Public Comment Dominates Housing Committee After University Terrace Rejection

Public comment on the rejected University Terrace homeless housing project dominated Monday's Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting, with many speakers urging reconsideration and consuming the entire session. The scheduled workshop on the city's homelessness action plan was postponed to Feb. 23.

Speakers asked the four councilmembers who voted against the $20.1 million Homekey+ project on Jan. 13 to file a motion to reconsider before a Feb. 3 deadline. The nonprofit developer secured an extension from the state after the original Jan. 16 deadline.

The project would convert the Quality Inn at 1590 University Ave. into 114 studio apartments for people experiencing homelessness. Councilmembers Philip Falcone, Steven Robillard, Chuck Conder and Sean Mill voted against the project; Clarissa Cervantes, Jim Perry and Steve Hemenway voted in favor.

Under council rules, only a member who voted with the prevailing side can file a motion to reconsider—meaning advocates must persuade Falcone, Robillard, Conder, or Mill to bring the item back.

Robillard was absent, attending an event as Mayor Pro Tem on behalf of Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson. Mill was the only committee member present who voted against the project.

Bruce Kulpa, CEO of Riverside Housing Development Corporation, confirmed the extension in a phone interview Monday evening. He said the nonprofit contacted the state requesting additional time "to allow the possibility of council to reconsider."

"You need certainty when you're putting millions of dollars investment into a project," Kulpa said. "This creates a high degree of uncertainty, both within funders of grants and within developers who might be thinking about investing in Riverside. They're going to think twice when they see what's going on with this."

Chris Oberg, CEO of Path of Life Ministries, questioned how the vote happened.

"I really would like to know how we got to that vote [two weeks] ago after 18 months of hard work," Oberg said. "City staff addressed the concerns that were raised here—infrastructure, case managers, safety with a large operation, 24-hour security and fencing added to the project prospectus."

Oberg challenged claims that Riverside is oversaturated with homeless services, noting that only 10 of the 90 people currently sleeping at Hulen Place qualify for permanent supportive housing.

"We continue to make a claim that we're overserving, and I just want us to also be clear that we have our fair share of Riversiders who need this help," she said. "We are a large city and we need large city solutions."

Damien O'Farrell, CEO of Parkview Legacy Foundation, said the rejection could lead to loss of future state funding and threats to Riverside's pro-housing designation.

"There's a strong potential loss of future funding and unsuccessful grant applications," O'Farrell said. He also raised the possibility of a discrimination lawsuit, noting that other multifamily housing is already planned across the street from the Quality Inn site.

"To deny this development with the statement citing health diagnosis and current living conditions of the future residents really rings of discrimination to these subpopulations," O'Farrell said.

"This is a day of economic and social justice," said Dan Hoxworth, who organized an action alert urging residents to attend the meeting. "Martin Luther King Jr. gave his life for economic and social justice in Memphis, Tennessee."

Christine Martin, a resident who urged reconsideration, disputed claims that the Housing First model has failed.

"Extensive research shows that Housing First has significantly improved housing stability," Martin said. "Homelessness continues to grow not because Housing First is a failure, as some suggest, but because affordable housing is scarce."

The committee, limited to receiving public comment under Brown Act rules, could not respond to speakers or take action on the item. Cervantes noted the committee's role is advisory and encouraged attendees to contact the four councilmembers who voted no.

City Council meets Tuesday at 6:15 p.m. and again Feb. 3. Advocates have indicated they will continue public comment at both meetings.

The project's rejection divided candidates at a recent forum, where six candidates across the three wards with June elections said they would have approved the project, while four said they would have voted no.

"RHDC did receive an extension," Chair Clarissa Cervantes said at the meeting's close. "I think just over a month for we can see if there could be an opportunity for city council to reconsider this item."

The next Housing and Homelessness Committee meeting is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 3:30 p.m.