CAROL WILSON, Capistrano Beach
The article on Dana Point having affordable housing is a joke. Very low-income DP residents earn $52,000 or less a year? You can make your point on just about anything with various surveys or studies. How about reality?
Checking out the average monthly rental for DP, it’s $2,643 per month per rentcafe.com. If you earn a $15/hour wage, work a 40-hour week, that is $2,600 per month. If you take out SSI, Federal and State income tax, you are netting $1,919 per month. The average price of a one-bedroom in Dana Point is $2,643, up 5% from last year, so anyone earning minimum wage can’t afford to live in Dana Point. Look on Zillow, Craigslist and other rental sites. Finding anything less than $2,000 is pretty slim, around 4%. So, say you are extremely lucky and find a place for $1,700 a month. To qualify to rent it, owners or property managers are looking for a ratio of 50-60% earnings of $3,400 per month or roughly $20 per hour minimum. This makes it impossible for retired seniors, minimum-wage workers in restaurants, shops and other local businesses to live in Dana Point. This doesn’t’ help our local businesses to recruit and retain workers, either.
The new developments in downtown Dana Point on Pacific Coast Highway/Del Prado? Those are starting at $4,150 per month, going up to more than $6,000.
Check out shared housing; it’s difficult to find just a room to rent with a shared bathroom for less than $1,200 per month.
No worries, though, the majority of our city council wants to add more short-term rentals to further deplete our availability of affordable housing. Same old rule applies; just follow the money. Dana Point residents deserve to vote on short-term rentals. Let us vote!
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