Photo Courtesy Gold Country Media
Placer County Supervisors last week voted to contribute assets valued at 8 million dollars toward a 37.7-million-dollar project for a new housing project on county government land in the Dewitt center in North Auburn.
Placera s $7.95 million contribution is a critical measure of support for Mercya s pending application for low-income housing tax credits to help fund the project.
More than A3/4 of a million dollars would come from the Placer County Housing Trust Fund to cover the cost of development and processing fee offsets and credits.
The balance of funding is comprised of non-cash contributions including land, housing vouchers and funding from two pending grant applications with the state totaling more than $4.5 million. The state is scheduled to announce both grant awards this month.
While Placera s support is a major milestone for the housing project, a lawsuit filed last month by a Concerned Citizens for Community and Public Lands against the countya s Placer County Government Center Master Plan updatea A threatens to halt its construction. The suit challenges the adequacy of the master plana s environmental impact report, focusing on demolition of the DeWitt Theater, which the plan could eventually allow. The boarda s approval of the master plan in April included a provision that allows community members up to two years to organize funding to rehabilitate the theater before the county would make any decisions about its future.
The countya s contribution to the project will only be applied if Mercya s low-income housing tax credits and state grants are awarded, required project approvals are obtained and the project is built.