ITEM 10-A
Council Meeting: May 9, 1995
Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Request to Hold a Public Hearing to Receive Public
Comment and Approve the Draft Five-Year Consolidated
Plan As Required by the U.S. Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD)
INTRODUCTION
This report requests that the City Council hold a public hearing
to hear public comment on the draft of the City's new HUD-
required five-year Consolidated Plan (FY 1995-96 to FY 1999-
2000). It further requests that the City Council adopt the draft
Consolidated Plan including the proposed funding allocations for
FY 1995-96 Home Investment Partnership Act (HOME) and Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds for submittal to HUD.
BACKGROUND
The Consolidated Plan introduces a process that replaces the
Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) and other HUD
Community Planning and Development (CPD) planning and application
requirements with a single submission. The plan will satisfy the
statutory requirements for two formula grants received by the
City: HOME and CDBG. The Consolidated Plan addresses three
statutory goals established as major commitments and priorities
by HUD: 1) to provide decent housing including assistance to
homeless persons; 2) to provide a suitable living environment;
and, 3) to expand economic opportunities.
The draft plan presents the City of Santa Monica's strategy for
addressing these goals given the local housing and community
development needs and the limited resources available to address
these needs. It sets forth the City's goals, objectives, and
performance benchmarks for measuring progress over a five year
period beginning with FY 1995-96. The focus of the plan is
specific to the projects and activities that are eligible through
the City's federal HOME and CDBG entitlement grants. It includes
projects and activities that may be eligible for HOME or CDBG
funding, but given the limited availability of these funds, are
addressed through other funding sources (i.e. locally generated
revenues, private non-City sources, other governmental grants and
loans from the County and State).
The draft plan was developed based on a variety of existing
planning and policy documents. These were established through
extensive citizen and community processes and include such
documents as the Master Environmental Assessment (MEA) (1993);
Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy (CHAS) (1993); Task
Force on Homelessness Report, A Call to Action (1991); Americans
with Disability Act (ADA) Self Evaluation (1992); Child Care
Master Plan (1991); and, the Ten-Year Youth Action Plan (1990).
The plan is intended to complement the City's Housing Element to
be revised by staff to cover a four year planning period from
July 1, 1996 to June 30, 2000.
A community survey was conducted to determine perceived gaps in
housing and community development areas. In addition, a City
Commission focus group was held on February 9, 1995. A City
interdepartmental working group consisting of staff members from
six key City departments reviewed and prioritized needs
identified through these means and was responsible for the
development of the five-year strategic plan.
The draft Consolidated Plan also includes a proposed one-year
action plan which delineates the City's fund allocation plan for
use of FY 1995-96 HOME and CDBG funds.
The draft plan was released on April 19, 1995 for a 30-day
community review period. Comments received during this period
will be summarized and attached to the final Consolidated Plan to
be transmitted to City Council and submitted to HUD in late May
of 1995. Comments received prior to the May 9, 1995 meeting
are attached. A copy of the detailed survey results including a
summary of all written survey comments is available in the City
Council Office.
DISCUSSION
Key sections of the plan including a community needs assessment,
a five-year strategic plan, and a one-year action plan are
discussed below.
Community Needs Assessment
An overview of the City's housing and community needs is provided
in Section III, pages 1-82 of the plan. This section contains
statistical and analytical information that provides an overall
picture of Santa Monica and provides the foundation for
establishing priorities Citywide and for allocating federal
funds. Some of the critical priorities identified include:
The need to continue efforts to ensure the availability of
affordable housing for low- and no-income persons including
a range of emergency, transitional, and supportive housing
options for special needs populations.
The need to strengthen the delivery of services and
facilities to at-risk youth to address issues of increased
violence and poor academic performance.
The need to address a shortfall of open space in Santa
Monica.
The need to continue accessibility improvements to the
City's parks and public facilities to provide equal access
for persons with disabilities.
The need to continue to protect and enhance the City's
environmental quality through such programs as Sustainable
Cities.
The need to continue efforts to ensure the independence and
the City's livability for its senior residents through
paratransportation and other critical support services.
The need to continue to address the affordability and
availability of child care services for low-income
residents.
The need to address the City's unemployment rate by
providing a wide range of employment options including
targeted employment support services to youth and homeless
persons.
Five-Year Strategic Plan
The City's strategic plan presented in Section IV, pages 1-45,
provides specific and measurable goals for addressing the housing
and community development needs identified in Section III of the
report. The identified goals are based on available and
projected local, state and federal funds and may need to be
modified if there are significant funding reductions to HOME,
CDBG or other planned funding sources.
Affordable Housing Strategy: Section IV, pages 6-10, describes
the City's strategies for addressing its affordable housing needs
over a five year period based on available funding. The five
year objectives, if achieved, given current funding levels in
various housing funds and conservatively projecting these levels
over a five year period, include the development of 150 new
affordable rental housing units for low- and very-low income
households, in addition to the new construction of 176 affordable
rental units in three projects for lower income seniors through
the HUD Section 202 program. The program also includes the
acquisition and rehabilitation of 62 existing units of multi-
family rental housing and the potential to initiate a Citywide
moderate rehabilitation program for approximately 100 multi- and
single-family housing units to address the home repair needs of
the City's aging housing stock.
Ongoing objectives include continued provision of rental
subsidies for approximately 1000 very low-income seniors, persons
with disabilities, and families; continued conservation of
affordable housing through the City's Rent Control law; and
increased supply of affordable rental housing in conjunction with
market rate development under the City's Inclusionary Housing
Ordinance. The five year objectives also provide for assisting
renters to become first-time homebuyers through the TORCA
Homeownership Loan Program and to assist in the tenant purchase
of the 141 space Mountain View Mobile Inn.
The largest sources of funding for these purposes include the
City's Annual Contributions Contract with HUD for the operation
of the Section 8 rental assistance programs, HUD's Section 202
awards for new construction of 176 units for seniors in three
projects, other federal funding such as HOME and CDBG, and local
sources such as TORCA, the inclusionary housing program, and the
20% redevelopment tax increment set-aside (Housing Trust Fund).
Coordinated Plan for Homeless Services: The five-year strategic
plan also includes a specific overview of the City's coordinated
plan for homeless services. This plan will implement a
comprehensive continuum of care system through existing homeless
services as identified in Table III-4 (Section III, pages 19-20)
while addressing gaps and strengthening the delivery of services
in Santa Monica and the Westside. The goals and priorities
established for homeless services are reflective of those
established in the City Council approved Task Force on
Homelessness report, A Call to Action, and those of the Public
Safety Initiative adopted by City Council in September of 1994.
These include: 1) to effectively assist homeless individuals and
families in returning to a self-sufficient status; 2) to
eliminate unnecessary duplication; 3) to emphasize long-term
solutions to homelessness by combining housing, counseling and
case management, and job training; and 4) to provide non-housing
related homeless services (i.e. outreach, intake, and assessment)
for approximately the same number of homeless people as can be
sheltered in the City.
As shown in Table III-4, a comprehensive network of City-
supported and non City-supported homeless services is available
to homeless individuals in Santa Monica and on the Westside.
These services target a variety of subpopulations within the
City's homeless population including women and families, persons
with a chronic mental illness or who have a substance abuse
problem, persons with HIV/AIDS, and a number of other special
needs populations. The inventory is broken down into five main
components critical to a successful continuum of care model: 1)
outreach, intake and assessment; 2) emergency shelter; 3)
transitional housing; 4) permanent and supportive housing; and 5)
case management and supportive services (including employment).
The number of persons served annually and the unit of service
provided (i.e. beds, units, meals) are shown for each component.
The total number of persons served annually for each component
reflects a duplicated count. For example, the number of persons
served through outreach, intake, and assessment may first be
contacted through Ocean Park Community Center's (OPCC) Outreach
Program (counted once), then referred to the Salvation Army's
SHWASHLOCK Program (counted twice), and received food through
OPCC's Drop-In Center which was provided through the Westside
Food Bank (counted three times). It is important to note that
although the numbers served may be duplicated, it is often the
case that the type of service received is not.
