Navigation Center ad hoc offers affordable-housing and homelessness-prevention recommendations; council asks for costed action plan

Buena Park ' A Navigation Center Oversight Commission ad hoc committee presented a package of recommendations Jan. 28 aimed at homelessness prevention and affordable housing creation, and the City Council asked staff to return with a prioritized, costed action plan.

The ad hoc, represented by Community Services Supervisor Rosemary Nielsen and Commissioner Carol McCann, recommended a suite of measures: pursue a Pro-Housing designation from the state Department of Housing and Community Development; preserve existing affordable-housing covenants and add right-of-first-refusal clauses; allocate city funds and consider low-interest loans or land-banking; incentivize affordable ADUs through fee waivers or reductions; expand affordable in-lieu fee programs; and build partnerships with landlords, faith-based organizations and community stakeholders.

The presentation cited regional need statistics (e.g., tens of thousands of low-income renters lacking affordable housing countywide and a significant portion of extremely low-income households paying more than half their income in rent) and listed current and pipeline affordable-housing projects in Buena Park. Commissioners asked for the council's support to pursue policy and programmatic steps.

Council members praised the work and directed staff to work with the ad hoc committee to quantify staff effort, costs and projected housing outcomes and to return with a prioritized plan for council consideration; options include a formal council ad hoc or a sequence of study sessions.

What happens next: Staff and the navigation ad hoc will develop cost/benefit analyses and implementation timelines for council review.