Board approves $500,000 HOME loan for two-unit duplex in Mountain Mesa after public opposition

Kern County supervisors voted to approve a staff-recommended substantial amendment to the county's FY2024'25 annual action plan that will allocate a $500,000 HOME loan to support construction of a two-unit duplex on Assessor's Parcel 48607506 in the Mountain Mesa area.

Planning and Natural Resources Director Craig Martinez said the proposed development would include two 2-bedroom, 1-bath units of roughly 785 square feet each. In exchange for a 30-year loan, the owner would sign an agreement deed-restricting the units to low-income households for 20 years. Martinez told the board that HUD-derived maximum rent limits for the two-bedroom units were shown in staff materials as approximately $1,057 for one unit and $1,352 for the other, and he added that county fair-market context for a two-bedroom had been shown at about $1,380.

Martinez said the HOME program funds are federal dollars the county administers; payments on the loan would be made to the county and placed into a revolving fund that can be used for future affordable-housing projects. He also explained that the project applicant'not the county'would screen tenants and that the county would verify qualifications and perform annual inspections. "We audit it. We will verify that they are renting it to who they're supposed to be renting it to, and it's maintained appropriately," Martinez said.

The project applicant identified himself at the meeting as Michael Lichstein and described the proposal as a locally owned, modest affordable-housing development. Lichstein said the project had undergone planning, general-counsel review, a phase I environmental site assessment and biological studies and that the units would be legally restricted and operated under federal guidelines at about 50% to 60% of area median income. "This is personal for us. We have deep roots here, and we care about this community," Lichstein said.

Members of the public who attended a March 25 outreach meeting and participants who spoke at Tuesday's hearing expressed concerns that Mountain Mesa lacks adequate employment and services to support new rentals, questioned whether absentee owners would maintain the property and asked how utilities and trash service would be handled. Steven Reed, who spoke in opposition, said the valley has limited employment opportunities and that absentee ownership has undermined upkeep in some nearby R-3 areas.

In response, Martinez and the applicant said tenants would be required to meet income qualifications, the owner would be responsible for certain utilities and trash (the applicant said plans include splitting the water meter), and the county'not the project'would enforce deed-restriction and maintenance requirements. Martinez emphasized the county would not be placing people into the units or subsidizing rents directly; rather, the loan is intended to facilitate construction and preserve affordability through contractual limits on who may rent.

A board member moved to approve the staff recommendation; another seconded. The motion carried and the clerk recorded the vote as "All ayes." The board also authorized the director of the Planning and Natural Resources Department to sign documents related to the substantial amendment.

The action implements a one-off loan to an applicant-initiated project using federal HOME program funds and establishes 20-year affordability restrictions; the board did not change land-use designations. The board adjourned after completing the item.