The Clairemont Town Council is trying to slow down the county’s effort to build an affordable housing complex in the neighborhood because it claims it’s being left out of the conversation.
Council President Eden Yaege said Wednesday that she and many of her neighbors are concerned about the complex with close to 500 new homes planned to be built on Etna Drive where an old crime lab used to be.
“We’ve been asking for community forums with the county. We’ve been asking them to put them on,” Yaege said.
Affordable housing is great but the area around the site isn’t, Yaege said, citing a shortage in parking and transportation and no nearby county health care services.
Yaege invited every San Diego County supervisor and members of the City Council to a weekend forum and no one showed up.
County Housing and Community Development Services Director David Estrella said the town council needs to be patient.
“Every community has the opportunity to voice their concerns and the county respects those concerns,” Estrella said.
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Yaege worries the county is getting too far into the process and fears Clairemont’s concerns will be heard too late.
“We want this to be successful for people living in these projects as well,” she said. Yaege stresses the town council is not against affordable housing.
The county currently has 4,000 affordable housing units but needs at least 20,000 more.
In February, the Board of Supervisors directed officials to request proposals to develop the property with at least 50 percent affordable, multi-family residential units.
Officials say more than half of the area residents are "housing burdened" which means they spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing.
