Schools

Residents Advocate for and Against Affordable Housing on Oddstad Property

The Pacifica School District Board of Trustees recently declared a large piece of land surplus, but what should be done with it?

The Board of Trustees heard the public about what should be done with the Oddstad school site, which it , Wednesday evening. 

Dozens of residents showed, and about 15 spoke before the school board and voiced their opinion.

A handful, all representing the Peninsula Interfaith Action group, spoke in favor of an affordable housing development in the approximately 11 acres that’s been declared surplus, while seven people spoke against affordable housing and 2 people spoke on behalf of a sports complex in the space.

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Gloria Staufen emphasized the need to provide housing for young people to refresh the community. 

“Pacific needs reasonably priced townhouse-style homes for rent,” Staufen, a Pacifica resident, said. “We need some young families to bring in new energy to our city." 

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Mike O’Neill, Pacifica School District trustee, said the objective of the district in declaring the land surplus is to develop a long-term revenue stream through leasing the land while marinating the sports field that already exist on one end of the property.

For the anti-affordable-housing speakers, however, the objective was to avoid sinking property values and an increase in crime.

There seemed to be a difference in perception among the crowd. The anti-affordable housing attendees interpreted housing as low-income and high-density, whereas those in favor of affordable housing interpreted it as just that: a place for lower- and moderate-income earners to afford a place to live.

One speaker, a woman who claimed to be a former Daly City police officer, said affordable housing at the Oddstad property would only bring crime and gangs to the neighborhood.   

“I fear if we give this property to developers for apartments and homes, a certain amount has to go to low-income housing and I’m sorry, with that comes increase in crime and a gang problem,” Carol Sloan said.

Horace Hinshaw spoke in favor of making the land a sports complex.

“The main thing the community needs is playing fields for our youth,” he said. “There are thousands of kids in community and we do not have enough playing fields to accommodate them at this time.”

Barbara Erbacher was the last to speak, and she rebuked those who equated affordable housing with crime and gangs.

These places are not the slums you think of, like those in the big city, they are not section 8,” she said. “They are moderate income to starting income, people coming out of school with loans, unable to buy a house. If we can’t welcome these people, who are our people, and think that it’s all going to be crime because these are people with beginning low incomes of  30 to 40 thousand who can’t live here, if we want to deny them a place to live, I think we need to examine where our hearts are.”

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