Roseville firm steps up to supply Silver Bend Way affordable housing
RAID waiting in wings with potential legal action over location
of development
If a deal can be reached with Placer County, a Roseville affordable-housing developer could soon be building on a controversy-prone parcel off Silver Bend Way in Bowman. But a foe of past affordable housing proposals on the site is waiting in the wings and is contemplating the possibility of taking the county to court again. USA Properties Fund, with more than 8,000 units constructed in California since 1981, was given the go-ahead Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors to negotiate a potential development agreement. Envisioned is a project that would provide about 65 affordable apartment units. The agreement stipulates that the preliminary scope of the project includes very low-, low- and moderate-income rental units. Jim Lo Bue, Placer County Redevelopment Agency deputy director, told supervisors that USA Properties Fund had emerged as the best of four proposals on a 6.2-acre site owned by the agency. The land is located at the Foresthill exit behind the Raley’s supermarket and is already zoned for multi-family use. Lo Bue said USA Properties has developed several projects in Placer County and the Sacramento region, including one in the Auburn area. The business’ Web site shows that it developed and now owns the 56-unit Terracina Oaks affordable apartment development at 12200 Gateway Court. With the exclusive negotiating agreement in place, USA Properties will have an initial 180 days to forge a deal with the redevelopment agency. Lo Bue said the agency has up to $2 million in financing, there is not obligation in the agreement to provide the land for any particular price. Any agreement would have to come back to supervisors for approval, he said. If the two sides are making headway, the negotiating agreement could be extended for a further six months. The property has a stormy past, with nearby residents and other concerned citizens forming an organization in 2002 to fight affordable housing there. For more than two decades, the Auburn Elks Club held the property on the premise that it would eventually become a convention center. But earlier this decade, the non-profit sold the land to Affordable Housing Development Corp. of Clovis for what was initially approved as a 72-unit affordable housing project. Subsequent court action by local group Residents Against Inconsistent Development stalled the project and led to an agreement to develop the land as rental-market housing, with no more than 15 percent of the units earmarked for needy renters. That never occurred and the developer’s out-of-court settlement with RAID prohibited the Affordable Housing Development Corp. from applying for a government-subsidized low-income housing project on the site until at least April 2008. When Affordable Housing Development Corp. defaulted on payments, the redevelopment agency accepted the Silver Bend Way parcel in return for terminating a $230,000 outstanding loan and paying $410,000 the corporation was in default to the Auburn Elks. Since taking over ownership of the property late last year, the county has done some improvements, including grading to provide a better emergency access, removing trash and dried brush, and removing several encampments, Lo Bue said. With the new move by the county, RAID member Judy Maxwell said the grassroots organization has already sent a letter expressing concerns about a new project through its attorney. Issues such as traffic congestion, fire safety and the amount of hazardous materials underground on the property have never been addressed properly, Maxwell said. And RAID isn’t ruling out another court battle. “It depends on the county,” Maxwell said.
Keywords
Placer County, Roseville, Silver Bend Way, Bowman, USA Properties Fund, Jim Lo Bue, Placer County Redevelopment Agency, deputy director, Foresthill, Terracina Oaks, Gateway Court, Auburn Elks Club, Affordable Housing Development Corp., Clovis, Residents Against Inconsistent Development, RAID, Judy Maxwell,
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We certainly don't want any affordable housing in Placer County. It will attract the wrong kind of people. We can't say that people will think we are racist or elitist so let's say this instead.
"With the new move by the county, RAID member Judy Maxwell said the grassroots organization has already sent a letter expressing concerns about a new project through its attorney. Issues such as traffic congestion, fire safety and the amount of hazardous materials underground on the property have never been addressed properly, Maxwell said."
Good one Jon. You said it all and said it well.
Maxwell must be from Rocklin or Roseville LOL !
I wonder why this area couldnt be used for senior housing, there is a shortage as well....
The people who need this affordable housing already live here! There are many families and individuals that are living on fixed incomes that are barely making it. This has been in the works for way to many years. Affordable housing is desperately needed. Not for "those" people but for people who work hard trying to make ends meet. Look at the Placer County housing plan and the numbers, it's shocking when you look at the income levels for people in this county and what housing goes for. There is a huge gap that is not being filled.
Wow Jon you actually come out with a phony reason and write it down for other people to read? Auburn is a CRAP HOLE even without affordable housing, look around you at all the dead streets and closed businesses. Maybe it was this kind of thinking that PUT AUBURN WHERE IT IS RIGHT NOW IN THE FIRST PLACE.
JonGreen: Your assessment is dead-on! It looks like this organization has found an appropriate substitution for Michelle Ollar in the person of Judy Maxwell to lead this bunch.
Spastic, What are you talking about?
I've spoken of the "centrist" point of view as being the high road in many posts. Many of the objections to this project being espoused here smack of something less than the high road. Affordable housing is needed everywere there is a need for "affordable" labor. And to say "not in Placer County", YIKES, did I miss something? Auburn is not a CRAP HOLE, a carefully planned affordable housing unit would be an asset, say...somewhere near... ah...say, Roseville...,for example.....kidding, immensely. We are all concerned about the "not in my back yard" part of this, but we need to proceed very very carefully with this with an open mind.
We already have affordable housing...Auburn Greens and the apartments at Palm and Nevada St. WHY hasn't Loomis or Penryn stepped up for Aff Housing. I know why, they are too smart. The apartment at Palm Ave advertize to take welfare recipitence from Sac County and transfer their paper work to Placer. Is this what we need in Auburn? More Welfare? I called and varivied about the tranfers.
Silver Bend Way is a poor location for a family with school age children. The parcel is geographically isolated by Foresthill Rd. to the south, I-80 to the west, the canyon to the east, and single family homes to the north with nary a school or park within reasonable walking distance. Any kid with a Silver Bend address will be physically and socially isolated from other kids in middle class neighborhoods and will be stigmatized as "po folk." A better use of this parcel is affordable housing for residents with no children, or as auburnite wonders senior housing. Many seniors choose to self segregate.
We in Auburn may have: The Silver Bend Projects shamefully hidden behind Raley's, or sensibly priced Silver Bend Senior Housing discreetly nestled behind Raley's.
ThreeFourthsBlind: Good post, an excellent example of moving ahead carefully. Seniors also need "affordable housing", and your point about "po folk" from across the tracks is well taken. To a lesser degree, there will unfortunately always be some kind of tracks to be on the wrong side of.
Bronz, ZONING