Fairfield is strategically located midway between San Francisco and Sacramento, California. Fairfield's economy is dominated by Travis Air Force Base. Fairfield is surrounded by hills to the northwest, marshlands to the south, Travis Air Force Base to the east. Two interstate freeways bisect the city. Suisun Valley, a productive agricultural area known for its fruit and wine grape crops, is located adjacent to Fairfield.
The Fairfield Consolidated Plan presents a strategic vision for housing and community development. It includes the 1995 Annual Action Plan for spending $876,000 of Community Development Block Grant funds (CDBG) and $124,000 in program income. These funds will be spent on a number of projects benefiting low and moderate income persons.
A three-person team was established to prepare the City's Consolidated Plan.
This team conducted extensive consultation with public and private
organizations regarding various aspects of the Consolidated Plan. The team
included two members of the City's Housing Division and one member from the
City's Planning Department. The team held two public hearings. These hearings
were advertised in the local newspaper. Copies of a draft of the Consolidated
Plan were made available to the public for review and comment for a 30-day
period prior to the second public hearing. The draft plan was also presented to
the City's Community Services Commission. The plan was adopted by Fairfield's
City Council on May 2, 1995.
According to the 1990 Census, Fairfield's population is 78,648. This is expected to grow to 100,000 by the year 2000. Fairfield has remained a family-oriented community, with an average household size of 3.36 persons in 1990. There is an increasing number of elderly residents in Fairfield. Fairfield is a racially diverse community with no ethnic group dominant. No area of Fairfield is racially or ethnically concentrated as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The 1990 Median Family Income (MFI) for Fairfield is $36,886. Thirty-eight percent of households had incomes below 80% of MFI in 1990. Whites have the highest median income ($41,886 in 1990), followed by Asians ($39,136), Hispanics ($36,688), Blacks ($36,530), "Others" ($35,913), and American Indians ($35,825). The 1990 Census identified 1,759 (7%) of Fairfield households as falling below the poverty line. Almost half of these were characterized as female households with no husband present. Fairfield has several pockets of low-income concentrations as defined by HUD. These include several older areas scattered throughout the city.
Approximately 44% of Fairfield's housing units are rental units. In fact,
almost 25% of all detached single family units are occupied by renters. Large
complexes make up only 6% of the rental market in Fairfield.
As discussed above, Fairfield is a fast growing community. Fairfield's economy is dominated by Travis Air Force Base. Other large employers include various local governments and retail stores. However, the federal government is in the process of closing nearby Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo. This will have a direct impact on the loss of employment to 803 Fairfield residents and an indirect impact on the loss of up to 2,000 jobs in Fairfield, using a multiplier of 2.5 jobs for every primary job.
The housing stock in Fairfield is relatively new. Eighty percent of Fairfield's housing stock has been completed since 1960 with almost one-third completed since 1980.
The City of Fairfield has identified the community's most critical housing needs as 1) providing affordable housing and 2) rehabilitating existing housing stock. To address affordable housing needs, rental assistance is needed to reduce cost burdens. Another need is for transitional housing and outreach services for the homeless.
The 1990 census shows Fairfield as having a tight rental housing market. Traditionally, Fairfield has had lower housing costs than the San Francisco Bay region. According to the census, the 1990 average home price in Fairfield was $139,300 versus $285,000 for the Bay Area median. However, Fairfield's average price is still 3.8 times the median household income of $36,886. While rental costs have not increased faster than inflation, extremely low and low-income households require subsidies in order to pay less than 30% of their incomes for market rate units.
Eighty-five percent of Fairfield's housing stock is estimated to be sound. Of the remaining units, it is estimated 7% require minor repairs, 8% need moderate repairs, and 0.1% need substantial repairs or should be replaced.
The City of Fairfield has identified rehabilitating its existing housing stock for both owner- occupied and rental units as a high priority in order to maintain and improve its supply of affordable housing. Approximately 95% of the apartment units in Fairfield constructed before 1960 are occupied by low or moderate-income households. In addition, almost 75% of extremely low and low-income renter households report paying a disproportionate amount of their incomes for rent. The need for rental assistance is further illustrated by the high unmet demand for rental assistance programs (1,300 families are on the City's register/waiting list for HUD Section 8 assistance).
The 1990 Census identified 106 homeless persons in Fairfield. Of these, 91 were in emergency housing shelters. The total 1993 shelter population for Solano County is 816 (262 in Fairfield/Vacaville and 554 in Vallejo). This count does not reflect the 342 single men, 179 single women, and 1,145 families turned away due to lack of space in Fairfield and Vacaville and 850 turned away in Vallejo. There are currently no transitional shelters in Solano County.
The Fairfield Housing Authority has authority to assist 712 families under the Section 8 Rental Assistance Program. The Housing Authority also administers portable certificates and vouchers issued by other housing authorities to families now living in Fairfield. There are approximately 203 of these contracts. The City does not currently have any public housing, although the Fairfield Redevelopment Agency does own an 84-unit senior housing project managed by the Housing Authority. There are currently over 1,300 families on the register/waiting list for HUD Section 8 rental assistance.
