Located approximately 50 miles north of San Francisco, the City of Napa is the largest city in Napa County, housing 56 percent of the County's population. The Napa Valley Wine Region is the center of the grape growing and wine processing industry in California. It employs over 3,200 Napa residents. Tourism evolves from the wine industry, offering employment in retail trade, hotels, motels and personal services.
The Napa Consolidated Plan presents a strategy committed to pursuing all available resources to meet its housing and community development needs. Although the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program is the City's only entitlement program, the City and the City's Housing Authority intend to apply for all possible sources of additional funding which can be used to achieve Consolidated Plan goals, including HOME Funds through the State allocation, Mortgage Credit Certificate allocations, Low Income Housing Tax Credits and others. The City and Housing Authority encourage and provide technical and/or financial assistance to other local entities to apply for funds which will assist the City in the achievement of its Consolidated Plan goals. The Consolidated Plan includes a One-Year Action Plan for spending $1,029,433 of CDBG and CDBG program income funds in 1995. These funds will spent on a variety of community development, housing and livability activities.
The City of Napa actively encouraged all citizens, public agencies, and non-profit agencies to participate in the development of the goals and programs reflected in the Consolidated Plan. The City Council solicits applications from the citizenry to serve on the CDBG Citizens' Committee and efforts are made to appoint citizens who are representatives of the business community, handicapped, disabled, senior citizens, youth, minority groups, low and moderated income persons and other persons directly affected by the CDBG program.
A total of three public hearings were held to receive public input on the draft Consolidated Plan prior to its final adoption by the City Council.
On February 16, 1995, the City of Napa published a "Summary of the Consolidated Plan" in the Napa Valley Register, describing the contents, purpose of the Consolidated Plan and a list of the locations having copies of the entire plan for public review, Citizens were invited to provide written responses to the Plan or to attend the February 22 and March 29 public hearings in order to comment publicly on the Plan. The City also published notice of the City Council public hearing held on May 16, 1995.
On May 16, 1995, the Napa City Council held the final public hearing on the
Plan. On May 17, 1995, the adopted Consolidated Plan for Fiscal Years 1995-1999
was submitted to HUD.
According to 1990 U.S. Census data, the City of Napa has a resident population of 61,842. This represents a 22% increase over its 1980 population of 50,879. Napa's population is predominantly white, non-Hispanic (81.7%). The largest minority group in the city is Hispanic, 15.2% of the total city population. The non-Hispanic Black, Native-American, Asian and Pacific Islanders and Others account of 3% of Napa's population.
The 1995 median family income was $47,800. Of all households in Napa, nearly 40% are considered to be low or very-low income. 35% of the Hispanic households are very-low income, earning less than half the median income which is $23,900 per year. Another 22% are considered low-income, earning between 51 to 80% of median income. 9% earn a moderate income, therefore, over two-thirds of the city's Hispanic households are at an income level that would indicate need for housing assistance.
Of the white, non-Hispanic households, 20% earn very-low income, 18% low-income and 9% moderate-income. Over half the Black, non-Hispanic households are in low-income categories. Of all Native American, non-Hispanic households, 45% fall into the low-income range.
HUD provided 1990 census data on the number/percentage of low and moderate-income persons residing within census tract "block groups". The highest concentration of low/mod income persons (70%) or more is located in the central city area, along the Napa River and east of the River to Silverado Trail. Areas with over 50% low/mod income residents include the northeast area south of Pueblo Avenue and central block areas just to the west and east of Highway 29.
The City of Napa has approximately 14,514 owner-units and 10,047 rental
units. In the 1990 U.S. Census, Napa's overall vacancy rate was under 5% for
renter units, and just slightly above 1% for sale housing. By January 1994, the
California Department of Finance reported Napa's overall vacancy rate at 3.77%.
Competition for available housing was high in all the incorporated areas of the
County. The larger the rental unit, the smaller the vacancy rate, therefore, it
is much more difficult for large families to find any 3-bedroom rentals that are
vacant, let alone affordable.
Negative economic factors influencing employment include the closings of Mare Island Naval Complex in nearby Vallejo and cutbacks by the city's largest employer, Napa State Hospital. Lay-offs, and plant and military base closings will affect the Napa housing and social services sectors. The City's Housing Authority notes that more households are losing income and are in need of assistance.
