OXNARD : City Weighs Plan for Low-Income Housing

The Oxnard City Council tonight will consider a developer’s plan to build 50 houses for low-income families at the southwest corner of Rose Avenue and Channel Islands Boulevard across from Channel Islands High School.

Komorowski Development is looking to build the homes on a 7.54-acre parcel. The builder will present its preliminary plans to the City Council for direction and approval so it can move forward with a more concrete proposal.

To make the homes more affordable to first-time home buyers, the developer is asking Oxnard leaders to relax city development standards--reducing the required street widths and lot frontage, for example.

Oxnard is under pressure to build affordable homes after being sued by housing advocates for failing to provide enough low-cost housing for its poorer residents.

Although the development would work toward meeting the city’s low-cost housing requirement, the revenues the city would receive from the new neighborhood would not cover the added costs in public services needed to maintain it, according to a city report.