Saratoga News Housing group raises concern over Hakone Gardens rental By Steve Enders A local housing watchdog agency has told the city of Saratoga that its approach to renting a recently-renovated, low-income housing unit at Hakone Gardens is not in accordance with fair rental laws. Palo Alto's Project Sentinel notified the city last week that it believes its guidelines for renting the house are discriminatory, after agency officials read an article about the unit in the San Jose Mercury News on Feb. 1. Ken Carroll, the nonprofit agency's fair housing director, said he thinks the city's idea of renting the unit to a couple is discriminatory and therefore illegal. When the city finished renovating the two-bedroom house last month, officials from Saratoga and the Hakone Foundation said they'd like to rent the unit to an older, possibly retired couple. Carroll said that federal, state and local laws are clear that a landlord--in this case the city of Saratoga and the Hakone Foundation--cannot deny housing to anyone on the basis of familial status, race or age. Furthermore, Carroll said federal and state guidelines state that a two bedroom house, like the one in Hakone, can hold as many as five tenants--two in each bedroom and another for the added living space. If the family is qualified to rent the unit as low-income tenants, they should be allowed to do so whether or not they have children, Carroll said. He said Project Sentinel has also sent a request to the city asking to be involved in its tenant-screening process. Carroll is also afraid of an area-wide "chilling effect," where potential tenants vying for housing around the region could be scared away from seeking rentals because they have children. "We commend the city of Saratoga and the Hakone Foundation for providing affordable housing, but the people who need affordable housing the most in this area are families with children," Carroll said. Paula Reeve, an analyst with the city who's heading the project said Monday she has no comment on whether the city would let Project Sentinel in on the screening process, but said the city is doing everything it can to comply with the law. Reeve said she's also waiting for guidance from City Attorney Michael Riback before officially responding to the concerns and demands of Project Sentinel. She said that because of the location of the small house, the city is concerned about who lives there. Because it sits in the middle of two parking lots at Hakone Gardens, she thinks some special considerations might be allowed for who can rent it. However, she said the city is waiting for guidance to see what range it has within the law. "We want to find an appropriate tenant," Reeve said, "who will meet the income requirement, and someone who will stay in the park. We want to comply with the law. We've worked hard on this project, and want to clear up any confusion. We're very thankful that if there are any issues that they've come to our attention." Reeve said the city hasn't leased the house yet, but has received many applications from a wide variety of possible tenants. Carroll said that Project Sentinel normally receives complaints from potential tenants that have had applications to rent denied. In this case, no complaints have been filed, but red flags were raised when he saw newspaper articles about the unit. The 80-year-old house recently received a $117,000 upgrade from federal grants for affordable-housing. To qualify to rent the unit, a couple would have to make less than $36,800 a year. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, February 10, 1999. ©1999 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.