By LESTER CHANG
The City Council withheld support for nearly 200 single-room apartments on Weddell Drive last week, saying the project was too dense, would create traffic snarls and would speed up the eviction of up to 90 Sunnyvale residents.
On top of all that, some councilmembers said the affordable housing project turned out to be anything but affordable.
Borregas Court Associates, which owns the land and is developing the single-room-occupancy project, was seeking an $8 million tax-exempt bond from the state and needed the council's approval to secure the funds. The council rejected the developer's request by a 5-2 vote.
The developer will consider building the project using conventional bank loans, but said the additional cost will drive rents up even higher.
If built, the project will be Sunnyvale's second single-room- occupancy housing complex.
The rooms--about half the size of a standard studio, with kitchen bathroom and bedroom all in one space--would have rented for between $511 to $650 a month had the developer secured the bonds. The rooms range between 195 and 245 square feet.
The Carroll Inn's single-room apartments, at 174 Carroll Street, rent for between $276 to $371 a month. The rooms range from 165 to 300 square feet.
Opened in 1994, the Carroll Inn consists of 120 single-room units. It is geared for the handicapped, senior citizens and low-income residents.
The majority of the council also felt the Borregas Court project would speed up the eviction of at least 90 tenants at the Deluxe Trailer Park at 101 Weddell Drive, where the single-room apartments would be built. Borregas Court owns most of the trailers at the park and rents them out.
Vice Mayor Jim Roberts said the city approved the single-room project in 1991, but opposed approving the bond, saying it was not "appropriate for government, through tax breaks, to subsidize this type of project that clearly is going to create some pain and some heartache."
Tammy Davis lives in a trailer at Deluxe Trailer Park with her daughter and a 5-month-old grandson. She said she has looked for an apartment for the last three months, but has found nothing she can afford. The rent for a two-bedroom apartment goes as high as $1,500 a month, she said.what does she pay now?
"I am here to let you know that we need help," she said at the council meeting. "We need your assistance."
Mayor Stan Kawcyznski said the units will not help low-income residents because the rents are comparable to what apartment owners would charge.
Councilman Jack Walker, who also voted against the financing package, said he didn't like the project's density, the lack of bus service to the area and the traffic the project would generate.
Robin Parker and Manuel Valerio were the only councilmembers who supported the funding proposal.
Parker said it is govenrment's role to help create affordable housing. Valerio said that the project is going into an area that sorely needs affordable housing.
Borregas Court needed the council's support to be eligible for bonds from the California Statewide Communities Development Authority to develop the project, called the Borregas Court Residence Inn.
CSCDA was created by the League of California Cities and California State Association of Counties to help with private financing.
John Nicholson, a partner with Borregas Court, said the developer may still seek out conventional bank loans for the project.
Without the tax-exempt bond funds, rental rates could jump by $200 more per unit, said Dyane Matas, Housing and Neighborhood Preservation Officer for the city.
The units would be geared for people making between $24,550 $30,450 a year, according to city documents.
The project provoked protests from tenants at the trailer park and from homeowners in surrounding areas.
Robert Wincup, a Bradford Drive homeowner, said the project would cause the value of his property to fall. He said there were no guarantees that two or fewer people would live in the rooms, although they are designed for at most two tenants.
Councilwoman Pat Vorreiter countered that she lives next to a complex for low-income families and that "they have been as good a neighbors as I could possibly hope."
"So I hope that that will be an example and that you will be blessed with the same kind of neighbors that I have been blessed with for many, many years," she said.
Wincup, who shook his head and chuckled, said he didn't think so.
Davis said the search for housing has left her stressed and depressed, forcing her to seek medical help.
She asked whether the city or the developer could help her relocate or move into single-room project when it is completed.
Nicholson said the tax-exempt bonds would have provided funds to help in relocation, but no assistance will be available if the project is developed with conventional bank loans.
Before the council took a stand against the funding, Jim Danford, a banker representing Borregas Court, said the developer would consider a 90-day eviction notice rather than a 30-day one, as way not to disrupt the school year for children.
The developer also would consider giving rental preference to the park tenants, he said.
The project called for 193 single-room units and at least 70 parking spaces.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, March 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.