BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto City Council tonight (Aug. 12) advanced the redevelopment of the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park after young, elderly and disabled residents made an emotional plea for better housing offers from the Santa Clara County Housing Authority.
Council is planning to leverage its agreement with the Housing Authority, which needs to be updated before demolition, to help resolve the 12 or so remaining disputes.
“We all want a beautiful new park. But we want residents who feel happy about it, who feel good about being there, who feel they were fairly treated” Councilwoman Vicki Veenker said.
About a dozen families have a dispute with the Housing Authority, and another dozen haven’t made a decision about their housing future for various reasons, according to Flaherty Ward, director of real estate for the Housing Authority.
Eight families have confirmed they won’t return to Buena Vista, and 42 families are planning to come back after the rebuild, Ward said.
Council heard from several residents who weren’t happy tonight.
Rene Escalante said the appraisal of his unit was “a joke,” “insulting,” and “seems manipulated.”
Nicolas Miramontes said he wants a four-bedroom home for his family of nine, but the Housing Authority is only offering three bedrooms. He said his daughter doesn’t count because she is going to college in Los Angeles.
Kids held signs saying “Keep families together” and “We deserve better.”
Resident Jose Ramirez said he’s trying to get the Housing Authority to include his new wife and her kids, all while he’s battling cancer.
“I’ve never been treated this way. I’m begging for help to keep my family together and save my home,” Ramirez said.
Councilwoman Lydia Kou became emotional at one point in the meeting.
Ward said the Housing Authority would pay for residents to get another appraisal, and she would talk to her team of attorneys about delaying the Sept. 15 deadline for residents to make a decision.
Council will get another update before the deadline.
Assistant to the City Manager Melissa McDonough offered to connect any residents to mediators at Project Sentinel to help negotiate with the Housing Authority.
Council tonight voted to split the 4.5-acre park at 3980 El Camino Real into two properties.
The half closer to El Camino is slated for 44 new mobile homes, replacing 79 RVs, trailers and coaches. The California Department of Housing and Community Development will handle approval of the mobile homes.
The further half will get a four-story, 61-unit apartment complex that council approved tonight.
The apartments would be rented out to low-income residents based on their income, and new mobile homes are being offered to current residents first.
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.
The 2017 agreement needs to be updated before redevelopment, Planning Director Jonathan Lait said.
By advancing the rest of the project tonight, the Housing Authority can apply for $58 million in tax credits, said Preston Price, executive director of the Housing Authority.
Construction is scheduled to begin in phases next summer and finish at the start of 2027.
“We’re certainly not going to turn back on this,” Vice Mayor Ed Lauing said. “So what that means is we have to get down to the nuts and bolts and get across the finish line.”
