018-2023, over 5,100 homes were built in Anaheim – of which 92% were for above moderate income families, 4% for very low income families and about 2% were for low income families, according to a state database.
A Voice of OC investigation earlier this year found Santa Ana – a city with an inclusionary housing law – built the most affordable homes for low-income families in the past five years.
It also found that for the most part developers constructed homes for above moderate income families – even in cities with inclusionary housing laws.
[Read: Are Affordable Housing Mandates Working in Orange County?]
Meanwhile, Over 30,000 Anaheim households are currently waiting for Section 8 housing vouchers, with more than 4,000 additional households waiting for affordable housing options, according to a staff report.
How Did Anaheim Get Here?
Tuesday’s expected discussion on the ordinance comes more than a year since city-hired independent investigators alleged in a corruption probe report developer favoritism at city hall.
In their over 350-page report, investigators included accusations that a prominent developer would sit in the city’s housing director chair, boss people around and invoke the name of former Mayor Harry Sidhu if there was pushback.
The discussion also comes amid increased pressure from state housing officials to get local leaders to help address California’s housing affordability crisis.
Now, officials are looking for ways to boost their housing stock.
In 2023, city leaders hired a consultant to conduct a study on policies and programs they could implement to help boost Anaheim’s affordable housing stock.
In March the consultant publicly presented his findings and pointed to inclusionary housing ordinances working across the state.
[Read: Will Anaheim Require Developers to Build Affordable Homes?]
The consultant’s assessment came after a report showed that about 80% of homes approved to be built last year in Anaheim were for above moderate income families and about 11% were for low income and very low income families.
Editor’s note: Ashleigh Aitken’s father, Wylie Aitken, chairs Voice of OC’s board of directors.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam
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