Stockton is located near the center of San Joaquin County and serves as the seat of county government. It is located 83 miles east of San Francisco and 42 miles south of Sacramento and serves as the regional center of San Joaquin County. Major industries comprising the economic base include agriculture, mining, manufacturing, retail trade, services and government jobs.
The City of Stockton has adopted a five year Consolidated Plan with established goals to influence the expenditure of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership Program (HOME), program income, and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) funds. A significant portion of the funds will be spent on housing affordability projects which consist of new construction and rehabilitation activities.
The Consolidated Plan was developed with public participation in mind. Two public hearings were held in order for the community at large to present testimony. A summary of the comments received have been included in the Plan.
The City of Stockton actively and continually seeks public input from the Community Development Committee (CDC) which maintains representation from the designated eight low-income target neighborhoods. The CDC provides input and recommendations to the City Council on housing and community development activities and the expenditure of CDBG, HOME, and ESG funds.
A citizen participation plan was adopted by the City Council on May 1, 1995
along with the Consolidated Plan. This plan was developed in order to establish
a process that allows the lower income neighborhoods, who are likely to be
affected by community development and housing activities, to participate in the
planning, implementation and evaluation of such programs.
The City of Stockton is located in the center of the San Joaquin County. To the east is the Sierra Nevada mountain range and to the west is the Delta of the San Joaquin and the Sacramento Rivers. According to the California Department of Finance, the City of Stockton housed 228,700 residents in 1994. This represents an 8.4% increase over the 1990 population or a 2.8% annual increase over that time period.
The 1990 census indicates that the median family income for San Joaquin
County reached $34,700 while the jurisdiction of Stockton only reached $30,315.
At this same time 11,250 (16.3%) of the households fell below the poverty level
of $12,674 as defined by the federal government. A total of 8,327 of those
households were families and a total of 2,923 were headed by single women.
Agriculture, mining, manufacturing, retail trade, services and government provide the majority of jobs within the City of Stockton. In 1993 there were 170,300 jobs in the Metropolitan Statistical Area, representing a 27.9% increase in jobs from 1983 to 1993. However the 1993 unemployment rate was 13.3%.
The City of Stockton is an ethnically diverse community with minorities comprising 54% of the City's 68,923 households in 1990. Of the 36,954 minority households 36.3% were Hispanic; 18% were Black; 2.2% were American Indian, Eskimo, or Aleutian; 29% were Asian or Pacific Islander; and 14% were classified as other.
Two critical problems have been identified within the housing stock of Stockton. A lack of affordable housing and the need for rehabilitation. Median family income rose 66% from 1980 to 1990 while housing costs increased by 95.4% during that same time period. As a result, home ownership has become increasingly more difficult.
The second critical problem identified is the need for housing rehabilitation. In 1990, 8,240 units in Stockton had rehabilitation needs of which 2,966 were identified as unsuitable for rehabilitation.
In 1990, the City of Stockton contained 72,525 housing units, an 18% increase over the 1980 total. This increase represents annexation growth to the City as well as net housing increase within the City boundary (in-fill). Sites for 33,789 housing units were identified in 1990 showing no shortfall of available sites.
In 1980 the average cost of a house was approximately 2.9 times higher than the median income. In 1990 this figure rose to 3.5 making home purchases more difficult, especially for those families within the lower income ranges. Lower income rental households are in need of and often receive rental assistance while low-income first time home buyers are in need of down payment assistance.
The percentage increase in rental units exceeded the percentage increase in median family income by 56% between 1980 and 1990. In 1980 approximately 25% of all owners and 53% of all renters spent 25% or more of their income on housing costs, in 1990 these proportions grew to 32% and 61% respectively. As a result of housing costs increasing overcrowding has occurred in renter households.
In 1991 an estimate of 2,117 homeless persons was made from a survey that was completed for the City. Of this total number 1,484 receive some sort of public support. Shelters provide beds for 415 of the remaining 633 homeless persons, indicating a need for 218 additional shelter beds for 218 people in Stockton.
The Housing Authority of the County of San Joaquin owns and operates all public housing within San Joaquin County. In the City of Stockton, its housing stock of 833 units serves approximately 3,400 residents. All units are occupied and there is a waiting list of over 240 applicants.
