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Mono Supervisors Updated on Housing, Caution: It’s Complicated

Mono Supervisors Updated on Housing, Caution: It’s Complicated

parcel sawyer mono county mammoth lakes housing buckingham
Photo: Town of Mammoth Lakes

The Town of Mammoth Lakes’ affordable housing project, the Parcel, took years to get off the ground. The project was a major step in solving the issues faced by resort communities: housing a workforce in a community where the people who serve visitors live. According to last week’s update from the Parcel’s management company, filling the newly available units is a slow, complicated process.

Jennifer Reed, regional director for Buckingham Property Management, had the unenviable task of reporting on the progress of filling the the last four units of the 80-unit Sawyer to the Mono County Board of Supervisors last week. In a nutshell, some applicants do not meet the income requirements; they simply make too much money.

Considering that the Parcel was developed for employees in a tourism-based community, the concept of workers making too much money seemed odd. But, according to Reed, since Federal monies were used for the project, the income levels of those who would qualify are based on national averages rather than state averages. If those locals who have not qualified based on income lived in East Cupcake, Iowa, they’d be considered fairly well off with an annual income of $52,000. That is not the case in Mammoth Lakes.

One solution to housing that makes perfectly good sense in a community where the lure for employees is the ability to play where you work, is to cram as many roommates as possible into a unit. However, when Buckingham looks at the income qualifications of the tenants, the total exceeds the percentage of Area Median Income (AMI) limits. While the tenants may individually qualify for units designated for 60-percent AMI, as a group their income is too high. According to Reed, the 80-percent AMI units were filled, leaving the Sawyer’s four units in the 60-percent range still sitting empty. Of the units left in the Sawyer, one is a single bedroom, the other three are studios.

Another issue Reed had to address was a delay in the whole process. The initial push to process applicants had begun but COVID restrictions came into play, halting everything. In addition, builders had to bring in workers from outside the area. As a consequence the completion date was moved back and applicants had to re-apply and those applications re-evaluated once a new date was established.

Supervisors Jennifer Kreitz and Linda Salcido both brought up additional issues—tepid water heaters and uncashed deposit checks from applicants who have received no receipts from Buckingham. Reed explained the water heaters are set at 120-degrees and cannot be adjusted. There was no explanation for uncashed checks.

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