Memorandum
Date: September 24, 2024
To: The Honorable Lake County Board of Supervisors
From: Mireya G. Turner, Community Development Director
Shannon Walker-Smith, Deputy Community Development Administrator
Lisa Judd, Deputy County Administrative Officer - Housing
Subject: Approve the Community Development Department to apply for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development PRO Housing Grant and authorize the Deputy Community Development Administrator to sign.
Executive Summary: The Community Development Department intends to apply for $7,000,000. to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to fund the Lake County PRO Housing Program.
Housing for low- and moderate-income families face substantial challenges for development throughout the County with particularly high consequences for disadvantaged residents and underserved marginalized communities. Development of PRO Housing practices and updates to zoning, land use policies, and improvements to developer relations within the county will advance equity for all residents and attract investment into the county. The project proposed - which would support the work of the overhaul of restrictive development regulations, balance the socioeconomic structure of the county, provide equitable advancement to marginalized groups, and provide much needed low- and moderate-income families with homes. Each section of the project is unique and will focus on the current and future development of quality housing for everyone starting with those who have the greatest need. The first phase of the project will fund critical staff positions needed to move forward, a developer single point of contact, work to gain the PRO Housing designation for the county, and a comprehensive Rehabilitation grant program.
The program will remove barriers to affordable housing by taking a comprehensive and innovative approach to equitable zoning and sustainable land use, creating a welcoming environment for developers to increase housing supply and investment in the county. Developers often focus on bottom line costs; development time and effort dramatically affect that cost. This has caused many developers to shy away from low- and moderate-income housing and in turn drastically reducing the supply of housing for those demographics. Simplifying this process, minimizing obstacles to equitable zoning and regulations to not only meet the state’s new guidelines to gain PRO Housing Designation but also making development, repurposing and/or rehabilitation of older properties attractive to investment in the county accelerating housing, increasing availability of affordable housing and combating homelessness.
The substantial portion of the funds will be used to offer low- and moderate-income household throughout the county with an opportunity to receive a grant or low interest loan to rehabilitate inadequate housing stock providing those in our county with safe, resilient, and comfortable housing. Grants will be made for repairs to dilapidated roofs, leaking windows and doors, and other unsafe conditions. Loans will be offered to landlords, to make repairs to housing stock, who agree to offer low- and moderate-income residents affordable housing for a period no less than fifty-five (55) years.
There is no match requirement for this grant, but the grant allows for staff time, county owned property donations and other non-financial commitments from the county to be considered as a match to grant funds. This will help to increase the appeal of our application and give the county a competitive edge over other applicants that offer no commitment.
To gain input from the public we will offer a public comment period to gain insight on what current residents and developers believe are the most pressing issues they currently face regarding dilapidated housing stock and lack of affordable housing production.
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Estimated Cost: ________ Amount Budgeted: ________ Additional Requested: ________ Future Annual Cost: ________
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☒ Well-being of Residents ☐ Public Safety ☐ Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, Recovery
☒ Economic Development ☐ Infrastructure ☐ County Workforce
☒ Community Collaboration ☐ Business Process Efficiency ☐ Clear Lake
Recommended Action: Approve the Community Development Department to apply for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development PRO Housing Grant and authorize the Deputy Community Development Administrator to sign.