The Housing Authority is also responsible for administering Section 8 Housing Assistance Payments. The total number of Section 8 assisted units in the City of Stockton is 2,631. Currently, there are no unused certificates or vouchers. There is a waiting list of over 3,240 applicants.
Tax shelters for investment partnerships were removed from the federal tax laws in 1986, this negatively impacted partnerships' ability to develop multi-family housing. In addition lending institutions are now requiring equity dollars equal to 25% to 35% of the value of the project.
Other barriers to affordable housing include; adoption of private covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&R's) in ownership projects; government constraints such as development fees, local zoning practices, prohibition of second units (Granny Flats) in single family residential districts, Uniform Building Code requirements, disallowance of "sweat equity" as equivalent to financial equity position of the down payment on a home.
Special activities that help alleviate barriers to affordable housing can include down payment assistance programs, loan programs that allow "sweat equity" down payments in development projects including the use of federal funds such as CDBG and HOME in order to rehabilitate and construct new homes.
The City of Stockton contracts with the San Joaquin County Fair Housing Agency which functions as a depository for housing discrimination complaints andin turn forwards them to the State. The agency also provides assistance in landlord-tenant disputes and conducts educational seminars for tenant and landlord rights.
There is no reliable data on the number of dwelling units with lead-based paint in the City. The potential for harm from lead-based paint is considered to exist for all housing constructed before 1980. Age of the residential structure is the key variable for estimating the presence of lead-based paint.
There is a need for a wide variety of street and underground improvements as
well as housing and neighborhood preservation activities, including new housing
opportunities. Stockton has a 13.3% unemployment rate; therefore, there is a
need for economic development including job creation and retention. The City's
support of the Stockton Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Incubator Program
is an example of how our economic development needs are being met.
The City of Stockton has developed a strategic plan to work towards a goal of providing decent, safe, affordable housing within the City of Stockton as well as maintaining the existing stock to minimum standards.
The following is a list of local objectives for the use of CDBG funds:
Priorities for affordable housing includes new housing construction, housing rehabilitation/code enforcement (targeted), housing rehabilitation/code enforcement (voluntary) and housing site acquisition.
Economic Development activities include; the Stockton/San Joaquin Enterprise Zone an area designated by the State to receive tax incentives, employee recruitment and training assistance, financing opportunities, and local development savings and the San Joaquin County Economic Development Association whose goals are job creation, capacity building and coordination of economic development activities.
The Private Industry Council which manages the programs provided for under the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA); the San Joaquin Partnership and the Business Council which both help to identify, examine and resolve county-wide issues creating a better business climate for new and existing industry; and the Chamber of Commerce-Small Business Incubator Program which operates a small business development center.
Resources are used from several private and public programs to promote housing and community development. Federal resources include Community Development Block Grant, HOME, Section 8 and Emergency Shelter Grants. Resources such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits are provided by the State. Local lending institutions, affordable housing programs and a wide range of nonprofit initiatives can be provided from private programs.
For the majority of activities contained within the City of Stockton's
Consolidated Plan; the Housing and Redevelopment Department is responsible for
implementation of and coordination of programs. In some instances the City
allocates resources and delegates responsibility to various subrecipients and
agencies to insure the implementation of programs.
The City of Stockton One-Year Action Plan outlines the proposed use of CDBG, HOME, and ESG funds for the 1995-96 Consolidated Plan year. Appropriations have been made for housing activities:
Marketing strategies for the use of HOME and CDBG funds have been concentrated within the City's eight targeted residential neighborhoods for housing improvements. In addition to the above listed funding $10,000 has been provided to the neighborhoods for technical assistance, providing opportunities for communication within the neighborhood.
The City of Stockton will act as the lead agency for all housing rehabilitation and development activities.
Goals for the One-Year Action Plan include: the development or rehabilitation of 200 rental units for Large and Small Families; the development or rehabilitation of 40 rental units for the elderly; assistance with the purchase of 100 homes for First Time Home Buyers; all with Special Emphasis on Extremely Low, Very Low, and Low-Income Households.
The City will attempt to expand capacity of beds by 10 and provide an additional 20 housing units for the homeless.
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; in addition, a table provides information about the project(s).
Mr. Sherwin Williams
PH: (209) 937-8539
