Irvine City Council votes against buying properties to address homelessness after initial vote

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) -- The city of Irvine's plan to buy two properties on Armstrong Avenue was halted at the last minute in a 3-2 vote by council members earlier this week.

"It hadn't been seen by the planning commission. It hadn't been seen by our finance commission. It hadn't been seen by our transportation commission," council member Michael Carroll said. "And most importantly, it had not been seen by the actual residents living right next to this potential facility."

The Council voted last month in favor of acquiring the buildings for nearly $20 million.

Their goal would have been to use the facilities as part of a bridge housing project to address homelessness.

However, on Tuesday many people who live near the properties said that decision lacked transparency.

"Here, they skipped the entire process. They went into voting, securing the real estate piece with a two week closing of escrow transaction," Andrea Serrano said.

Many of them showed up to an emergency meeting to voice their frustrations but left relieved with the Council's narrow decision to not move forward with the purchase.

"I'm extremely happy with the way the vote turned out, and it's super relieving for us as a community because we are a community built around family, built around business, so I just don't think this is the place for a shelter like that," Maverick Young, an 18-year-old Irvine resident said.

Others like Michael Shepherd, who works with United to End Homelessness, wants to see initiatives that target the issue.

"The need for community buy-in is absolutely important, but when you have a place that is available, that is for sale, that is for under market rate, that could be available, it's hard to let that go," Shepherd said.

Residents are happy their input was taken in consideration.

"In this case we learned how to speak up," Chan Tran said. "We learned how to mobilize, and we learned that our voices really matter."

The city of Irvine said they still need to tackle the homelessness issue in their community and they're looking for other solutions.