The City has identified a number of political and market impediments that may limit the City's supply of affordable housing. These include: 1) The City's multi-family design standards. These standards may affect the ability of developers to provide higher density multi-family housing. The City's General Plan does, however, allow waivers and allowances to be made to provide incentives for the development of such housing; 2) Subdivision standards may impose costly requirements for roads and sidewalks; 3) Residential building fees are charged. These fees can substantially affect the price of housing; 4) Federal funding has been inadequate to meet needed and mandated programs. This is demonstrated by the 1,300 family waiting list for Section 8 assistance; 5) Strong neighborhood opposition to construction of apartment and multi-family ownership projects; 6) Elimination of many tax benefits associated with multi-family development under the 1986 Tax Reform Act.
Pacific Community Services (PCS) provides housing counseling and fair housing services. In Fiscal Year 1993-94, PCS served ten persons with fair housing complaints. In addition, PCS handled 343 tenant/landlord and 80 default cases.
Approximately 57% of Fairfield's housing units were built before 1979, when lead-based paint was still in use. Solano County Department of Health and Social Services has identified three confirmed cases of lead-based poisoning in Fairfield since 1992. None of these cases were caused by lead paint.
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Economic development, including job development, business retention and revitalization, is identified as a high priority for the community by the Consolidated Plan. Youth programs and projects are also targeted as an important need in the community. Domestic violence programs, crime prevention, code enforcement, and homeless outreach have also all been identified as high priorities for the City of Fairfield.
The City of Fairfield will work with other public agencies and non-profit
organizations on a variety of coordinated planning efforts to facilitate meeting
local and regional needs. The City will continue to work closely with the
Solano County Coalition Against Homelessness and the Solano Affordable Housing
Foundation.
Providing housing, improving the community's existing housing stock, improving support services to the homeless, continuing assistance to social service agencies, expanding youth programs and creating and retaining jobs are all important areas for Fairfield to focus its current and future resources.
Fairfield's Consolidated Plan has identified a number of high priority community needs. The needs were identified based upon input received from a variety of public and nonprofit agencies. The highest priority items are summarized below:
Top priorities for affordable housing include assisting extremely low and low-income renter households, preserving and improving existing low and moderate-income housing, continuing the City's existing housing rehabilitation programs and implementing neighborhood preservation projects.
Priorities for meeting the needs of the homeless include continuing to participate in regional efforts to combat homelessness, continuing to support existing homeless shelters and working to expand the shelter space, and developing transitional housing and outreach programs.
The City has identified over $21,000,000 in projects. These needs greatly outweigh available resources. The City will continue to address a variety of social service needs and cooperate with other agencies providing services to special needs populations. Top priorities are those identified under Community Development Needs above.
The Fairfield Housing Authority has recently been awarded funds to pay for a part-time coordinator for the Authority's Section 8 Family Self Sufficiency Program. This program links housing, job training, budget counseling and parenting skills. The City contracts with Pacific Community Services (PCS) to provide housing counseling. The City will continue to support the activities of PCS. In addition, because almost half of Fairfield's "poverty households" are headed by single mothers, the City will continue to encourage the provision of day care within apartment complexes. The City is currently assisting a local nonprofit agency acquire a site for a domestic violence shelter. The shelter will provide its clients with temporary emergency housing and access to a network of social service programs.
The City of Fairfield has identified numerous potential federal, state and local sources of revenue for funding housing and community development projects and programs. Unfortunately, current available funding needs vastly exceeds actual funding sources available.
The City will continue to work with other public agencies on a variety of
efforts. It will work to form partnerships with a multitude of nonprofit
organizations. It will continue to participate in the Solano County Coalition
Against Homelessness and the Solano Affordable Housing Foundation.
The City of Fairfield's 1995 Annual Action Plan outlines the proposed use of $1,000,000 in CDBG funds and program income. These funds will be spent on a variety of projects including:
Public Service Activities:
Non-public Service Activities:
The only geographic criteria used for CDBG funding decisions is whether certain location- specific projects, such as street improvement projects, are located within CDBG-eligible census tracts.
The City of Fairfield is the lead agency. The City Council makes its allocation decisions based upon the recommendations from a CDBG Citizen Steering Committee which has representatives from various segments of the community. The City of Fairfield's Housing Division is then responsible for disbursing these funds and monitoring the subrecipients.
The City of Fairfield has identified proposed accomplishments for each of its CDBG projects. It estimates the CDBG public service projects will directly serve approximately 11,000 people. The non-public service projects will help construct 1,700 feet of public utilities and improve one public facility.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts low-moderate income areas and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts low-moderate income areas and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
Phone No.: (707) 428-7349
Fax Number: (707) 428-7696
