The City of Seaside, overlooking Monterey Bay in the Central Coast region of California, is located on the Monterey Peninsula, a major tourist area. A growing commercial and residential community, it is the most populous city on the Monterey Peninsula. The city was home to the U.S. Army base Fort Ord until its closure in 1993, now the home to the newest university in the California State system, the California State University-Monterey Bay.
The Consolidated Plan is a planning document that identifies housing and non-housing needs of the community, long and short term strategies the City will follow in carrying out its Community Development Block Grant Program and an action plan that provides measurable standards that will act as the basis for assessing the city's performance.
Seaside Consolidated Plan illustrates an essential picture for housing and community development, including a One-Year Action Plan for spending $960,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds. These funds will primarily be spent on housing and economic development activities primarily benefiting low and moderate income persons.
A citizen participation plan has been adopted to provide citizens, public
agencies and interested parties and organizations with the opportunity to
participate in the planning and implementation of the Consolidated Plan. The
Seaside Planning Commission held a public hearing on the initial development of
the Plan, and staff held a meeting with service agencies (Meals on Wheels,
Peninsula Outreach, Monterey Peninsula Board of Realtors, Legal Services for
Seniors, to name a few) and interested persons for input and concerns on housing
and community development. Concerns received at said meeting included emergency
housing for the homeless and related support services, recreational and social
needs of the youth, affordable housing for first time homebuyer, well-being of
the elderly residing in nursing and residential care, nutritional needs of
homebound seniors and disabled adults. Copies of the draft Consolidated Plan
were made available for public review and comment in four accessible locations
for the required 30-day period. The Seaside City Council, after holding a
workshop on April 26, 1995, adopted the Consolidated Plan on May 3, 1995.
Incorporated in 1954, Seaside, a ten square-mile city, is one of the seven cities on the Monterey Peninsula. According to the 1990 census, Seaside has a total population of 23,536. White comprises 40% of the population, while Black and Hispanic are almost equally represented at 21% each, Asian/Pacific Islander and Native Americans represent approximately 18% of the total population. There is no high concentration of racial/ethnic minorities among its six census tracts.
In 1990, Seaside's median household income was $28,655, compared to $33,250
countywide. Approximately 49% of all households in Seaside had incomes below
80% of the Monterey County median income.
Tourism and agriculture industries are the two top employers in Monterey County. Unemployment rate in the Salinas-Monterey-Seaside Metropolitan Statistical Area during December, 1994, was 12.9%, compared to California unemployment rate of 7.0 and U.S. unemployment rate of 5.1%. The closure of Fort Ord military base was responsible for the loss of 1,400 federal government jobs. A drop in the number of jobs is mainly attributed to seasonal declines in the tourism and food processing industries.
Housing needs of households within the 50-80% income group with a cost burden greater than 30% have been identified as a high priority in the Plan due to the large number of low-income minority households with high per household populations. Another high priority is increasing affordable housing and maintaining existing housing stock. To address affordable housing needs of low income households, rental assistance is needed to reduce cost burden. To address housing quality/condition problems, funds are needed to help low income homeowners maintain and repair their homes.
The city has 7,714 year-round housing units in 1990, 95% of which were occupied. Of the occupied units, 44% were rental units and 56% are owner-occupied. There were 350 vacant units, 55% of which were for rent. 18% of the total housing units were classified as substandard in 1990, and approximately 84% of these units were suitable for rehabilitation.
Seaside housing market has benefitted from its positive efforts in redevelopment. The closure of Fort Ord military base created a glut of housing temporarily reducing the cost of housing. Vacancies resulting from the base closure are in addition to the 5.3% vacancy rate identified in the 1990 Census. Homes cost less in Seaside than in other neighboring communities, with a median housing price of $145,000. Home price ranges from $185,000 to $500,000 in adjacent localities.
While Seaside has the lowest housing cost on the Monterey Peninsula, there were 756 owner households and 2,064 renter households with incomes below 51% of the median family income. These households have the greatest housing cost burden -- renters need assistance in rent payment and owners need assistance in housing rehabilitation.
There were approximately 199 homeless persons in Seaside, of which 66 are members of homeless families. There are 3-unit family shelter and a 16-bed shelter for women and children operated by a non-profit organization. It also serves 4,900 meals each month to the poor and homeless, provides counselling, hot meals and government food subsidy programs. The Fort Ord Homeless Service Providers Coalition has been formed to coordinate shelter and other needs of the homeless. Upon completion of the transfer of land from the Army, the Coalition will add 36 units of emergency housing and 196 units of transitional housing. Other agencies provide services specifically geared towards special needs populations such as persons with mental illness, individuals with substance abuse problems, and persons with HIV/AIDS.
