Vets given preference for AmCan housing

By KERANA TODOROV
Register Staff Writer

The city of American Canyon will give priority to military veterans who want to rent or lease affordable housing in the city.

A recently approved City Council resolution gives priority to veterans who live or work in American Canyon  when it comes to renting an apartment at Vineyard Crossings, a 145-unit affordable housing apartment complex that Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition is building on the east side of Highway 29.

“We want to do something for them,” said Vice Mayor Joan Bennett. “And this is one little thing that we can do.”

So far, Mid-Peninsula, based in Foster City, has received about 100 applications from low-income residents who want to rent or buy the units, said interim project manager Joe Kirchofer. Rents for a one-, two-, three- and four-bedroom units will range from $322 to $919 a month, he said.

A family of four is considered low-income if is total earnings are $41,250 or less, under state criteria.

As of late last week, it was unclear if any veterans had applied to move into the complex, which is scheduled to open in June.

Lynn Martinez, senior housing attorney for the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Vallejo, said she does not know of another city that has a blanket preference given to veterans similar to American Canyon’s. Neither does Bill Higgins, a legislative representative for the League of California Cities in Sacramento.

“Preference for veterans is a lofty goal,” Martinez said, as long as the landlord does not violate fair housing laws.

Doris Smith, a housing programs coordinator for the City of Napa Housing Authority, said veterans are given preference if they qualify for Section 8, the federal rental assistance program. Mid-Peninsula’s development is not a Section 8 program.

Smith said she knows of no other city in the Napa Valley that gives blanket housing preference to veterans.

Mid-Peninsula, which built the complex on seven acres donated by the city, received a $1.2 million loan from the county’s affordable housing fund and another $2.65 million in city “in lieu” fees — money developers pay the city instead of building mandated affordable housing units.

Andrea Papanastassiou development manager for Mid-Peninsula, said the preference for veterans “works with our financing.”

Her organization cannot decide on its own to give preference to veterans, Papanastassiou said.  “If it’s a local requirement, then it’s OK,” she added.

American Canyon City Attorney Bill Ross, who drafted the resolution the City Council approved March 27, said the veterans preference is “easily defensible” if someone wants to challenge the city.

“There is ample authority for the defense of the veterans’ preference in association with the city’s action,” Ross said.

At least one other California city has a veterans’ housing assistance program not based on federal funding. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is building affordable houses for veterans in San Juan Capistrano, 30 minutes from Camp Pendleton, the Marine Corps’ largest training facility on the West Coast.

The idea came from a retired Marine, who wanted to help wounded soldiers, explained Joan Ziegler, a spokeswoman for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County.

The nationwide nonprofit organization, which builds affordable housing for low-income residents, negotiated with the city of San Juan Capistrano to build 27 houses, 14 of which were to be marketed to military veterans, Ziegler said. The city, which approved the project in November, gave the nonprofit organization 2.7 acres worth $2.1 million, according to Habitat for Humanity.

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