U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Office of Community Planning and Development

CITIZEN'S SUMMARY

The City has developed specific housing and community development objectives which it intends to address over the upcoming five-year period from Fiscal Year 1995-96 to FY 1999 -2000. These objectives have been incorporated into the Consolidated Plan. The objectives are as follows: (1) increase the supply of standard affordable housing; (2) improve single-family and multi-family neighborhoods by implementing public facility and public infrastructure improvement programs; (3) promote homeownership opportunities to first-time homebuyers and provide increased housing choice both within and outside of minority and low-income concentrations; (4) construct new rental and for-sale affordable housing; (5) provide rental assistance to extremely low-income and very-low income renters to alleviate rental cost burden; (6) address the needs of homeless individuals and homeless families with children.

Action Plan

The One Year Action Plan provides a description of the programs, projects and activities that the City of Garden Grove will undertake to address priority needs and local objectives with anticipated program income and funds under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships Act (HOME) programs.

A total of $4,875,728 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is available for use by the City of Garden Grove during FY 1995-96. The City's Neighborhood Improvement Division has created several programs, projects and activities proposed for implementation during FY 1995-96, each of which has been designed to meet the Consolidated Plan goals.

Citizen Participation

During the preparation of the Consolidated Plan, the City followed its adopted Citizen Participation Plan to ensure adequate review by the public. A draft Consolidated Submission was made available for public review for a 30-day review and comment period commencing on March 29, 1995, and ending on April 27, 1995. Public notices providing a summary of the Consolidated Submission were published in the Orange County News, La Opinion, and Nguoi Viet. In addition, letters were sent to non-profit social service agencies, as well as to the five members of the City Council notifying them of the completion of a draft Consolidate Plan, its availability for comment, and the date, time and location of its public hearing. In addition to the 30-day public and comment period, a public hearing was conducted before the Garden Grove Neighborhood Improvement and Conservation Commission (NICC) in the City Council Chambers on Wednesday, April 12, 1995. Copies of the Consolidated Plan were also distributed to the five members of the City Council. During the review and comment period, one comment was received.

COMMUNITY PROFILE

Due to its central geographic location within one of the nation's strongest and most desirable market areas, Garden Grove is an ideal environment for family living, commercial enterprises, and recreation. Garden Grove, along with other northern and central Orange County cities, has completed its initial cycle of urban development and is now faced with a new set of issues and priorities for the future. The City must now deal with the issues of redevelopment and rehabilitation of commercial and residential areas, the strengthening of employment and economic resources, and the enhancement of neighborhoods and the community.

HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT NEEDS

Conditions

The City of Garden Grove, like many other cities of Orange County, experienced a rapid growth in population during the 1950's and 1960's. During this period, the City grew from a population of 4,000 in 1950 to 123,000 in 1980. By 1980, however, the growth rate had leveled off. Although at a much lower rate, the City's population steadily increased to 143,050 in 1990.

Housing Needs

Much of the City's housing was built during the 1950's when there was less plan review, fewer development standards and little land use planning. Although the majority of these housing units are considered to be in standard condition by SCAG, a windshield survey of neighborhood conditions in Garden Grove conducted by a private consultant as part of a special study on housing conditions, indicated that as much as 20% of the City's total housing stock may be in need of moderate rehabilitation or repair. Six percent, or 2,752 units of the housing stock are considered substandard but suitable for rehabilitation. Because so much of the present housing stock was built about the same time, the need to preserve the quality and soundness of units through rehabilitation efforts will become increasingly more important as the units age. If units are not maintained and rehabilitated, a large percentage of housing may enter the substandard classification at the same time in the future.

Market Conditions

Garden Grove is composed primarily of medium sized, single family dwellings at moderate prices of $160,000 to $205,000. The City's neighborhoods consist of a blend of various housing developments and a mixture of different economic strata. In recent years, there has been a general trend toward a high proportion of multiple units, and this pattern is expected to continue through the 1990's as the remainder of the vacant residential land is built out and the redevelopment of older housing occurs.

Affordable Housing Needs

The single largest impediment to the creation and maintenance of affordable housing in the City is the high cost of living present in this area. Garden Grove is located in Orange County which has one of the highest costs of living in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Fiscal Year 1994 Median Family Income for Orange County, was $59,100. High priced homes and high financing costs have created a housing affordability problem. Despite the decrease in housing costs over the past few years, the monthly costs associated with a home purchase are more expensive than what a low income household can afford.