Napa's goals for the development of housing as set for in the Consolidated Plan are to provide a sufficient number of affordable units to meet the needs of Napa residents, to provide a fair share of the market area housing needs and to provide a variety of housing types by tenure and price in all residential areas, compatible with the character of the area. The housing goals for the 1988-1995 period are: 893 very-low income units, 607 low-income units, 750 moderate-income units and 1,321 above-moderate income units.
Napa's housing prices and rents escalated faster than residents' real income growth during the 1970s and 1980s. The rise in costs can be attributed to regional trends in the Bay Area and to local land use policies. In the 1970s Napa attracted home buyers and developers with its then-more affordable land costs. The City and County enacted growth control measures that limited land supply for development, thereby increasing the value of land that could be developed. "Upper end" homes attracted new households with incomes beyond Napa's median income rage. To the upper-middle income workers willing to commute to jobs in other parts of the Bay Area, Napa's housing prices and natural amenities were appealing. At the same time, financing constraints on multi-family housing and city policies encouraging single family development suppressed Napa's rental market at a time when a decreasing percentage of city households could afford to purchase a home.
1990 data indicates that 60% of all Napa households were owner-occupied with the remaining 40% renter occupied. However, only a fifth of the rental units could accommodate large households. Renter and owner needs can be summarized as follows:
During the last five years, very few rental units have been built in Napa for the reasons noted above. Between 1970 and 1990 the rate of apartment construction has been cut in half. Builders now concentrate upon single-family residences. No longer are the federal rental construction subsidies available that led to an increase in rental stock during the 1970s. This has greatly impacted Napa's large low income households in need of 4-bedrooms or more. Rates from the 1990 census clearly indicate the correlation between Napa's vacancy rate and the size of rental units. The larger the rental unit, the smaller the vacancy rate. Therefore, it is much more difficult for large families to find any 3-bedroom rentals that are vacant, let alone affordable. Overcrowding will result as large families continue to reside in smaller units, or share the rent on larger units. The majority of all rental units (77%) are occupied by low or very low-income households. The extent of housing problems among the renter population indicates a need for more affordable renter units, the rehabilitation of existing but substandard rental units and more rental subsides such as Section 8, especially for low and very low income renters.
Very low income existing homeowners in comparison to renter households have less of a severe cost burden (paying more than 50% of income for housing cost) than do renter households. However, very low and low income existing homeowners still have critical housing problems with over 40% of these households experiencing housing problems. They are more likely to be overcrowded, living in substandard and older housing and often lacking the necessary funds to maintain their homes. Their main need is generally for assistance in rehabilitating existing residences to a standard condition and assistance with home maintenance activities.
According to the Directors of the Napa Valley Shelter Project and the Napa Emergency Women's Shelter, over 500 adult individuals have been housed each year for the past three years. It is estimated that 60 to 80 homeless people are seeking shelter on any given night. Napa has two transitional homeless shelters which provide housing for a limited period of time. The Sullivan Building, opened in 1987, can accommodate approximately 34 single men and six single women per night. During the winter when the shelter is full, five to ten individuals per night are housed in motels. A new 7-bedroom family facility, the Samaritan Family Center, opened in December 1992. It can accommodate up to 30 people. Shelter staff indicate both shelters generally have an adequate number of beds to serve the homeless, however, there are rare times when they must turn people away.
The Napa Emergency Womens' Services provides housing for battered women and their children. The shelter can accommodate four families for up to four weeks for a small fee. The shelter receives three to four times more requests for shelter than they can accommodate.
Additional housing for the homeless is provided by a low cost motel. While motels may provide shelter on a short term basis they are not an affordable long-term solution.
Though Napa does not have a conspicuous homeless problem, service workers suggest a number of individuals and families sleep in their cars, alleyways or stay with friends in overcrowded units. Furthermore, as housing prices in Napa continue to rise the number of homeless may increase.
In addition to shelter, Napa does provide other services for homeless persons. Free meals are provided at the First Presbyterian Church, at the Salvation Army and through the Seventh Day Adventist Community Services. Human Services Delivery System provides vouchers through its General Assistance program and through an agreement with the Sullivan homeless shelter staff. Catholic Social Services provides vouchers for emergency bills, food and medical assistance. The First Christian church provides personal emergency services and the First Presbyterian Church provides rental and food emergency services. The St. Vincent de Paul Society and the Red Cross also give out vouchers in special need situations. Many social programs which serve the disabled, mentally ill, substance abusers, runaway youth and others, also serve the homeless.
