VENTURA COUNTY (California) STAR

March 21, 2010

New complex opens doors to farmworkers

Affordable housing project takes in tenants in Fillmore

By Mike Harris

At a Fillmore City Council meeting last month, advocates for farmworkers urged the council to plan for more affordable housing in town.

A few days later, a new low-income housing development that offers special subsidies to farmworkers opened its doors not far from City Hall.

No, the council didn’t work quite that fast.

The Central Station, a 29-unit town house complex at 280-294 Main St., was green-lighted by the council several years ago. The complex, two blocks east of downtown, was built by the Cabrillo Economic Development Corp., which specializes in developing, constructing and managing affordable housing in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Tenants began moving in early this month. They include many farmworkers who are employed in the agricultural industry that largely drives rural Fillmore’s economy.

The same housing advocates who addressed the City Council at a Feb. 23 meeting applauded the new complex.

“Anything that provides quality affordable shelter for farmworkers is a good thing in my book,” said Susan Johnson, chief deputy agricultural commissioner for Ventura County.

Eduardo Espinoza, the development’s project manager, agreed.

“The Central Station community will provide more housing choices for individuals and families in the Fillmore community who want to rent and buy homes at affordable prices,” Espinoza said. “Increasing the supply of home choices for lower-income renters and owners ultimately benefits the entire community.”

Twenty-one of the development’s town houses are rentals, while the remaining eight are for sale. They are available to local families earning less than 50 percent of the area median income, which is $86,100 for a family of four in Ventura County, Espinoza said.

“So we’re targeting families that are earning half that or below,” he said. “The rentals are targeted specifically to farmworkers.”

Espinoza said the purchase prices and the rents are calculated based on the income of the applicants. He declined to give a range of prices and rents for the three-bedroom, two-bathroom units.

The development features a community room, five courtyards, a children’s playground, and on-site garage parking. It is located close to shopping, transportation and other services, Espinoza said.

Rodney Fernandez, executive director of the nonprofit CEDC in Ventura, said the complex demonstrates Fillmore’s “continued commitment to keep looking to partner to provide a balance of housing within the city.

“The city of Fillmore hasn’t had a lot of progress in affordable housing in the recent past,” he said. “They’re wisely using the scarce resources that they have at their disposal — redevelopment funds — to help in subsidizing these homes.”

Mayra Amezcua, 19, recently moved into the new complex with her parents and three siblings. She said the family, including her father, Thomas, a farmworker, had been living nearby in a single room in her uncle’s house.

“It feels great,” said Amezcua, a CSU Northridge student. “We’re going to have so much more space.”

Fernandez said a 2003 lawsuit filed by California Rural Legal Assistance against the city and another developer on behalf of a Fillmore farmworker paved the way for the complex.

CRLA staff attorney Eileen McCarthy said the suit challenged the city’s approval of another residential complex in town that did not offer affordable housing for low-income residents, including farmworkers.

Former Fillmore City Attorney Roger Myers said that in settling the suit in late 2003, the city “agreed to convey the parcel where the CEDC project is to an affordable housing development.”

Members of the City Council told Johnson, McCarthy and other housing advocates at the Feb. 23 meeting that in their estimation, Fillmore has a good track record of providing affordable shelter for farmworkers.

“Fillmore accommodates a lot of farmworkers,” Councilman Jamey Brooks said. “In my personal opinion, we may accommodate per capita more farmworkers than any other city in Ventura County.”

Mayor Patti Walker said the city “has worked very diligently to provide housing for everyone.”