Homeless Needs

According to the 1990 Census data provided in the CHAS Databook provided by HUD, there are a total of 62 homeless persons residing in the City. However, after release of this data, HUD indicated that the survey had been conducted using questionable methods, and that the estimates provided in the 1990 Census may not be an accurate estimate of the true homeless population. Based upon this information, the City looked elsewhere for data. According to the Orange County Homeless Issues task Force (OCHITF), there are approximately 12,000 homeless persons in Orange County. Of the total persons included in the 1993 survey, 5.8% of them list Garden Grove as their last know address. Based upon this analysis, the population of homeless persons in the City would be 696 persons. However, based upon informal surveys of City police officers, the City does not feel that this is truly indicative of the homeless population of the City. While no official study has been done to accurately determine the number of homeless persons in the City, City staff believe that the actual figure is somewhere in between the 1990 census estimate of 62 and the estimate extrapolated from the OCHITF figures.

Public and Assisted Housing Needs

In assessing the needs of very low-and low-income renters, there are two factors that impact their ability to obtain affordable housing, monthly rental costs and the availability of units in the bedroom sizes necessary. Upon review of 1990 Census data, it is apparent that several types of households are in extreme need of housing assistance. The first of these household types are large families. There are currently 2,987 low-income large-family renter households. Of this amount, 2,933 (98.2%) have some type of housing problem (e.g. paying greater than 30% of their income towards rent, living in a substandard unit, and/or living under overcrowded conditions). Another group of low and very low renters that has a difficult time finding affordable units which meet their needs is the elderly. According to the 1990 Census data 80% of all elderly 1 & 2 member renter households pay in excess of 30% of their income towards housing costs each month.

Barriers to Affordable Housing

The current housing market, inventory, and conditions of existing structures creates both impediments and opportunities for producing rental housing, promoting new homeownership opportunities, alleviating overcrowding and meeting the needs of under-served population groups, such as large families. One of the primary impediments to the production of both affordable for-sale and affordable rental housing is the current high cost of land in Orange County and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area as a whole. Despite the favorable interest rates, the creation of housing affordable for the low-income population is almost entirely impossible without assistance from local, state, and federal governments. In the case of rental housing production, the high cost of land translates into high rent payments. Another impediment to the new construction of affordable housing in the City is the scarcity of vacant land. According to the City's Draft 1994-1999 Housing Element, approximately 99 percent of the City's land is developed. Therefore, marginally used land must be recycled or redeveloped to meet the demand for residential and other more intense land uses.

Fair Housing

In 1960 the total number of minorities in Garden Grove was 2,923 or 3.4% of the total population. According to the 1980 Census, Garden Grove still had a mainly middle-income, non-minority white population. By 1990, however, the minority population had increased to 45.5% of the population. This dramatic increase is mainly due to the large number of Indo-Chinese refugees who have settled in Southern California and the increase in the Hispanic population. The City has determined that there is a need to increase housing choice both within and outside of minority and low-income concentrations.

Lead-Based Paint

Lead -based paints were more commonly used in colder climates because of their increased durability in such climates, and were not commonly used in warmer climates such as that found in Garden Grove. However, over the past several years, as part of its various multi-family rental rehabilitation programs, the City of Garden Grove has conducted tests on several multi-family residential structures to identify the existence/nonexistence of lead-based paints within these properties. Each of the buildings surveyed were constructed prior to the current ban on the use of lead additives in paint. To date, none of these surveys have identified the existence of lead-based paint within these buildings.

Community Development Needs

The City has a variety of community development needs as indicated in it's five year strategic plan. The City will focus on the rehabilitation of single family homes, senior owned mobile homes and rehabilitation of rental units in multi-family Focus Neighborhoods. The City will implement various neighborhood improvement programs throughout low-income neighborhoods such as code enforcement activities, public infrastructure improvements (i.e. street and alleyway resurfacing, development of community centers and public parks), special crime prevention activities, graffiti removal and neighborhood street fairs and clean-up campaigns. The City will provide rental assistance to very low-income seniors, disabled households and families. The Redevelopment agency will focus on the following activities: new construction of affordable housing,low interest home improvement loan program, first time homebuyers programs and acquisition and rehabilitation of existing multi-family units.

Coordination

The City will coordinate the implementation of activities with other public and private sector agencies and organizations. The City will use federal funds from HUD such as CDBG, HOME and Section 8 Rental assistance program funds. The Redevelopment Agency will place 20 percent of their tax increment funds into a Housing Set-Aside Fund to be used for the development or rehabilitation of affordable housing. Also the tax increment funds will be used for economic development activities. The City may coordinate with the Federal Home Loan Finance Bank and housing owners/developers.

HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

Vision for Change

The City expects to receive on an annual basis $600,000 in HOME Program funding, $2.1 million in CDBG Program funding, funding through the Section 8 Rental Assistance Program for 1,750 certificates and $2.5 million in Redevelopment Twenty Percent Housing Set-Aside funding. These funding sources will be used to increase the supply of affordable housing, implement public facility/public infrastructure improvement programs and promote homeownership opportunities. A major focus will also be to construct new rental and for-sale affordable housing, provide rental assistance to extremely low-income and very low-income renters and address the needs of the homeless.