There are two types of assisted housing in Seaside -- Section 8 Housing and privately- developed housing. Monterey County Housing Authority reported that there are 425 Section 8 tenants in the city, and 623 families are in the waiting list. Multi-family housing units built with HUD assistance are Hannon Apartments, Del Monte Manor Apartments, and Villa Del Monte. Hannon Apartments consist of 133 units, 85 of which are under contract for Section 8. Del Monte Manor has 192 units primarily for low income families. Villa Del Monte is an 80-unit project for the elderly constructed under HUD Section 202 Program.
New construction of assisted housing in Seaside is limited by two major factors: First, the city is landlocked on all sides by the Cities of Monterey, Sand City, and Del Rey Oaks, by Fort Ord Military Reservation and Monterey Bay. Second, major development has already taken place within residential districts, leaving only scattered isolated parcels throughout the city. Another major obstacle in the development of new construction of assisted units is the lack of participation from private developers to build such units.
An analysis of the city's land use control policies, zoning and subdivision ordinances, building codes, building fees, and charges reveals that these practices did not pose significant barriers to affordable housing development.
There are no court orders, consent decrees, or HUD-imposed sanctions that affect the provisions of fair housing laws in Seaside. No cases of redlining or other outright or perceived discrimination in housing have been reported. To educate the general public on fair housing laws and practices, the city intends to publish brochures and other materials directed to housing consumers on how to recognize and document discriminatory housing practices, and their rights under the fair housing laws.
Federal government banned the use of lead-based paint in residential construction in 1979. Because the majority of housing units in Seaside were constructed before 1980, a high probability exists that lead-based paints were applied to these units. In 1993, there were 21 reported cases of lead poisoning in Monterey County with 9 reported in Seaside, but the sources and locations of lead poisoning were not known.
The city puts a high priority on the establishment of a youth center, a need
identified by most social service, law enforcement and youth service agencies.
Because Seaside has a perennial higher unemployment rate than most cities in the
county, and with the closure of the military base, economic development needs
are highest for commercial- industrial rehabilitation for job creation and to
revitalize the local economy.
It is the goal of the city to preserve and maintain its existing housing stock, remove blight in the community, and provide economic development opportunities for low and moderate income persons. The Laguna Grande Redevelopment Project Area and the City Center Revitalization Area will be sites of intensive revitalization and economic development efforts. The incorporation of the closed military base area into the city will be a major factor in the city's plans to revitalize the city as a whole.
Housing priorities include increasing the supply of housing and reducing housing cost burdens for low income households, opportunities for low income families to own a home for the first time, improving the living environment, increasing housing choice and addressing the needs of large families, and persons with disabilities. Priorities for homelessness alleviation include providing financial and technical assistance to support service entities for homeless persons and persons at risk of being homeless. Priorities for non-homeless persons with special needs is supportive housing or housing linked to supportive services for the frail elderly, persons with HIV/AIDS, and other persons with special needs.
Priorities for non-housing community development activities include public facilities (construction of a teen center), and public services provisions. Priorities for economic development activities include the commercial rehabilitation program to revitalize the business district area, acquisition of land, and other redevelopment activities. The city plans to apply for a Section 108 Loan Guarantee Program for commercial activities to complement the Embassy Suites hotel in the Laguna Grande Project area, scheduled for completion in October, 1995.
It is the city's policy that the current push for economic development activities is consistent with its housing strategy and goal to improve the quality of life for its residents. The city contracts with a number of social service organizations that administer programs such as domestic violence program, substance abuse treatment, services for homeless persons and persons with HIV/AIDS, child care, care for the frail elderly, child abuse treatment and prevention, etc.
Aside from the City of Seaside and the Seaside Redevelopment Agency, various state and public agencies and non-profit entities provide services to the community. The primary federal resources include CDBG and Section 8 public housing. Local resources include the Redevelopment Agency's Low and Moderate Income Housing Fund.
The city's community development department is responsible for the
Consolidated Plan activities, but a variety of private organizations are
involved in administering plan components, mostly public service activities.
The city has made efforts to enhance coordination with housing providers by
making personal contacts and consulting with them on housing and housing-related
issues, and will pursue bi-annual meeting for purposes of discussing progress in
implementation of the Consolidated Plan.
Seaside's One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of $960,000 CDBG funds. Except for the public service activities, the City of Seaside is the lead agency for these projects. These funds will be spent mainly on an array of housing activities, including:
Housing goals for the first year include two low and moderate income households to receive loans for down payment assistance to buy a house for the first time, housing rehabilitation loans to six very low and low and moderate income homeowners and Section 8 tenants, 12 low income households to be reimbursed for exterior paint applied to their houses, 250 homeless persons to receive transitional housing.
Map 1 depicts the Seaside, California area and selected points of interest.
Map 2 depicts the low and moderate income areas of Seaside.
Map 3 depicts the racial distribution within the City.
Map 4 depicts areas of higher unemployment within the City.
Map 5 depicts the project neighborhood for Seaside.
Dante Lacson, CDBG Coordinator
Telephone Number: 408-899-6224
