Irvine’s $496,000 Homeless Grant Can Only Be Used for Kennel Plan

In a ruling that may force a decision on whether a kennel will become a shelter for the homeless, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Thursday that Irvine cannot use a $496,000 federal grant for anything else.

The money was awarded to Irvine earlier this month on the basis of a proposal to turn a vacant kennel at the Irvine Animal Care Center into a 50-bed homeless shelter; a request by the city that it be allowed to use it on some other homeless project was rejected.

Under HUD guidelines, Irvine officials must decide by next Friday whether to accept the money and push ahead with the animal shelter conversion or risk losing the grant.

That decision is expected to come at Tuesday’s council meeting--a month earlier than planned.

Besides the kennel proposal, city officials have considered buying modular units to house the homeless.

To allow several city and private task forces time to examine alternatives to the kennel plan, the council had hoped to wait until Nov. 24 to make a final decision. But HUD’s ruling Thursday and next Friday’s deadline have apparently forced the council’s hand on the issue, which has drawn national attention and divided the city.

Transitional Housing

Mayor Larry Agran and council members Ray Catalano and Ed Dornan voted in September to set up a centralized facility or “transitional housing” for the homeless at the site of the animal-care center on Sand Canyon Avenue in East Irvine. Council members Sally Anne Miller and C. David Baker opposed that measure.

Miller said Thursday that the council should abandon its quest for a centralized shelter and help nonprofit Irvine Temporary Housing expand its current approach of placing displaced families in five apartments in the city.

“We should turn down the grant,” Miller said, “because this whole thing was never well thought out in the first place.”

Catalano said it would be a mistake to abandon the process at this juncture. He said the council should move to “maximize its options.” One approach, he said, is accepting the HUD money and deciding later whether to use it.

“There’s no penalty if three or four weeks down the road we opt to give it back,” said Catalano, who believes the Sand Canyon site is still a good one to house homeless families for up to 90 days. He favors the city-owned site because of its relatively isolated location, room for expansion and availability.

He dismisses as uninformed opponents who say it is wrong to put people in such close proximity to animals or under the flight pattern of military jets.

Opened in 1984 near the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, the animal shelter meets city standards for soundproofing, Catalano said, adding that a several hotels and office complexes in the city are within the air station’s flight pattern.

“Nobody seems all that concerned about those office workers who spend up to 12 hours day in those buildings,” Catalano said. “And what about the Marines living on the base? . . . We’re not talking permanent housing (for the homeless). It’s a temporary housing facility. That’s all.”

William Glavin, a spokesman for HUD in Washington, said the agency’s Office of Elderly and Temporary Assisted Housing this week reviewed the Irvine homeless plan and found “nothing wrong with its appropriateness.”

Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach) had asked HUD to reconsider the $496,000 grant after receiving about 50 letters and phone calls from Irvine residents upset over the kennel conversion plan. Earlier this week, Badham’s office announced that HUD had put a two-week hold on the grant.

The lawmaker, whose 40th district includes Irvine, also said he had concerns about putting a facility for the homeless so close to an animal shelter.

Irvine officials were angry because Badham did not approach them before taking his concerns to HUD and then the news media.

Assistant City Manager Paul Brady said Thursday that Badham had apologized to City Manager William Wollett for not contacting Irvine officials before going public with his concerns, and Paul Wilkinson, a spokesman for Badham, confirmed that.

Not Satisfied

But the apology did not satisfy Catalano, who said the congressman’s involvement in the issue was politically motivated.

Catalano said Badham was “trying to embarrass the city,” where three of the council members--Agran, Catalano and Dornan--are Democrats.

“The congressman would have us believe that in a city of 100,000, letters from 50 residents were justification for intervening and trying to stop a project,” Catalano said.

“Does that mean if I get 50 of my friends to write letters about unnecessary defense spending, he will stop it? . . . What he did was the nastiest type of politics.”

A spokesman for Badham in Washington said the lawmaker was “just trying to serve his constituents.”

When the city applied for the grant, Irvine was among 100 cities competing for $5 million in federal money for transitional housing for the elderly and homeless. Because it was a competitive process, Glavin said, HUD officials decided that it would be unfair to allow Irvine to apply for the money under one premise and then use it for another.

If the city does not accept the $496,000 grant, Glavin said, it can submit another application for a share of $65 million available for such programs. Applications must be made by Oct. 30, with the first grants to be awarded by mid-December.