As a result of the overall lack of shelters to serve homeless persons, the highest priority is to expand the City's capacity to provide shelter and to simultaneously find an adequate ongoing source of operating funds to support the necessary facilities and services required for this population. There is an acute lack of single room occupancy rental units for single individuals with service needs related to mental illness, alcohol drug abuse, AIDS and other related diseases. As part of the Consolidated Plan process the Napa County Housing Alliance planned and conducted a retreat to begin developing a comprehensive homeless and housing service delivery system to identify current gaps in the system, and to prioritize the use of limited federal and local resources.
The City of Napa does not have any public housing. The Housing Authority of the City of Napa currently provides housing assistance to 1,001 households, 605 families and 379 individuals including seniors disabled and handicapped through the existing Section 8 Rental Voucher Program. Another 894 households are provided housing assistance through privately owned project-based Section 8 or FHA insured developments. The Housing Authority's policy on applying Federal preferences is to weigh equally all three Federal preferences: paying more than 50% of income toward rent and utilities, living in substandard housing, being involuntarily displaced form housing. The reasons that so many applicants meet these preferences are that many cannot find housing costing 50% or less of their income and that many are unemployed and/or underemployed.
During the Consolidated Plan development process, housing and social service providers ranked supportive housing as a priority need. Their analysis of the gaps in the existing housing and services delivery system included:
State law requires the City to remove unnecessary barriers to the production of affordable housing. The City of Napa has taken several steps toward meeting this goal in the past. Our review of existing ordinances, standards, procedures and requirements does not show any unnecessary or especially burdensome requirements which should be significantly changed.
In regard to current development standards and fees, the City is undertaking the following initiatives within the next one to three years:
The City's goal for equal opportunity in housing is to ensure that housing programs maximize choice, avoid economic segregation, and avoid discrimination based on sex, age, race and ethnic background. The City will continue to support and work with the Equal Housing Opportunity Program operated by Napa County Rental Information and Mediation Services (NCRIMS). This program disperses information on fair housing laws, refers tenant complaints on discrimination and acts as a tenant advocacy organization.
According to the 1990 Census, approximately 5,218 housing units in the City of Napa are calculated to contain lead-based paint hazards, representing 21% of Napa's housing stock.
A new required role for the City is to develop a program to eliminate lead-based paint hazards. Under its five year Plan, the City of Napa will create a Lead-Based Paint Reduction Task Force with representatives from City and County governments, public health agencies, rental property owners, tenant advocacy groups, the Napa Association of realtors, and the Chamber of Commerce. Identifying methods to reduce health and housing problems caused by lead-based paint hazards will be one of its tasks, as will as public education.
The City of Napa and its citizens continue to express the need for assistance in creating and maintaining community services for all sectors of the population, youth, seniors, the homeless, battered women and children and the mentally disadvantaged.
Public service funding has been reduced at the county and state levels. The need grows for mental and physical care, living skills training, counseling, rehabilitation and job training programs. Without such supportive services, these populations-in-need will face difficulties in maintaining their housing, their jobs and their social stability.
Youth have needs that can be met with CDBG funding. Needed services include counseling, recreation, job skills training education and child care.
Senior continue to require services in a variety of areas including home care, tenant/landlord counseling, mediation in dealing with health care systems, transportation and recreation.
Neighborhoods have expressed the need for crime awareness programs, crime prevention and anti-graffiti and anti-vandalism programs.
Fair housing activities are a continuous funding need. Tenant-landlord counseling helps to alleviate grievances between renters and property owners. Residents of mobile home parks have benefitted from this service in an effort to retain their affordable housing.
Facilities are needed for the homeless, victims of domestic violence, the severely mentally ill, the disabled and persons with addictions. CDBG funds now assist a portion of these populations but the need is much greater.
Access for the handicapped is a need at public facilities. CDBG funds would facilitate the construction of required access at parks, libraries, child care centers, counseling facilities, health centers and government offices.
The City's low and moderate income neighborhoods, located in the oldest areas of the City, are in need of sidewalk repairs and drainage improvements. CDBG funds could help bring about these improvements during the next five years.
The downtown area, the City's Redevelopment Area, contains many older, historic commercial buildings that would benefit from rehabilitation and a program for commercial facade improvements. CDBG funds could augment redevelopment and private funding to improve these economically viable structures.
