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Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008

Council sells 3 lots to Habitat for Humanity

City leaders hope new homes will spark cleaner appearance in South Merced.

Three poor Merced families will soon have a house to call home.

The city's Redevelopment Agency will sell three empty lots for $100 each to Habitat for Humanity, which will build three single-family homes on the land by 2011. The sale was one of two projects unanimously approved Monday night by the City Council to eliminate eyesores in the city's Highway 99 gateway area. The council also agreed to offer a loan so a landowner could demolish rotting homes on his land.

The Redevelopment Agency, charged with eliminating blight and increasing affordable housing, has been buying the homes in South Merced that are in the worst shape in hopes that the rejuvenation will spread throughout the area.

"We're trying to improve the overall appearance of the neighborhood," Development Coordinator Daniel Ainslie told the council.

The city has spent $354,525 to buy and demolish the dilapidated homes at 512 W. 11th St., 927 W. Eighth St. and 195 S. T St. They were all vacant at the time and had become magnets for graffiti.

Now, a team of Habitat for Humanity volunteers will build homes that will be sold at an affordable price to local residents. The family that buys the home, with a no-interest loan, must also spend 500 hours working to construct the house.

The city's asking that each house not be sold to a family earning more than 80 percent of the median income, a request that will stand for the next 45 years. Right now, no family making more than about $25,000 would be able to buy one, according to the 2006 U.S. Census American Community Survey for Merced.

The nonprofit has built two other homes in Merced with the help of the city. One, on Jonathan Court, was built four years ago, and the other, on Sixth Street, was built two years ago, Habitat for Humanity construction chairman Lyle Allen said.

"We'd like to be in a consistent building mode to help families in the future," he said during the meeting.

In a related move to improve the city's entrance area, the City Council approved giving up to a $16,700 loan to Ho Truong and Nguyet Le Truong to demolish four vacant homes that are falling apart at the corner of Highway 59 and 16th Street -- the first intersection visitors see when they are heading into Merced.

The Truongs don't have the money to demolish the buildings, so the city will reimburse them when the work is complete. The zero-interest loan must be paid whenever the lot is sold, Ainslie told the council.

Mayor Pro Tem John Carlisle wanted to know what the city gets out of giving the owners a zero-interest loan to improve land that is not meeting city rules. "This is the poster child for code enforcement," he noted, wondering whether the land would fall into blight once more.

Chief Code Enforcement officer David Gonzalves said that working with the owners has been challenging at best and this was the best solution available.

The alternative would have been going through the courts so the city could raze the homes and then put a lien against the land, effort that would require attorneys and more time.

"How will it be different?" Gonzalves responded. "It will be clean first off. It's an entrance to our city, and it's looked horrible for years."

The property owners wouldn't accept a loan unless it was interest-free. They also agreed to stop trying to get the residential land rezoned for commercial use -- a point of contention between them and the city.

Before the vote, Councilman Joe Cortez tried to cut to the heart of the issue. "The public wants the blight and graffiti cleaned up," he said. "If the property is sold, the city will get the money back."

The city is also in talks to buy the land, development coordinator Ainslie said, though the asking price is too high at the moment. Should that happen, Habitat for Humanity would be ready to call in the volunteers and build another affordable home.

Reporter Scott Jason can be reached at (209) 385-2453 or sjason@mercedsun-star.com.