POWAY A 2.15-acre city-owned lot on the south side of Twin Peaks Road just west of Espola Road in Poway looks likely to become a 28-unit low-income housing community for veterans.
On Tuesday night in a unanimous vote, the Poway City Council entered into an agreement to donate the land to Habitat for Humanity if the nonprofit group develops a plan within six months to build townhouses on the lot and sell them to veterans and their families.
Prequalified veterans would buy the units and sign no-or low-interest 40 years loans with average monthly payments of about $1,200, said Councilman Jim Cunningham, who has been working on the plan for two years.
Its not a handout by any means, Cunningham said. Its a hand up that allows them to get on their feet and get their families going.
Cunningham said by the time most service members leave the military they will have spent at least six years serving their country yet are barely able to pay rent in an apartment in Poway. They want their kids to go to school here. But the places where they can afford rent lets just say its not showing the best respect possible for what theyve just gone through.
The homes will include designs for two, three and four bedroom units with two baths and a two-car garage, said San Diego Habit for Humanity Executive Director Lori Holt Pfeiler. She said qualifying veterans will have to have a need for a home, be able to pay for the home, and participate with sweat equity which requires 500 hours of volunteer work at the construction site.
The townhouses will be built with veterans and disabled veterans in mind. For instance, Cunningham said, fluorescent lighting will not be allowed because studies show such light fixtures are problematic for people who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The lot, next to the Circle K convenience store, has long been earmarked for low-income housing, Mayor Don Higginson said. When the state took redevelopment money away from cities three years ago it halted such city-sponsored projects.
Final approval of the project will have to be made by the council once plans are finalized and a public workshop has been held.
The project would be made possible by the city, Habitat for Humanities which will build the townhouses with the help of the veterans who will have already purchased their units and the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet).
CalVet has allocated up to $6 million to build the Poway development but its money that might go away within a year. Thats why the agreement calls for shovels to start turning earth within six months, Cunningham said.
Pfeiler said about 80 percent of construction costs should be covered by CalVet, although final approvals are still needed.
They will look like single-family homes but be duplexes and tri-plexes, Pfeiler said.
A fundraising campaign will also begin soon. Although money appears available to build the townhomes, Cunningham said, the more money we raise for this project will mean the more services and assistance to the veterans. Lets say we raise $25,000. That would be $25,000 worth of supplies we could give these families in a gift bag or box when they move in to help them get situated. He said the bags would include items that would make a house a home.
