Ray Medrano with the Citizens Patrol spoke to the Council on the need for citizens to be involved and proactive in protecting the City.

The March 13, 2012 Fillmore City Council meeting was the shortest in recent years. With only two items on the agenda the meeting was over in exactly one hour. One item was whether the City should submit an appeal to Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) in order to reduce Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) for the period of 2014 through 2012. The other item was the adoption of an ordinance to repeal a Fillmore Municipal Code due to the City taking over the Redevelopment Agency, which was voted on and adopted.

At the February 28th council meeting Kevin McSweeney, Community Development Director, introduce the SCAG drafted RHNA allocating 694 residential units to Fillmore and requested the Council review the details of the report to determine if the City should ask for an appeal, which is called a Revision Request, to reduce those numbers.
The SCAG was formed on October 28, 1965, with the purpose of conducting growth forecasts and regional planning. RHNA is mandated by State Housing Law as part of the periodic process to address the need for housing within each city or county jurisdiction during specified planning periods. The RHNA is not a construction number where the City is given a quota to construct units. Rather it is a planning number of residential units that the City of Fillmore should plan, anticipate and prepare to accommodate growth to the year 2021. The City has planned and prepared for those residential units in its General Plan Buildout.

The General Plan identifies that 5,816 residential units are planned for the City which will result in a population of 22,693 by the year 2020. There are currently 4,408 residential units in the City. Therefore, through the General Plan, the City of Fillmore has planned for the remaining 1,408 residential units for the year 2020. The required units have designated income levels that RHNA identifies as 160 very low income units and 112 as low income units resulting in 272 low income units that need to be planned for during the 2014-2021 Housing Element period. But, there are past low income unit requirements that have not been met.

Because the City has not yet completed General Plan Amendments to address some of the low income units as described in the last Housing Elements periods, those units will be rolled over into the new Housing Element period. Those units are called “unaccommodated need.” This represents 220 units from previous Housing Element periods that will be added to the proposed RHNA low income units bringing the next Housing Element period to require 492 low income units for the years 2014-2020.

McSweeney said in discussions with California Housing and Community Development, that they were pleased with the Satisfied Housing Element Program to increase housing density downtown that amended the Downtown Specific Plan from 15 to 50 units per acre, but that does not change the required low income units. Councilmember Steve Conaway reminded the present members of the council that they lowered the density of the North Fillmore Specific Plan Development, which lowered the low income units available and created some of the “unaccommodated need” the Council is dealing with today and that now those low income units must be accounted for in other areas of the City.

The Council agreed that a Revision Request should be submitted. SCAG must receive the paperwork by March 15, 2012. The RHNA Revision request form has 12 bases for acceptance. Councilmember Brian Sipes and Mayor Gayle Washburn told McSweeney one bases in the request should be the market demand for housing, and other suggestions were the existing or projected jobs-housing balance along with county policies to preserve prime agricultural land.

A town’s future growth rate is determined by such basic traits as its climate, location, topography, natural resources and investment. Fillmore has abundance of favorable characteristics that could continue to draw people. As Fillmore’s population expands those responsible for making decisions must address the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The challenge to the city planners and city councils is to invest wisely and sufficiently to accommodate growth and development, not prevent it. A hard lesson is being learned during this recent economic cycle. Fillmore’s ability to coordinate growth and infrastructure will determine how the City consumes its limited resources, whether it’s housing, business, open space, water, or even roadway capacity.

McSweeney said the Council is willing to consider the idea of copying Ventura’s amnesty on non-conforming units, often called Granny Flats. Ventura has counted those units to meet its housing requirements. When asked what requirements are needed to for an after the fact permit to legalize the units, McSweeney said some hurdles would be four parking spaces and a lot size of at least 7,000 sq. ft along with other requirements.

In regards to legal actions, Attorney Mark R. Pachowicz addressed the Council to inform them that he has a conflict and has delayed the City’s hearing date. City Attorney Ted Schneider announced the judge has ruled in favor of the City by dismissing a case which can not be refiled, in a lawsuit brought by the owners of El Dorado Park which claimed the City violated the Fair Housing Act. The City still has a State lawsuit pending.

Ray Madrano with the Citizens Patrol spoke to the Council on the need for citizens to be involved and proactive in protecting the City. The Citizens Patrol was formed in 1993 after several violent acts in Fillmore. Its goal is to help support the Police and Sheriffs by being the eyes and ears on the street in protecting and serving the City. For information on how you can help contact the Fillmore Police Station, 524-2233.