A controversial affordable housing development in the tiny town of Penryn was given the final green light to build on Monday by the Placer County Board of Supervisors, and still, those opposed to the project left the special-called meeting optimistic.
The board voted 3-2 to grant final approval for the proposed Hope Way Apartments affordable housing project, following a tentative approval last month.
But following that vote of approval, their second action pumped the brakes. The board voted 3-2 against giving the project developers a $10.8 million funding agreement.
The agreement with USA Properties Fund Inc. was a proposed loan that primarily used current and future affordable housing in-lieu fees from the nearby Bickford Ranch housing development, according to Placer County officials.
Supervisors Shanti Landon, Anthony DeMattei and Suzanne Jones made up the three votes rejecting the loan. The vote was met by applause and 'thank you' shouts from neighbors in opposition to the project in the audience.
"We've heard the community say over and over again that the project is just too big. That if you reduced the size of it, they'd be happy," said Supervisor Jones in her comments.
The Hope Way project plans for 240 affordable apartment units on 11 acres of vacant land along Penryn Road.
"It's funny to me that we call this affordable housing. This costs almost a half a million dollars per unit for this project. Which is insane, it's actually offensive," said Supervisor Landon in Monday's meeting.
Placer County supervisors said in a statement after the vote that California's affordable housing laws left them with no option but to approve the project.
"The state has mandated the approval of affordable housing, and while the Board may not agree with every aspect of that mandate, our hands are tied," Supervisor Cindy Gustafson said. "Fighting state law would put local taxpayers at risk of significant penalties. Our focus is on complying in a way that distributes affordable housing projects throughout the county."
The housing development could more than double the population of Penryn, which right now is just over 1,000 people.
Neighbors have been pushing back for years now, saying it is the wrong location, and it would change the character of their small community forever to approve high-density housing at this scale.
They even formed a nonprofit called the Placer Citizens for Neighborhood Rights (PCNR) to oppose it.
Still, they consider Monday's outcome a win for their cause since the county funding for the project was denied.
"We hope that 'no' means they'll negotiate now that these developers will come to the table and begin to talk realistically about the kind of density that fits properly in Penryn," said Brian Myers, chairman of the PCNR.
Myers says their group plans to sue both Placer County and the project's developers following the vote to approve the project, alleging violations of the California Environmental Quality Act. That includes their claim that a roundabout proposed to help ease traffic along Penryn Road was not included in any environmental impact review. "This roundabout chokes off the only evacuation route to the south out of Penryn. If we had a fire, and we are in a high fire danger risk, according to PG&E, then that's the only way out of Penryn to get to the freeway," said Myers. "That's what our lawsuit will address is all the errors they've made and the things they should have done to make sure this project is safe." Donna Delno has lived in Penryn for 25 years and has also helped organize the community opposition to the project. "We just want to protect what we have because it's so special," said Delno. "It's a rural area, so people fight to protect it." Delno says Monday's 'no' vote on the Hope Way Apartments funding gives her hope. "It kind of puts a wrench in the system. So maybe they will come back and negotiate, make it smaller. We don't need the roundabout. Maybe not make it three stories, make it two stories," said Delno.
Myers argues that counties are not enforcing the state's affordable housing mandates and instead are looking to loopholes that he says are disproportionately affecting small towns in California.
"What this is allowing the builders to do is to not build affordable housing at the 10% they're supposed to build, and then accumulate that deficit till they find a property like Penryn and then put these monster, big projects in. Well, that's not what the law says they should be doing, but that's what the builders want to do. Because there's a lot more profit in it for them for them to sell their market-rate houses and then dump big, huge things like this into small towns that they don't think are going to resist. Well, we've resisted so far today, successfully," said Myers. In defense of the project, the developers say low-income housing is greatly needed in Placer County, and the population boom would support growth for local businesses. The board of supervisors clarified Monday that, following their denial to issue the loan, the developers can come back before the board with a revised funding agreement and potentially ask for less money. That could mean they scale the project down. Stay with CBS News Sacramento as we work to learn how Monday's decision impacts how the developers will move the project forward.
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