UPDATE: According to town staff, affordable housing recommendations will NOT be on the July 12 council agenda, but instead will continue to be discussed at the Planning Commission meeting at 7:30 p.m., on July 21, at the Loomis Depot. The council is expected to make a decision in either August or September.

Will residents cry “Not in my backyard,” when it comes to affordable, high-density housing?

The Town of Loomis wants to know, now that the planning commission has identified five sites to rezone for affordable housing.

“I think it’s a very good idea. There’s just not anything around here like this,” said Erica Jones, of Loomis.

Jones said she and her husband rent a small home off of Auburn Folsom Road.

The town council will review the commission’s recommendations and hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 14, at the Loomis Depot.

The five sites identified by the commission are the properties located on either side of Interstate 80 on Horseshoe Bar Road, on Humphrey Road next to H. Clarke Powers School, on the corner of Brace Road and Sierra College Boulevard, and on Sierra College Boulevard, south of Rocklin Road.

“I prefer the in-town properties because they’re close to stores and have easy access to things,” Jones said.

Town planners are trying to meet the state mandate that requires the town to zone for affordable, high-density housing. Loomis is already behind in meeting the state-determined goals and must now zone for the building of 234 low-income housing units, which would fulfill their allotment until 2013.

According to Kathy Kerdus, planning director, the state would consider the town’s requirement met if vacant lands were zoned to accommodate 15 to 20 units per acre for sales or rentals with no major restrictions

The state has determined that a very low income for a family of three is $32,750 per year, while a low income for the same family is $52,450 per year.

Lenny Arevalo, of Lincoln, is a dispatcher for Emard’s EST, in Loomis. He said his family of four could possibly qualify for low-income housing.

“I’d love to live here. I’d love to have my kids in school here. I’d buy a condo and walk to work,” Arevalo said of the proposed affordable housing.

According to town planning director Kathy Kerdus, in the state’s eyes high-density housing equals affordable housing. She said that the state says Loomis must plan for affordable housing to accommodate very low- and low-income earners.

In a town staff report, it was stated that very low-, low- and moderate-income housing is considered “workforce housing” and could include those employed as “teachers, nurses, public safety officers, government workers, store managers, clerks, etc.”

The town must demonstrate that it has adequate sites planned and zoned to accommodate rental or sale units that would be affordable for the lower-income families. The state does not require the town to build the facilities, nor does it require rent or sales price caps on the high-density housing.

For more information, call the town at 652-1840.