Ojai council directs staff to pursue county partnership after review of Cabin Village cost model

The Ojai City Council on Feb. 4 directed the city manager to pursue partnership agreements with Ventura County and return with additional financial analysis after staff presented a conservative one-year cost model for a proposed 30-unit Cabin Village permanent supportive housing project at the city Public Works Yard.

The staff presentation, given by Mr. Alameda, a city staff presenter, outlined projected first-year revenues of about $634,215 and operating expenses of roughly $629,000 and said the city has received ‘‘over $12,600,000’’ from the state under the Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF) program to pay for development and to seed operations. Alameda said the development cost estimate for the project is “about an $8 or $9 million project, roughly.”

The cost model treated revenues conservatively, staff said: it assumed 20% of units would pay rent from Social Security and 20% would be covered by voucher (Section 8)-style assistance; it did not build in any county operating support. Alameda said Dignity Moves, the nonprofit operator consulted for the plan, operates more than 10 similar sites and contributed operating and revenue assumptions to the model. Ventura County’s homelessness director Kimberly Albers attended the meeting and answered questions about how county funding and services might apply.

Why this matters: the city must spend at least 50% of ERF development funds by June under the grant rules discussed at the meeting, and staff said the state award both covers construction and can be set aside in a designated fund for ongoing operating subsidies. Council members and speakers at the meeting framed the choice as time-sensitive: several proponents warned the city could lose the grant if it did not act, while opponents urged more study of long-term operating obligations.

Public comment at the special meeting ran more than two hours and included a mix of neighbors who oppose the proposed Public Works Yard site and supporters who said the site is appropriate and that delays risk losing the state funding. Opponents raised safety and zoning concerns, legal questions about whether the site permits residential use and asked the council to negotiate firm county…