Ojai's End-Of-Year Housing Boom

And how state law dictates it all.

Left to right: Councilman Andy Whitman, Councilwoman Rachel Lang, Mayor Betsy Stix, Councilwoman Suza Francina and Councilwoman Leslie Rule.

Greetings readers! It’s been quite a week at City Hall, and I have a lot to report. But first: I want to wish you and your family a very happy holidays. And second: how about that rain!? The thunder woke me early Thursday morning, and for a moment, I thought we were experiencing another earthquake.

It’s been a strange and dramatic year in the Ojai Valley. And in a year marked by discord, the Ojai City Council used two December meetings to make progress on a highly contentious issue: housing. 

OJAI’S END-OF-YEAR HOUSING BOOM

Author’s note: the settlement agreement numbers referenced in this story were updated at 4:49 p.m. 12/22, after receiving confirmation from Special Housing Counsel Sunny Solitani that the settlement agreement includes 32 units of “deed-restricted affordable" housing, not 31 as stated in an earlier version.

Over a period of six days¹, the Ojai City Council voted — unanimously — to approve 113 new units of housing in the City of Ojai. Eighty-one of these units, which are spread over five properties, will be legally designated² as “affordable” for the next 55 years. (If you become confused about what will be sited where, I encourage you to consult this map.)

Six properties which will host affordable housing units (408-410 Montgomery is not yet approved). Take a look at the digital map here.

In the words of Mayor Betsy Stix, before voting with her colleagues to approve a surprise settlement agreement (!) with property developers the Becker Group Inc., Ojai Bungalows LP,³ and Greenhawk LLC⁴ on Dec. 18th, “I’m sorry it’s such a surprise, it’s been a surprise to us too… it has been a long, slow, and fast process.”

We’ll get into the substance of the settlement agreement — to the degree that we can, given that it’s not been finalized or distributed to the public⁵ — but first let’s dwell on the fact of the settlement for a moment. It was just over a year ago that a) Mayor Betsy Stix cast the lone vote against the Becker/Ojai Bungalows Development Agreement (Oct. 25, 2022), b) local pilates instructor and Simply Ojai supporter Tara Jeffrey⁶ began a referendum process to scuttle the agreement (Oct. 28, 2022), and c) Sabrina Venskus⁷, representing Simply Ojai, filed a CEQA suit against the City with the same goal (Dec. 1, 2022). I cannot overstate the degree to which the development agreement contributed to a political schism between Ojai residents and the power shift Ojai voters observed after the 2022 elections.

So, imagine the Council meeting audience’s collective astonishment when Mayor Stix voted in favor of the proposed settlement agreement with Becker et al, and Councilman Andy Whitman — who also opposed the 2022 development agreement — was right there with her.  “I do want to thank the Ojai residents who drafted the referendum, and those who gathered the signatures and those who signed it,” Whitman said, adding, “What we are considering tonight is not necessarily our best, fantasy outcome. And I think the developer would probably say the same thing.”

THE MEANING OF “AFFORDABLE”

Before we dive into what we know of the settlement agreement — we must talk about the term “affordable.” Because in this context we are not talking about what seems affordable to you or me, but “affordable” as defined by the State of California. 

Here’s a brief bureaucratic run down: the state (with some assistance from the feds) calculates the annual median income (AMI) for each county ($123,500 in Ventura County). Individuals and families making less (or just above) the median are placed into different income brackets (acutely low, extremely low, very low, low, and moderate-income) based on the percentage of AMI they take home. Why does this matter? This category (or, income limit) determines an individual’s eligibility for affordable housing.

Here’s an example based in reality: the settlement agreement includes six units⁸ of housing that will be restricted to folks making a “low-income.”⁹ Based on 2023 income limits, a (theoretical) City of Ojai employee who lives alone and earns less than $74,400 annually qualifies for one of those low-income units. A family of four — let’s say the parents are local public school teachers who have two kids and a combined salary of $106,250 — also qualify for that low-income housing.

Here is a look at the income limits adopted in June 2023 for Ventura County — keep these numbers in mind as we discuss new affordable housing units for individuals and families with very low, low, and moderate incomes: