Orange County Grand Jury • 2007-2008 • Agency Response
Response to: NO COUNTY FOR OLD BOOMERS When Orange County Baby Boomers Retire, here Will They Live?

Office of the Mayor*

Published: July 21, 2008 4 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 4 findings

F1
The Housing Elements for the cities and County of Orange do not reflect that the number of affordable senior units in Orange County will not accommodate the projected population. Response: The City of La Habra respectfully disagrees with this finding. The City of La Habra's Housing Element addresses special needs housing, including the senior population, within its jurisdiction. The City's current Housing Element identifies 9.9 percent of its population as being 65 or older. Of those residents 65 and older, 27.7 percent are owner-occupants and 11.1 percent are renter-occupants in the City. More recent estimates by the Center for Demographic Research also indicated that there were a total of 5,294 persons in the 65+ age group, (10 percent of the City's population) with almost 40 percent aged 75 years and over. Printed on Recycled Paper, "A Caring Community" 1 The Honorable Nancy Wieben Stock July 21, 2008 Approximately 74 percent of the seniors in the City are homeowners.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Include the current and projected affordable senior inventory by type, location and cost in the 2008 and future years' development of the Housing Element. Response: The City of La Habra does not propose to implement this recommendation. The recommendation by the Grand Jury is not required under State Housing Element law. The City will, however, comply with State Government Code Section 65583(a)(7), which requires an analysis of any special housing needs for the elderly among other special needs populations. The City of La Habra's Housing Element currently includes the following prerequisite analysis: A quantification of the total number of seniors and senior- headed households, including tenure. A quantification and qualitative description of senior needs, including a report of the potential housing problems, existing resources, and an assessment of unmet needs. Identification of potential programs, policies and resources to address the need of seniors. The number of seniors living at or below the poverty level. The analysis of special needs populations, including seniors, is established pursuant to State law as noted above and must be accomplished as part of the Housing Element update cycle approximately every five years. This provides sufficient opportunities to address changing demographic situations for all segments of the City of La Habra's population.
F2
The Housing Elements for the County of Orange and the cities do not focus sufficiently on or analyze the population growth and housing needs of the aging baby boomer generation. Response: The City of La Habra respectfully disagrees with this finding. State Housing Element law requires an analysis and discussion on population growth and the housing needs of special needs groups, including the senior population. The aging baby boomer population is not, however, called out as a separate or unique special needs group. The aging baby boomer population is instead combined with the demographics for the senior population.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Include sufficient data in the Housing Element to acknowledge the imminent growth in the County's aging population. This data is to include the current population and the growth trend of the aging baby boomer generation as well as the current median income and the income trend of the senior population. Response: The City of La Habra does not propose to implement this recommendation. The City of La Habra will, however, comply with State Government Code Section 65583(a)(7), which requires an analysis of any special housing needs for the elderly and the analysis outlined in Response 1 above. The Honorable Nancy Wieben Stock July 21, 2008
F3
Not all Housing Elements are available online for easy access by the public. Response: The City of La Habra respectfully disagrees with this finding. The City of La Habra's current and draft Housing Elements are accessible to the public on the City's website: www.lahabracity.com
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Put all Housing Elements online on each city's website. Response: The recommended action has been implemented by the City of La Habra. The City of La Habra's current (2000-2005) and proposed 2008-2014 Housing Element are both available on the City's website at www.lahabracity.com
F4
Municipalities are not proactive enough in encouraging the development of affordable senior housing. Response: The City of La Habra respectfully disagrees with this finding. The City of La Habra encourages affordable housing development including senior housing by using its financial resources to assist in the acquisition and rehabilitation as well as development costs for new construction projects. The City of La Habra's Housing Authority owns and operates a senior single room occupancy rental project consisting of 70 units. All 70 units are affordable. The City of La Habra is also working with an affordable housing developer to provide financial assistance to a 49-unit fully affordable senior housing project. Earlier this year, the City of La Habra adopted its own Density Bonus Ordinance which provides developers numerous incentives and density bonuses to provide all types of affordable housing, including senior housing. The Honorable Nancy Wieben Stock July 21, 2008
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
Confer with developers to establish the needs for affordable senior housing and to encourage investment in future projects. Response: The recommended action has been implemented by the City of La Habra. Staff confers with developers on an ongoing and routine basis regarding affordable housing development opportunities, and will continue to encourage the development of affordable senior housing, consistent with the current policies, priorities and objectives included in the City of La Habra's Housing Element. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to the Grand Jury's inquiry regarding the County's aging population, and the interest they have in providing safe, decent and affordable housing for our senior population. If you have any questions regarding the City of La Habra's Housing Element, please feel free to contact Monika Troncoso Koos, our Housing and Redevelopment Manager at (562) 905- 9645. Sincerely, Rose Espinoza Mayor City Council C: Don Hannah, City Manager Michael Haack, Director of Community Development Monika Troncoso Koos, Housing and Redevelopment Manager

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.