HUD has announced the availability of $95 million to support sustainable local initiatives through the FY 2011 Regional Planning and Community Challenge Planning Grant Programs from HUD’s Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities. Awarded competitively, both programs work to expand housing choices, improve connections between employment centers and homes, and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital, and sustainable communities.
This year’s Regional Planning Grant program will encourage grantees to support regional planning efforts that integrate housing, land-use, economic and workforce development, transportation, and infrastructure developments in a manner that empowers regions to consider how all of these factors work together to bring economic competitiveness and revitalization to a community. The program will place a priority on partnerships, including the collaboration of arts and culture, philanthropy, and innovative ideas to the regional planning process.
Group 1 Funds: Can be used to support the preparation of Regional Plans for sustainable development.
Group 2 Funds: Can be used to support efforts to modify existing regional plans so that they are in accordance with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities’ six Livability Principles. Category 2 Funds also may be used to prepare more detailed execution plans for an adopted regional plan for sustainable development and limit predevelopment planning activities for catalytic projects.
The Community Challenge Planning grant program will be competitively awarded to state, local and tribal governments for efforts such as amending or replacing local master plans, zoning and building codes to promote mixed-use development, building more affordable housing, and the rehabilitation of older buildings and structures with the goal of promoting sustainability at the local and neighborhood levels. In addition, this year’s grant program will set aside $3 million for jurisdictions with populations under 50,000, and reward high scoring applicants with Preferred Sustainability Status (PSS), which will qualify them for several benefits, including access to capacity building resources and potential points in a number of funding opportunities managed by HUD.
To read the full text of HUD's advance funding announcement, click here. Community Challenge Planning grant program applications are due September 9, 2011, and the pre-applications for the Regional Planning Grant Program are due August 25, 2011.
