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In This Issue...
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Seniors at Capitola Gardens Fear Losing Homes
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Seniors at Capitola Gardens Fear Losing Homes
Owner Suggests Tearing Down 78 Units After Planning Commission Rejects Expansion
By Michael Thomas
Dozens of senior residents, many of them disabled, are worried they’ll be forced out of their apartments by bulldozers or steep rent increases at the Capitola Gardens complex on 46th Avenue. The housing is a former affordable housing project that was privatized a few years ago, but has continued to serve a low-income senior population. However, the owner now wants to develop the site and apparently wants to move the tenants out.
Robert Hirsh, one of the property’s owners, asked Capitola’s Planning Commission to consider a plan to build five two-story buildings housing an additional 40 market-rate units, replacing the gardens and lawns for which the property is named.
The Planning Commission unanimously rejected the concept, but that didn’t quell residents’ fears about their future. At a meeting with residents prior to the Planning Commission hearing, Hirsh warned residents that he could raze the complex and start from scratch.
“He said he would like to bulldoze the whole thing down if he can’t build what he planned,” said Tenants Association president Bonnie LaValle. “He said he spent $30,000 on plans for the new buildings.”
LaValle believes the recent rent hikes and plans to demolish existing structures are retribution after Capitola Planning Commissioners were unwilling to waive parking requirements and other rules to allow the additional development on the site.
“I think he is doing revenge because he didn’t get his way,” she added.
The property already has the maximum number of units allowed under the City’s General Plan, so Hirsh would have to go through a long process to either start from scratch or expand with new buildings.
“It would need a zoning change, an EIR [Environmental Impact Report] and the General Plan amendment,” explained Planning Commissioner Ron Graves. “Why would you tear down the units that are already there if you are only going to get that many and pay today’s construction prices?”
If the complex is not demolished, many seniors may still have to leave as the result of rent increases. According to LaValle, many residents got letters in the week following the meeting notifying them that their rents will increase. In some cases, rent jumped from $1100 to over $1800 per month, according to LaValle.
Complex Built with Federal Funding
Current rents vary depending on how long the resident has lived there. In the late 1970s the complex was built as senior housing using federal loans. But the rent control restrictions that came with those loans expired in 2000.
The property was then sold and rents increased to reflect market rates. Up to now, Hirsh has allowed longstanding tenants to stay at their old rent levels. But slowly, new tenants have moved in paying market rates. Of the 78 units, an estimated 58 are still occupied by seniors or the disabled.
Hirsh was not available to comment, but Graves believes he has been a relatively fair landlord up until the present.
Some residents disagree. Laura Abraham has rented a one-bedroom apartment at the complex for two years, paying $1,250 rent each month. Now she’s been told her rent will increase to $1885, which would be a virtual eviction.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” she said. “What he is trying to do is drive out those who are disabled and low-income.”
Complex is a Sanctuary for Disabled
The one-story units are clustered around open lawns and gardens. Though they are showing signs of age, the apartments are well suited to seniors and disabled residents.
There are no internal streets and minimal parking. The winding concrete pathways are easily navigable for the 18 residents who are wheelchair bound. In a corner of the property, there are garden boxes where seniors tend flowers and vegetables.
“The area is beautiful,” said Ruth Seidel, an 18-year resident.
Inside the units, the showers have railings and there are panic buttons that residents can use to summon emergency help. Graves recalls working with the City Manager and the owner years ago to get accessible thermostat controls installed.
Though some residents are already looking for new places to live, they doubt they can find apartments equally suited to their physical needs.
If the new two-story buildings were constructed, nearly all the open space would disappear, along with most of the trees. Already, the redwoods on the property have numbered metal tags on their trunks from a survey.
“The trees have grown from 24-inch box trees to almost 30 feet tall,” Graves pointed out. “This project was going to take out half the trees on the property.”
Would the Council Consider Rezoning?
At the Planning Commission hearing, residents of Capitola Gardens were joined by neighbors on the surrounding streets who feared the project would increase crime, noise and parking congestion.
However, Hirsh could still take the proposal to the City Council and seek the necessary rezoning. Mayor Dennis Norton feels it is worth hearing him out.
“I don’t have a lot of opinions at this point,” Norton said. “It needs to be upgraded. It’s really cheaply built. I encourage him to bring it to the Council.”
Other Council members were more critical.
“It’s too big for the neighborhood. It’s not fair to the neighbors,” said Council Member Bruce Arthur. “I’d like to see him try to tear out the redwood trees. It’s all smoke and mirrors.”
Council Member Stephanie Harlan is adamantly opposed to expanding the complex or changing the zoning.
“Anything like that should happen after we go through a general plan review,” she said. “If you do [General Plan amendments] piecemeal, that’s not good community planning.”
The City is set to begin an overdue General Plan review this summer, and Harlan expects the process to take at least two years. In the meantime, she was frustrated by the potential boost in tenants’ rent.
“That’s terrible. I am sure many people can’t afford that,” she said.
When the property was converted from senior housing and affordable housing to market rate, she suggested that the City consider trying to purchase it.
It wasn’t possible years ago, and she believes it’s a long shot now, but she reiterated the suggestion at a May 25 council meeting.
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