A BRIDGE TO NOWHERE?

 Mono County is set to purchase a house in Bridgeport as part of its pilot affordable home-buying program despite unanswered questions about its viability. 

The property is a three-bedroom, one-bathroom house at 85 Kirkwood Street in Bridgeport. If the purchase goes through, the home would be the first in the County’s Bridge Program, a copycat version of a home-buyer program the Town of Mammoth Lakes (TOML) has rolled out. 

Here’s how the program works: the County buys existing market-rate homes, resells them to locals at a lower rate, and places them under a 55-year deed restriction. If a property is resold before the deed restriction expires, it must remain affordable at the same Area Median Income (AMI) level. 

Sandra Moberly, County Administrative Officer, urged the Mono Board of Supervisors to act expeditiously before the deal expires. Along with staff, she has already made an offer to the homeowners. 

“The board already authorized me to negotiate with these homeowners,” Moberly said. “So we’ve already negotiated with the seller.” 

The sale is on track to close on April 14. Staff negotiated a purchase price of $430,000 and $2,268.56 in fees. Staff anticipates the building’s repairs to cost $25,000. The Mono County Planning Commission considered the purchase on March 20 and found it in conformance with the Mono County General Plan. 

Supervisor John Peters, who voted “no” on the purchase alongside Supervisor Rhonda Duggan, had some anxieties about what the investment would mean—namely, that there is no list of interested North County buyers and no clarity on the total cost to the County. 

“I’m not comfortable moving forward with this at this point,” Peters said. “Why can’t we provide more detail on this?” 

In August, Mono County Supervisors agreed to enter into agreements of up to $500,000 in subsidies until staff develops a “more comprehensive” plan to assert scope and partnerships for the program. 

But as Peters raised to the Board, a lot of that information is missing. For one thing, it’s not clear who could fill this house or how much that family could pay. 

The TOML program works with Eastern Sierra Community Housing (ESCH), a local affordable housing non-profit. ESCH keeps waitlists of people looking for housing, with attached documents identifying their income level. 

However, ESCH has focused its program within Town limits, so the organization does not have a waitlist developed for unincorporated county areas like Bridgeport. 

“We didn’t have anybody specifically looking for North County, […] but I think this is an opportunity for us to really understand those things and reach out and to find those people,” Moberly said. “I’m confident that we’ll find someone to purchase this unit once we go through the process; it’s just going to take time.”

After that time passes, though, the County has to decide how much it will charge for the property. Without a sense of the potential buyer’s income, it’s not clear what they’ll charge.

“We don’t have the number right now; it really will depend on the buyer, what the buyer could qualify for, and how much we invest in it,” Moberly said.

That investment is further complicated by the fact that the County’s estimate for repairs is still uncertain.

“We didn’t hire a contractor to give us an estimate on the foundation repairs,” Moberly said. “It could cost more than 25,000.”

And so begins the laundry list of Peters’ concerns for potential financial hurdles that could hinder this nearly half-million dollar speculative investment (insurance, inspection, etc.).

“I prefer to take the time and try to do it right in the eyes of the purchasers because it’s not the ad hoc committee that’s purchasing it, and it’s not this board,” Peters reemphasized. “It’s the taxpayers.”

But these anxieties are just part of the business – real estate is inherently risky, Supervisor Jennifer Kreitz said. 

“There’s no hiding anything when we go to find a buyer. The information you’re asking for will be shared, and buyers have their due diligence that they must do, too,” she said. We should be cautious about not getting in the way of a transaction.”

After all, she argued, this is just the pilot program.

Supervisor Paul McFarland, who voted yes with an aggrieved sigh, said he shared Peters’ worries but felt pushed to take action as soon as possible.

“We need to explore all options, but at this point, continuing just to explore doesn’t cut it. We need to take a step forward, and I’m hoping this is one we can take,” McFarland said. “This will become a local home, and the money that we are investing, we’re investing the public’s money in the future of sustaining and protecting a house for people who work here.

Supervisor Rhonda Duggan, who voted “no,” was laconic throughout the item deliberation but did ask one question about whether the town would sell the entire land parcel to the buyer or just the part where the house was, to which Moberly said staff was planning to “explore that” question.

This lack of clarity further pushed Peters to reemphasize his frustration and beg that staff bring the item back with more information. He ultimately lost the fight, and the purchase was authorized 3-2.