BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council tonight (Aug. 5) delayed an application to rebuild the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park after some residents complained about the offers they received from the Santa Clara County Housing Authority.
Fifteen Buena Vista residents wrote letters to council before the meeting saying they want more space, higher appraisals and the ability to remain homeowners.
Preston Price, executive director of the Housing Authority, said his team can’t meet everyone’s expectations, and that he was disappointed by the delay.
“The reality is that we literally do not have the space, the available funding or legal means to meet all expectations,” he said.
If council delays the project beyond next week, then the Housing Authority could miss out on $60 million in tax credits and tax-exempt bonds, Price said.
“The clock is ticking on our ability to bring all the financing together,” he said.
Resident Esmeralda Aristeo said she has to downsize from 865 square feet to 720 square feet if she wants to stay as an owner.
Cipriana Hernandez said her disabled father visits twice a year from Mexico, and he needs a ramp to get in her home.
“We also need an extra bedroom because we have two kids and they need their privacy, as well as my husband and I,” she said.
Liney Barrera, Ana Lilia and Rene Escalante said they didn’t agree with the appraisals, and they didn’t like the offers they were getting for a new home.
Maria and Nicolas Miramontes said they want a four-bedroom home for their family of nine, but the Housing Authority is only offering three bedrooms. They said their daughter doesn’t count because she is going to college in Los Angeles.
“We request your support to keep our family together. My daughter is finishing her school year, and she is coming back home. Do not exclude her,” Miramontes wrote.
Price defended the Housing Authority, which he said has committed an unprecedented $60 million to the redevelopment at 3980 El Camino Real.
The Housing Authority is ready to apply for financing on Aug. 27, Price said.
“Delay has a real impact that endangers the ability to complete this project,” he said.
For every one resident who wrote to council, four other residents have made a housing decision, Price said.
It’s not fair to “hold up the entire development due to “unrealistic expectations of a few,” Price said
Buena Vista had an electrical fire last week that highlights the need to replace the utilities, he said.
The Housing Authority doesn’t comment on individual housing offers.
One resident of 20 years, Dich Tran, urged council to advance the redevelopment as he pointed to his gray hair.
“I am patient … but we need to move,” Tran said.
Council tonight was scheduled to vote on splitting the 4.5-acre property into two properties.
The half closer to El Camino would get 44 new coaches, replacing 79 RVs, trailers and mobile homes for a total of 105 units.
The back half would get a four-story, 61-unit apartment complex.
The apartments would be rented out to low-income residents based on their income.
The vote to split the property was on council’s consent calendar, meaning that it could’ve been approved without discussion. But council voted to “pull” the item for a discussion on Aug. 12.
A three-way partnership of the Housing Authority, Santa Clara County and the city of Palo Alto purchased the park in 2017 for $40 million after a campaign to save the naturally affordable housing.
Construction is scheduled to begin in phases next summer and finish at the start of 2027.
