Resident says regulatory agreement on Warehouse at Creekside fails to match HUD affordability; city says records requested and renegotiation underway

A resident told the Temecula City Council during public comment on May 27 that the regulatory agreement for the Warehouse at Creekside affordable housing project does not match U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) affordability requirements and that building deficiencies are creating unsafe living conditions.

Laurel Lamont, who identified herself as a tenant at Warehouse at Creekside, said the city used approximately $6 million from redevelopment-related funds to develop the project but that the regulatory agreement does not reflect HUD's affordability covenant. Lamont said her unit lacks required plumbing cleanouts and dryer ventilation, forcing her dryer to vent into the unit, she said, and said a rent calculation in the regulatory agreement uses an inappropriately high household-size assumption that allows rents above what she can afford on her $52,000 annual income.

The mayor responded that the city has received Ms. Lamont's public-records requests and that staff is working to provide the requested documents. City staff said they are in the process of renegotiating the project's regulatory agreement and that further public hearings would follow.

Lamont asked for greater transparency about how state funds and regulatory terms were applied and whether the project's ground-floor commercial uses were exempt from affordability covenants; staff did not provide additional details during the public comment period beyond confirming the records request and that renegotiation is underway.

Ending: The city clerk told the council that staff will follow up with Ms. Lamont offline to provide the requested records and to brief the council on progress in renegotiating the regulatory agreement at a future public hearing.