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Housing project gets thumbs up
Council’s assent is end of two-year effort to secure cash for 24-unit, low- income proposal.
By Jason Wells
CITY HALL — A 24-unit housing project on San Fernando Road for low-income, developmentally disabled residents secured final approval from the City Council and two other agencies Tuesday, capping a two-year effort to bring the project to fruition.
While the proposal must still undergo a final evaluation by federal housing authorities, the city’s approval of the final development agreement and appropriation of $4.46 million for the project all but ensures it will soon rise at 6200 San Fernando Road, city officials said.
The new facility that United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles will operate, will not only provide low-income housing for residents with developmental disabilities like cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome, but will also fill a vacant lot that was once host to a 27-unit apartment complex notorious for its persistent law-enforcement issues.
Councilman Frank Quintero lauded the project Tuesday as an “upgrade to the entire community.”
“It used to be a slum,” he said. “This was a code-enforcement nightmare.”
The $10.6-million project will be similar to the 18-unit United Cerebral Palsy residential complex further up on San Fernando Road in Burbank, which was completed in March 2006.
“This project is really the best kind of project to put in that area and not have a repeat of the issues they had,” Deputy Housing Director Peter Zovak said.
For future tenants, it will also mean a real chance at living the kind of independent lifestyle that few with developmental disabilities, especially those classified as very low income, can afford, city officials said.
Doorways will be wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, two-story units will have elevators, bathrooms will be tiled with flush shower entries, light switches will be positioned a little lower than usual, electrical outlets a little higher, said Ron Cohen, president and chief executive of United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles, the project’s developer.
And for tenants who can’t grasp and turn a key, entryways can be retrofitted to be operated via an infrared touch system, much like an automatic garage door, he said, all in an effort to accommodate the wide range of disabilities that typically hold clients back.
“They want to be able to direct their own lives,” Cohen said. “It’s the hope, it’s the dream, it’s the wish of all of us.”
But the project’s two-story format has some neighbors wishing for something else.
Patrick Masihi, president of the neighboring Pelanconi Estates Homeowners Assn., has campaigned against the project from the outset, going so far as to travel to Sacramento to lobby against the grant funding last year.
“We’re against that project,” he said. “Make it a single story.”
As it stands, Masihi said the second story will impede the view of surrounding residents and stick out among a mostly single-story area.
Councilman and Redevelopment Agency Chairman Ara Najarian characterized those assertions as “exaggerated concerns” on Tuesday.
The project will also use $5.7 million in state and federal grant money, $250,000 in developer equity and $115,000 in affordable housing program funds, according to the development agreement.
The city will have the option to purchase the property after 56 years, or extend the affordability term of the project with the developer, according to city reports.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will subsidize 70% of the monthly rent for tenants who qualify under “very low” or “extremely low” income categories.
In the current market, that would be annual savings of between $15,550 and $25,900 for a single tenant, or $17,750 and $29,600 for a couple, according to a city report.
Federal housing authorities have yet to establish the application criteria for potential tenants, Zovak said, but they are typically for extremely low-income tenants.
Glendale already has three group homes for physically or developmentally disabled tenants and two apartment complexes similar to the United Cerebral Palsy project for a combined 47 units.
The new project on San Fernando Road will only accept those with developmental disabilities, Zovak said.
The application period for the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2009 after getting final approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will likely open within a couple months of being ready for occupancy, Cohen said.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
While the proposal must still undergo a final evaluation by federal housing authorities, the city’s approval of the final development agreement and appropriation of $4.46 million for the project all but ensures it will soon rise at 6200 San Fernando Road, city officials said.
The new facility that United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles will operate, will not only provide low-income housing for residents with developmental disabilities like cerebral palsy, autism and Down syndrome, but will also fill a vacant lot that was once host to a 27-unit apartment complex notorious for its persistent law-enforcement issues.
Councilman Frank Quintero lauded the project Tuesday as an “upgrade to the entire community.”
“It used to be a slum,” he said. “This was a code-enforcement nightmare.”
The $10.6-million project will be similar to the 18-unit United Cerebral Palsy residential complex further up on San Fernando Road in Burbank, which was completed in March 2006.
“This project is really the best kind of project to put in that area and not have a repeat of the issues they had,” Deputy Housing Director Peter Zovak said.
For future tenants, it will also mean a real chance at living the kind of independent lifestyle that few with developmental disabilities, especially those classified as very low income, can afford, city officials said.
Doorways will be wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs, two-story units will have elevators, bathrooms will be tiled with flush shower entries, light switches will be positioned a little lower than usual, electrical outlets a little higher, said Ron Cohen, president and chief executive of United Cerebral Palsy of Los Angeles, the project’s developer.
And for tenants who can’t grasp and turn a key, entryways can be retrofitted to be operated via an infrared touch system, much like an automatic garage door, he said, all in an effort to accommodate the wide range of disabilities that typically hold clients back.
“They want to be able to direct their own lives,” Cohen said. “It’s the hope, it’s the dream, it’s the wish of all of us.”
But the project’s two-story format has some neighbors wishing for something else.
Patrick Masihi, president of the neighboring Pelanconi Estates Homeowners Assn., has campaigned against the project from the outset, going so far as to travel to Sacramento to lobby against the grant funding last year.
“We’re against that project,” he said. “Make it a single story.”
As it stands, Masihi said the second story will impede the view of surrounding residents and stick out among a mostly single-story area.
Councilman and Redevelopment Agency Chairman Ara Najarian characterized those assertions as “exaggerated concerns” on Tuesday.
The project will also use $5.7 million in state and federal grant money, $250,000 in developer equity and $115,000 in affordable housing program funds, according to the development agreement.
The city will have the option to purchase the property after 56 years, or extend the affordability term of the project with the developer, according to city reports.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will subsidize 70% of the monthly rent for tenants who qualify under “very low” or “extremely low” income categories.
In the current market, that would be annual savings of between $15,550 and $25,900 for a single tenant, or $17,750 and $29,600 for a couple, according to a city report.
Federal housing authorities have yet to establish the application criteria for potential tenants, Zovak said, but they are typically for extremely low-income tenants.
Glendale already has three group homes for physically or developmentally disabled tenants and two apartment complexes similar to the United Cerebral Palsy project for a combined 47 units.
The new project on San Fernando Road will only accept those with developmental disabilities, Zovak said.
The application period for the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2009 after getting final approval from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, will likely open within a couple months of being ready for occupancy, Cohen said.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
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