The following are the questions Becky Dennison, director of Venice Community Housing, answered this week regarding the Venice Median Parking lot project. These are questions from the community.

What are the specific groups of people that housing units can be legally dedicated for, both in affordable housing and permanent supportive housing?
Permanent supportive housing (PSH) provides affordable housing with wrap around social services to formerly homeless individuals and families. Under current regulations, PSH units can be specifically dedicated for the following groups: chronically homeless people, people with disabilities, people living with HIV/AIDS, people with or families including a person with mental illness, people with chronic health conditions who are high utilizers of the County health system, seniors, Veterans and families.

Note: Chronically homeless refers to individuals or heads of household that have a disabling condition and have been homeless continuously for at least 12 months or on at least four occasions in the last three years, where the combined time of occasions is at least 12 months.

Affordable housing generally serves individuals and families with incomes at or below 60% of the area median income (AMI) for Los Angeles. Under current regulations, affordable housing units can be specifically dedicated for the following groups: extremely low-income households (making up to 30-35% of AMI), very low-income households (making up to 50% of AMI), low-income households (making up to 60% of AMI), seniors, families, and artists.

Will the rents be subsidized at the current market rate in Venice? What are the specific rent and income limits for affordable and permanent supportive housing units?
No, the rents will not be subsidized at the current market rate in Venice. In affordable and permanent supportive housing, there is a rent cap on each unit and an income cap for each tenant of each unit. The maximum rents that can be collected are set Citywide and Countywide by the government funding programs. For example, the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) is a key source of financing for affordable rental housing. Each year a state agency, the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee (TCAC), publishes maximum incomes for the residents (income limits) and maximum rents the landlord may charge (rent limits).
Most recent maximum income limits are here: http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/ctcac/rentincome/16/income/post20160328.pdf
Most recent maximum rent limits are here: http://www.treasurer.ca.gov/ctcac/rentincome/16/rent/post20160328.pdf

Will there be on-site property management and/or other staff at the new development?
Yes. California Code of Regulations, Title 25, Section 42 states that if an apartment building has 16 or more units, then a responsible person is required to live on site (usually a highly trained resident-manager). As the number of units increase so do the staffing/residence requirements. Additionally, social service staff work on-site in affordable and permanent supportive housing, as well as maintenance staff and possibly other support staff. The development team will present the proposed staffing as part of the draft project proposal, for both on-site and support staff.

Who funds the supportive services provided in permanent supportive housing?
A large variety of public and private funding sources, including the LA County Departments of Health and Mental Health and private foundations. There is a ballot measure on the March 7th ballot for LA County, Measure H, which would increase the sales tax by ¼ cent to fund services in permanent supportive housing, in order to make the increased development from November’s Measure HHH more successful.

How many units will be rented and how many will be free?
Affordable and permanent supportive housing is planned for this site. All affordable and permanent supportive housing units are rented, none are free.

How many affordable and permanent supportive housing units does Venice Community Housing have in Venice now?
Venice Community Housing owns and operates 93 affordable and permanent supportive housing units in Venice. Of those, 43 are general affordable housing, 42 are permanent supportive housing, and 8 are crisis housing units for homeless families. Venice Community Housing owns and operates an additional 123 affordable and permanent supportive housing units in the Mar Vista and Del Rey communities.