For City Council Meeting April 28,2020
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
APPROVAL: Rod Foster, City Manager
FROM: Stephen Erlandson, Deputy City Manager
Title
Request City Council to Set Public Hearing for May 12, 2020 to Consider and Approve the City’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan (2020-2024), Annual Action Plan (2020-2021), Citizen Participation Plan, and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (2020-2024)
Body
BACKGROUND
The U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that the City prepare and submit a Five-Year Consolidated Plan (2020-2024), an Annual Action Plan (2020-2021), a Citizen Participation Plan, and an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (2020-2024) if it receives Federal funding under one or more of the following programs: Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME, Housing for People With AIDS (HOPWA), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). As a recipient of CDBG funds, the City has prepared the aforementioned draft documents for review and consideration by the City Council and submittal to HUD.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION
The City of Rialto receives Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) each year. HUD requires all entitlement communities receiving CPD funds to prepare and submit a Consolidated Plan every five years to establish a unified, strategic vision for housing, community, and economic development actions. HUD further requires the submission of One-Year Action Plans each year during the planning period to outline the planned projects, one-year goals and budgets for the CDBG projects to be implemented during the upcoming program year. The draft documents to be submitted to HUD have been prepared under the guidance of the City’s Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Ad-Hoc Committee, the Deputy City Manager and LDM in order to fulfill each of these HUD requirements. Further, staff prepared and recommends adoption of an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice, and lastly a revised Citizen Participation Plan to reflect changes in HUD regulatory requirements since the last Citizen Participation Plan was adopted May of 2015.
Consolidated Plan (2020-2024)
The Draft Consolidated Plan covering the period of July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2024 includes an analysis of local community needs taking into account available demographic, housing and economic data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates and other HUD supplied data sources, as well as information gathered through consultation with local agencies and stakeholders and a Consolidated Plan Community Survey for residents to express their views. The Consolidated Plan includes strategies and goals to use available resources such as CDBG funds to address local priority needs identified as part of the planning process and to meet HUD’s national goals to provide decent housing, a suitable living environment and expand economic opportunity for low- and moderate-income families.
The draft Consolidated Plan includes four (4) priority needs to be addressed through the implementation of projects in each of the One-Year Action Plans corresponding to four (4) Strategic Plan goals over the next five (5) years. The priority needs and goals are summarized in the table below.
One-Year Action Plan (2020-2021)
The Action Plan delineates Rialto’s use of its 2020-2021 CDBG funds. It describes the resources available for program implementation; activities to be undertaken during Program Year 2020-2021; a monitoring plan; the City’s homeless and anti-poverty strategies; and coordination efforts that have or will be undertaken to implement the Action Plan. The 2020-2021 program year begins July 1, 2020 and ends June 30, 2021. The City expects to receive $1,214,285 of CDBG funds for the 2020-2021 program year and anticipates receiving similar allocations for the subsequent four program years covered by the Draft 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan. Annual allocations of CDBG funds are subject to change based on federal appropriations and any changes to the HUD grant allocation formulas or data used in the formulas.
Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (2020-2024)
The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice focuses on actions, omissions and decisions made because of race, color, religion, sex, disability, familial status or national origin, which restrict, or have the effect of restricting, housing choices or the availability of housing choices in the City. The Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (AI) also examines local housing conditions, economics, policies, and practices in order to ensure that housing choices and opportunities for all residents are available in an environment free from discrimination. The AI lastly assembles fair housing information, identifies existing impediments that limit housing choice, and proposes actions to mitigate those impediments.
Citizen Participation Plan
HUD requires the City to afford citizens and stakeholders with the opportunity to participate in the development of the Consolidated Plan documents, including the Consolidated Plan, One-Year Action Plans, Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Reports and substantial amendments to these documents. The Draft Citizen Participation Plan establishes the City’s policies and procedures for community participation in the development of strategies, planning and implementation of federal grants including the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
The draft documents are currently available for public review and comment from April 12, 2020, through and including, May 12, 2020. Complying with social distancing protocols and City issued COVID-19 public service announcements announcing the closures to the public of all City facilities, residents are encouraged to review copies of the draft documents online at www.yourrialto.com<https://www.yourrialto.com/city-hall/departments/city-clerk/commissions-and-boards/development-review-committee/community-development-block-grant-cdbg/> Draft documents would be made physically available to the public at the City Clerk’s office, Rialto Community Services Department, and Rialto Public Library if the facilities were to open and adequate left during the public review period. The Public Hearing is requested to be scheduled for May 12, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. and will provide another opportunity for public input. Any and all comments received during the process (at public meetings and/or in writing) with respect to a particular draft document will be incorporated into the final draft document, as applicable, prior to submission to HUD. The public hearing before the City Council is required to allow citizens to comment on the proposed use of the CDBG funds and to consider and approve the City’s 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan, 2020-2021 One-Year Action Plan, Citizen Participation Plan, and 2020-2024 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
The request is not a Project as defined by Section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY
Complies with the following Rialto General Plan Guiding Principle:
Our Government will lead by example, and will operate in an open, transparent, and responsive manner that meets the needs of the citizens and is a good place to do business.
LEGAL REVIEW
The City Attorney has reviewed and supports this staff report.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Operating Budget Impact
The funding for the proposed 2020-2021 CDBG Annual Action plan will come from the City’s 2020-2021 allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Upon submittal and approval of the City’s 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan and 2020-2021 Annual Action Plan, funds equal to the City’s CDBG allocation will be available to the City.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the City Council set a Public Hearing for the Council meeting of May 12, 2020, to solicit public comments from interested citizens and to consider and approve the City’s Five-Year Consolidated Plan (2020-2024), Annual Action Plan (2020-2021), Citizen Participation Plan, and Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (2020-2024) Plan.
Attachments:
Notice of Public Hearing English and Spanish