Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/category/topics/housing-homelessness/)
Orange County residents won’t be evicted for failing to pay rent during the coronavirus pandemic due to a new state law banning evictions until February next year, but people will still have to pay their rent in full by then.
A majority of Santa Ana City Council members declined to give residents more time for citizens’ signature-gathering efforts.
Santa Ana and San Clemente, cities in two different regions of Orange County, will debate the same component of affordable housing policies at different stages this week.
OC officials are in negotiations to buy three motels and convert them into housing for homeless people with on-site support services, while keeping the locations secret for now.
Santa Ana City Council members in an initial vote relaxed affordable housing requirements for builders, despite dozens of public commenters raising concerns.
City officials will consider a potential overhaul of the decades old calculation at an upcoming study session seeking to create adequate funding for affordable housing.
Santa Ana officials could make it easier for developers to build for-profit apartments in the city, while lowering affordable housing requirements.
The program will provide cash for six months to be used toward rent. Applications for the program are closed but may open up again with additional funding.
OC’s Social Services Agency is facing a budget shortfall that could mean an end to food stamps if county officials can’t fill the gap.
The effort comes as the county is sheltering hundreds of homeless people at local motels leased through the state’s Project Roomkey.