High Housing Costs May Hurt County, Report Says

A report presented to Orange County planning commissioners Tuesday warns that the county’s housing crisis could take its toll on the local economy by driving residents--and jobs--elsewhere.

Planning Commissioner Ben Nielsen said the county must start focusing on ways to solve the problem and said that may include finding ways to spur development.

“One of the things that could happen is to build houses on smaller lots,” Nielsen said following the meeting. “Instead of building five houses per acre, the Board of Supervisors could decide to build eight houses per acre. It’s something that will . . . bring down the cost of housing.”

Orange County’s homeless coordinator, Karen Roper, said the report illustrates that the housing crisis amounts to a regional liability that cities, developers and employers must tackle.

Average rents are about double what many families can pay. The problem is so severe that low-income workers are often dangerously doubling up in homes to make ends meet, she said.

“A large percentage of the new jobs being created pay even less. . . . These are the people we need to target. If we don’t, businesses will leave Orange County,” Roper said.

Roper said she hopes the study brings diverse players to work together on the problem.

The housing crisis was highlighted in a county report that offers a “snapshot” look at county challenges that lie ahead. It is billed as the county’s first-ever collection of social, economic and environmental concerns.

The report, called the Orange County Community Indicators Report, underscores many factors that make Orange County an attractive place to live: high wages, a thriving high-tech economy, low unemployment, good schools, improving air quality and dropping crime rates.

But the portrait isn’t entirely rosy. Concerns include:

* Orange County’s gross product, or total economic output, is growing more slowly than that of California and the United States.

* Despite a drop in crime, Orange County has seen a rise in gang membership almost every year since 1993. Authorities stress that the rise may reflect law enforcement’s stepped-up efforts to identify gang members.

* Ocean water quality continues to decline: The number of days that portions of Orange County’s beaches have been closed has increased steadily since 1996.

County analyst Kari Parsons, who presented the report Tuesday, said Orange County is thriving in many areas, but stressed there was room for improvement.

Nielsen said he also hopes the report will bring the private sector and government together in coming up with solutions to the housing crisis.