Parkview Cottage owners riled
| Thursday, Mar 26 2009 07:56 PM
Last Updated Monday, Mar 30 2009 04:22 PM
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Two cyclists ride by the front of the Parkview Cottages in this June 2006 photo.
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Barbara Poor was one of the first buyers to snap up one of the downtown Parkview Cottages when they hit the market in 2006. Now, she’s worried 15 empty units in the unfinished tract could be bought by an affordable housing agency and marketed with a lease-to-buy program.
Some homeowners in the city-subsidized community at 21st and R streets fear such a move would bring in rental-minded folks with little incentive to keep up properties.
But city and housing officials say if the deal goes through, future buyers will be much like existing homeowners, with the lease-to-buy option simply allowing a needed foot in the door.
And, officials insist, the move won’t open the cottages to so-called Section 8 vouchers, a federally subsidized rental-assistance program.
Dan Killough, a car salesman who bought one of the two-story, craftsman-style units in August 2006, was relieved to hear Section 8 wasn’t part of the equation.
Still, it irks him authorities are changing rules midstream. Community bylaws say owners can’t rent out or sublet the cottages.
“They turn around and do something we can’t do,” Killough said.
The 74-unit infill project is a venture between the city of Bakersfield and local developer Petrini Brothers Inc., which bought the 7.5 acre site from the city for $1 in 2003. The city’s redevelopment agency administers a downpayment assistance program there.
The cottages were supposed to be finished years ago but still have roughly 30 empty lots on top of 15 vacant units.
Last summer, redevelopment officials considered finding another developer to finish things up.
That option is no longer in the works, said Rhonda Barnhard, assistant economic development director with the city’s Economic and Community Development Department.
Nothing has been finalized, she said, but the city, the Petrinis and the Housing Authority of the County of Kern are in negotiations to have a nonprofit affiliate of the housing authority buy the 15 vacant units.
If the deal goes through, Golden Empire Affordable Housing Inc. would market the units with a lease-to-buy option. The agency is currently batting around prices with the Petrinis, said Randy Coats, executive director.
Cottage owner Kim Kelley doesn’t entirely trust the information residents are receiving from the city and developer.
Like Poor and Killough, she loves her cottage and is willing to fight to keep the original vision alive.
“Something tells me that is it not quite going to end up like they keep saying,” she said. “But we won’t know until it all happens.”