With over 30 unreinforced masonry buildings in the downtown funds for
seismic retrofitting are an urgent need. In addition, historic commercial
buildings require access improvements and facade restorations. Commercial and
residential historic properties are in need of rehabilitation in order to retain
their viability as commercial and residential units.
Vision for Change - Overall Goals
The provision of a sufficient number of affordable housing units is one of the most significant needs in the City of Napa. The City will continue to use CDBG and other available funds to pursue the creation and preservation of all types of affordable housing. Aside from housing, other goals are to fund and rehabilitate existing facilities which serve special needs populations, fund sidewalk and drainage repair in low/mod census tracts, commit CDBG funds to support those organizations who provide a variety of social service programs for at risk and special needs populations, and undertake a variety of economic development and historic preservation activities.
The City of Napa has assigned the highest priority to worst-case households in all types of assistance. All of the programs developed to provide rehabilitation, new construction, acquisition, rental assistance and supportive facilities and services will provide a selection priority for eligible individuals and families meeting the federal preference of: 1) involuntary displacement 2) living in substandard housing (including the homeless) and 3) paying more than 50% of income for housing
The priority five year CDBG goals are as follows:
According to the 1990 Census table, there are 4,564 households below the poverty line in the City of Napa. This number represents 7.6% of the City's population. The majority of these households are very low income renter households.
Over the next five years, the City has targeted "worst-case" households as priorities in all categories of assistance. All of the programs developed to provide rehabilitation, new construction, acquisition, rental assistance and supporting facilities, provide a selection priority for facilities and individuals meeting the federal preference of 1) involuntary displacement, 2) living in substandard housing (including the homeless), and 3) paying more than 50% of income for housing. These programs are targeted to assist families below the poverty line to move into affordable housing.
The City's only entitlement program is the CDBG program. The City and the City's Housing Authority apply and intend to continue to apply for all possible sources of additional funding which can be used to achieve Consolidated Plan goals, including HOME funds through the state allocation, Mortgage Credit Certificate allocations, Low Income Housing Tax Credits and others. Private resources include local lending institutions, affordable housing programs and a wide range of non-profit initiatives. The City and Housing Authority encourage and provide technical and/or financial assistance to local entities to apply for funds which will assist the City in achieving its housing and social service goals.
The City has not identified any major gaps in the delivery of services, however, while organizations are available to provide needed services, most lack sufficient resources to fully accomplish their objectives. Some existing organizations and programs are threatened with extinction due to cut-backs in State and federal programs and there are very limited local funding resources to replace those cut-backs. A recent 4.4% reduction in AFDC grants will dramatically affect the purchasing power of those already substantially below federal poverty guidelines thereby increasing the potential of low income persons to become homeless.
The Consolidated Plan was developed with the help of an areawide consortium of 14 agencies, the Napa County Housing Alliance. Membership includes both the City and County Housing Authorities, the non-profit Housing Association of Napa Development (HAND), the Napa County Council of Economic Opportunity (NCCEO), the Napa Emergency Women's Shelter, Napa Valley Family Homes, Family Services of the North Bay, AIDS Project, Napa County Rental Information & Mediation Services, Inc. (NCRIMS) and Napa County Health & Human Services Agency (HHSA), Napa Community Resources Department, and the Homeless Shelter Project. The Alliance was very active in producing information and input into the priority needs contained in the Consolidated Plan and all the program information was developed and shared at Alliance meetings during the planning process.
To better provide service to those in need the City is proposing the development of a multi-agency Task Force to prepare and oversee a Strategic Plan for the provision of services. A primary activity for the City is to create a comprehensive homeless and housing service delivery system that coordinates the provision of housing assistance and supportive services provided by the City and County of Napa and community-based service organization. The Napa County Housing Alliance is currently undertaking the strategic planning process.
The City of Napa will develop and implement a Monitoring Plan to evaluate progress the City is making toward achieving the objectives presented in the Consolidated Plan. That Plan will include the following elements:
The City of Napa One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of $1,029,433 in CDBG and CDBG program income funds. These funds will be spent on an array of activities including:
Many of the proposed 1995-1996 activities are of Citywide benefit. The remainder are located in Census Tracts 2001-2005 which are low/mod areas.
MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.
MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.
MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
MAP 6 depicts Neighborhood Segments and streets with proposed HUD funded projects; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
