The City of King has implemented a comprehensive effort aimed at attracting and increasing quality housing for our local agricultural employees.
There has been a significant amount of misleading information in the community regarding the City’s position involving the permitting of a local temporary seasonal employee housing facility. As a result, we would like to clarify this position, the City’s commitment to quality agricultural employee housing, and the City’s efforts and progress in addressing agricultural employee housing needs.
Constructing more housing to address overcrowded living situations is a serious need in King City and has been established as one of the City’s top priorities. The City has taken a number of steps to create incentives for new housing of all types, including single-family, market rate multi-family, low-income, senior, seasonal employee and homeless.
The City values its agriculture workers and businesses, who are an important part of our community. As a result, addressing their housing needs has been a key area of focus and progress. King City has been the only city in the region to adopt an ordinance establishing standards and identifying areas for seasonal employee housing projects. One objective of the City’s ordinance is to allow a broader range of housing types to accommodate more seasonal employee housing facilities.
Another objective is to establish standards to ensure housing for agricultural employees provides a quality living environment. As a result, the City’s standards exceed those of the State, who only establishes minimum requirements. For example, the State’s minimum size of living space set forth for an agricultural worker is less than that for an inmate in our prisons. The City does not believe that is acceptable. It is important to the City to ensure seasonal employees are housed in a dignified manner with access to quality housing that provides reasonable personal space, indoor shared space and outdoor recreation areas. These are all qualities the City looks for in housing projects for all its current and future residents.
The seasonal employee housing facility at 218 First St. was approved on a temporary basis to meet an urgent need for agricultural housing in 2016, which involved conversion of an abandoned warehouse to house 364 employees. Based on the applicant’s representations of the proposed project being temporary, the City waived requirements on a temporary basis and was able to bypass some of the CEQA requirements that would have been necessary for a permanent project. The City and applicant agreed to an MOU establishing a maximum term for the temporary project of five to 10 years. That time period expires in September 2026.
This was an effective strategy to get temporary housing available in an expedited manner to provide the City time to work with local agricultural businesses, property owners and developers to create more permanent housing meeting local ordinances and standards. These efforts have been successful.
For example, the Rava Ranches Casa Del Milagro employee housing project on Bitterwater Road was approved for a permanent Conditional Use Permit and includes a 118-unit apartment style two phase complex, including individual kitchens in each unit, recreational facilities, covered parking, an extensive soundwall to address railroad noise and other amenities. The first phase has been constructed, which houses approximately 465 beds.
The Lonoak Farmworker Housing Facility is located on Lonoak Road just outside the City limits in the unincorporated County area of King City. The City provides the facility with sewer service. It is approved to house 375 H2A agricultural employees. It is equipped with an onsite commercial kitchen, televisions in each room, parking, multiple outdoor patio and open space areas, and other amenities.
The owners of both projects have expressed an interest in expanding, but current demand does not yet exist. Therefore, rumors that the City is trying to reduce its farmworker population are false. The opposite is true. These efforts are aimed at promoting new and expanded high-quality agricultural employee housing.
If a short-term project like the Meyers Farmworker Housing Facility becomes a long-term project, it is required to obtain a new Conditional Use Permit and meet minimal Code requirements. It is important that residential buildings be designed to provide a quality living environment maintained in good condition not only at this time, but also for the long-term future. It is the City’s responsibility to plan ahead because buildings not designed to quality standards will eventually become a detriment to the community.
It is especially important in the First Street location since it is located at the eastern entrance to the historic downtown and at the entry point of the Downtown Addition Specific Plan. This future development encompasses approximately 100 acres and includes plans for 710 mixed housing units, 148,060 square feet of commercial space and a multimodal transit center with a new train station. Full funding is in place for the first phase of the multimodal transit center, which is anticipated to begin construction as early as 2028-29.
Meanwhile, the City has been meeting with representatives of the owners of the Meyers Farmworker Housing Facility to discuss ideas on how to address their desire to continue operation of the existing project for an additional short-term period. This further reflects the City’s continued commitment to balance the immediate and long-term needs of our farming community and to consider the needs and input from everyone in the community.