Housing and Community Development Objectives and Priorities

Under the Consolidated Plan, the City is proposing to rehabilitate 109 rental units in multi-family neighborhoods by FY 1999 and rehabilitate 150 owner units in single-family neighborhoods. The City has identified eight storm drains, the replacement of an existing earthen embankment reservoir and the reconstruction and expansion of 5 roadways including the several street resurfacing projects.

Housing Priorities

The City's major housing priority is to increase the supply of standard affordable housing through the acquisition and/or rehabilitation of both renter and owner-occupied units. To meet the needs of the City's low-income small and large family renter households, the City will provide financial assistance for acquisition and rehabilitation of multi-unit rental complexes. Another housing priority is to promote homeownership opportunities through assistance to first-time homebuyers and provide increased housing choice both within and outside of minority and low-income concentrations.

Non-Housing Community Development Priorities

Much of the infrastructure such as streets and public utilities within Garden Grove was originally constructed during the 1960's and 1970's and is in need of repair. Therefore, one of the priorities of the plan is to improve single-family and multi-family infrastructure improvement programs.

Anti-Poverty Strategy

In an effort to reduce existing levels of poverty, and to address the needs of very-low income families identified in the Consolidated Plan Community Profile, the City of Garden Grove will implement the following activities:

The City of Garden Grove Housing Authority will continue to provide to very-low income households, rental assistance through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8 Program:

The City of Garden Grove will work to preserve all subsidized (whether federal, state or local subsidy) affordable housing through the use of funding sources available for such use;

The City of Garden Grove will continue to provide financial assistance to both homeowners and owner-investors for making needed improvements to existing properties;

The City of Garden Grove will work with housing developers, both for-profit and non-profit to create new affordable housing and maintain existing affordable housing for all segments of the population;

The City of Garden Grove will work with local social service agencies providing services for special needs populations located within the City to assist in the expansion of existing service programs and the creation of new service programs.

Housing and Community Development Resources

The City will use various funding sources including HOME, Redevelopment 20% Housing Set-Aside and California Housing Rehabilitation Program for Owner-Occupied Housing (CHRP-O) to increase the supply of affordable housing.

ONE-YEAR ACTION PLAN

A total of $4, 875,728 in funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is available for use by the City of Garden Grove during FY 1995-96. The City's Neighborhood Improvement Division has created several programs, projects and activities proposed for implementation during FY 1995-96.

Description of Key Projects

The Garden Grove One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of approximately $4,875,728 for programs, projects and activities which will address priority needs and local objectives. Key projects include:

$180,000 for the Police Special Investigation Unit which is responsible for implementing gang sweeps and other investigative and enforcement activities involving local gangs.

$29,125 for the Fair Housing Council of Orange County to provide fair housing services including landlord/tenant dispute resolution,housing discrimination investigation, and community outreach.

$24,750 for the Senior Citizen Meal Program.

$75, 000 for the construction of a community center in the Buena-Clinton Neighborhood.

$180,000 for the Senior Citizen Activity Program which sponsors programs for senior citizens including arts and crafts classes, continuing education classes and lectures, and health fairs.

$130 for building code enforcement.

$260,000 for a variety of activities in the Stuart Drive Focus Neighborhood Capital Improvement projects.

$450,000 for the Single Family Home Rehabilitation Program which will provide loans to low-income households for the rehabilitation and repair of their homes.

Locations

A majority of the projects in the One-Year Plan are dedicated to targeted residential areas, known as focus areas.

Housing Goals

The City's first priority is to increase the supply of standard, affordable housing through the acquisition or rehabilitation of existing units for both rental and owner occupied units, including programs to achieve lower overall housing costs by reducing energy costs, reducing lead based paint hazards, alleviating overcrowding, minimizing displacement and meeting the needs of large families, elderly persons and persons with disabilities.

The City's goal is to rehabilitate 18 single-family homes, 20 mobilehomes, and 22 multi-family rental units; inspect and issue Notice and Orders to 60 multi-family properties with multiple rental units; and provide 120 dumpsters to low-income homeowners for the removal of trash and debris.

Maps

Map 1 depicts points of interest in the jurisdiction.

Map 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.

Map 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate areas, and minority concentration levels.

Map 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate areas, and unemployment levels.

Map 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate areas, and proposed HUD funded projects.

To coment on Garden Grove's Consolidated Plan, please contact Mr. Christopher Corbin at (714) 741-5144

Return to California's Consolidated Plans.