Item 39 - Affordable Housing Project at 2530 & 2534 Westminster Avenue

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Affordable Housing Project at 2530 & 2534 Westminster Avenue May 17, 2022 Page 6 2 6 8 9 implementing the project. This engagement has included extensive communications with the United Way of Orange County, Orangewood Foundation and Samueli Academy. The project will include a public pocket park oriented toward the neighborhood, providing a much-needed community asset. The nearest publicly accessible open space, Edna Park, is over one-third of a mile away from the project site and requires traversing multiple major thoroughfares. This pocket park will provide neighbors essential public open spaces, along with play equipment and a picnic area. Along with the new public park, the development and design team will engage local residents to collaboratively develop community-enhancing projects. Additional opportunities for neighborhood initiatives include tree planting, painting a community mural, or holding a neighborhood event. City Fabrick, the nonprofit design studio, has extensive experience working with residents to select, design, and implement community projects. Further, CDP will provide $100,000 of their developer fee to a public benefit. The development team will work with local businesses to enhance access and connections between the project, its residents, the surrounding neighborhood, and the nearby commercial centers. Recognizing that the nearby commercial centers collectively provide essential daily needs including groceries, self-care, and professional services, within walking distance for residents of the project, and the surrounding residential neighborhood, improving pedestrian access would benefit local residents and businesses alike. This will include identifying means to enhance safety at the corner of Fairview Street and Westminster Avenue, as well as determine ways to establish pedestrian connections between the project site and commercial center to the east. Parking The site plan includes 144 surface parking spaces, of which a portion of the spaces will be tandem spaces assigned to the three-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments. The City allows tandem parking. In terms of the parking ratio, 1.0 parking space per PSH unit and 2.0 parking spaces per family unit is planned for a total parking ratio of 1.7 overall. Typically, PSH units are developed with a ratio of .50 parking space per dwelling unit. The ratio of 1.0 parking space per PSH unit is higher than the industry standard of .50 parking space per PSH unit and will provide additional parking capacity in the event many of the formerly homeless residents secure employment and vehicles. Residents will not be charged for parking. Unit Mix The target population for Westview House includes large families and special needs homeless individuals with a local preference for residents of the Santa Ana community. Within the project’s census block, 61 percent are renter-households with a per capita income far below that which would be required to adequately house a family within market rate rentals in the area. To support these families, the project was designed with 58 three- and four-bedroom units. A total of 61 of the project units (75 percent) are reserved for extremely low-income individuals and families at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income