Merced has approved more affordable housing. Not everyone agrees with the city’s approach
In the latest move to ease Merced’s distressed housing situation, the City Council this week approved a zone change that will allow construction of a new affordable housing project.
But while most agree the city has a housing crisis, Monday’s council meeting was evidence that opinions vary widely on how to solve it.
The roughly 4.6-acre land parcel in south Merced was formerly zoned for commercial use, where businesses like car washes, hotels, restaurants and retail might have eventually been constructed.
City Council unanimously voted to rezone the site for residential use, allowing a high and medium density affordable housing project to move forward. The project area is situated on Parsons Avenue between the Rancho San Miguel shopping center and Joe Herb Park.
Affordable homes have costs fixed so that lower-income occupants spend no more than 30% of income on housing.
Plans approved Monday envision a 108-unit affordable housing complex developed by Bella Vista, LLC, a subsidiary of Visionary Home Builders of California, Inc.
“We believe that the working poor of any community deserve decent, affordable housing,” Visionary Home Builders CEO Carol Ornelas said Monday.
The affordable homes are imagined as ranging from one-to-four bedroom units within two and three-story buildings. The development is conceptualized as a gated community that provides on-site social services for residents and their families, such as a Head Start program to promote school readiness, project plans say.
Representatives of Bella Vista, LLC present during Monday’s Council meeting also stated that about 25% of units are planned as farm worker housing, including individuals working in canneries.
Development plans also include a community center, a sports court and playground area, according to city documents.
Accusations of encouraging segregation?
Despite the unanimous vote of support, some City Council members and residents voiced concern over another affordable housing development going into south Merced — an area considered poorer and resource-scarce compared to the northern end of the city.
Community members have long pointed out that north Merced benefits from an abundance of grocery stores, college campuses and medical care facilities, while the south side does not.
Critics say that by concentrating affordable housing in an area that’s short on basic amenities, the city is encouraging segregation.
“I think you’re causing segregation among us when you continue to put affordable housing in the same neighborhoods,” south Merced resident Gayle Brown said while addressing the City Council Monday.
Some affordable housing projects have been approved recently in north Merced, including in the Loughborough area.
Recently, residents have called on the council to build more affordable housing in north Merced so that low-income residents too may benefit from those resources.
Meanwhile, the city should develop basic necessities in south Merced to serve low income residents already living there, advocates say.
Resident Fue Xiong said Monday that the Parsons Avenue project exemplified the problem.
While noting his support for affordable housing, Xiong urged the council to oppose the project due to its south Merced location.
Xiong stated that by approving the plan and rezoning the land from commercial to residential, potential stores that could have served local south Mercedians will not be constructed.
“Council should not approve of this rezoning,” he said.
‘We need the housing.’
While some City Council members echoed the concerns of residents like Xiong, the affordable housing plan still passed unanimously.
To the council, the urgent need to build housing and address the city’s low vacancy rate of about 1%, coupled with rapid population growth, appears to supersede most other worries.
“I’m in agreement that it’s starting to feel a lot like segregation in District 1. I’m torn,” Councilmember Jesse Ornelas said before casting his vote. “We need the housing. We definitely need farm worker housing, which is why I’m going to support it.”
Project developers acknowledged the concerns expressed, noting their agreement that affordable housing should be spread throughout the city. But developers stated that the Parsons Avenue site makes sense for a housing project, noting its proximity to bus stops, schools, shopping centers, parks and other local hubs.
“We’re not here to disrupt a community. We’re here to give the citizens better housing,” Carol Ornelas said.
The affordable housing CEO told the council that Visionary Home Builders of California is in conversations with city staff about another prospective north Merced site.
Although its uncertain whether an affordable housing project would be feasible there, Carol Ornelas made a promise to elected officials that she would work to bring another development to the north end of the city.
“We are only answering your cry for needing more housing. And trust me, I want to put it in north (Merced) and I want to put it in south (Merced),” Carol Ornelas said.
This story was originally published May 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