A computerized case management and tracking system will be
implemented on a limited basis in FY 1995-96 to facilitate
reporting of non-duplicated persons served. The ultimate goal of
this system is to better evaluate the demographic characteristics
of those seeking services, the types of services rendered, the
duration of service delivery, and the impact of the services
provided. When the system is implemented by all homeless service
providers, it will be possible to estimate whether the number of
homeless persons served in non-housing related City-supported
programs is equal to the number that can actually be housed.
The City has submitted a grant application through HUD's
Supportive Housing Program (SHP) to expand this system to include
all City-funded homeless service providers.
A correction to the table presented in Section III, page 21, is
attached to this report. The numbers in the original table have
been corrected to reflect the estimated number of 1,400 homeless
persons in Santa Monica and the Westside on any given night.
This number is based on the Rand study, Enumerating Homeless
People (Koegel et al., Evaluation Review, in press).
FY 1995-96 Proposed One-Year Action Plan
The Consolidated Plan's proposed one-year action plan (Section V,
pages 1-21) outlines the specific projects and activities to be
undertaken with federal assistance in FY1995-96 for extremely
low-, very low- and low-income persons Citywide and within the
Pico Neighborhood. Proposed projects and activities will be
completed either directly by the City or through a subrecipient.
Subrecipients will be identified as part of the City's overall
budget to be adopted by City Council on June 27, 1995.
FY 1995-96 HOME Entitlement Award: $615,000:
Citywide Affordable Housing Program - New Construction ($276, 750
- HOME)
Program provides funding assistance for new construction of
affordable housing (including transitional, permanent and
supported housing) targeting very low-income households. Program
will support efforts to construct 22 units of transition housing
for homeless families with children. Completion of this project
is scheduled for the Spring of 1996.
Citywide Affordable Housing Program - Acquisition and
Rehabilitation ($276,750 - HOME)
Program provides funding assistance for acquisition and
substantial rehabilitation of existing very low-income units.
Substantial rehabilitation is underway to develop 26 units of SRO
housing. Project is estimated for completion in the Summer of
1995.
HOME Administration ($61,500 - HOME)
Federal HOME regulations allow up to 15% of the annual
entitlement grant amount to be used for administrative purposes.
FY 1995-96 CDBG Entitlement Award: $1,689,000:
Citywide Affordable Housing Program - Acquisition and
Rehabilitation ($250,000 - CDBG)
Program activities include assistance to low-income and very low-
income first-time homebuyers to acquire affordable housing units
and for rehabilitation of existing rental low- and moderate-
income housing units. This program will assist a mobile home
tenant cooperative within the Pico Neighborhood to preserve 141
units of affordable housing. The proposed CDBG funding level for
this program has been increased by $150,000 (originally proposed
in the draft Consolidated Plan) to $250,000.
During the Fall of 1995, the City Redevelopment Agency will issue
Tax Increment Bonds for the new Earthquake Recovery Redevelopment
Project Area. Debt service will be paid from tax increment
revenues. In addition to the proposed $250,000 in CDBG funds,
$100,000 of the bond proceeds will be allocated to the Citywide
Affordable Housing Program. These funds will be in addition to
the legally required 20% to be allocated to the low- and
moderate-income tax increment housing set-aside.
Accessibility - Home Modification ($ 0 - CDBG)
This program was originally proposed in the draft Consolidated
Plan at $100,000 to provide substantial home modifications to
low- and very low-income housing units in order to make them
fully accessible for persons with a physical disability. After
reassessing the need for this program activity, City staff
propose to allocate these funds to the Citywide Affordable
Housing Program.
Accessibility - Home Modification ($15,907 - CDBG)
Program provides minor home modifications for low- and very low-
income persons with disabilities. Approximately 36 low-income
disabled households will be assisted through occupational therapy
evaluations and installation of equipment including grab bars,
raised toilet seats, bath benches, non-skid trips, and other such
aids
Accessibility - Public Facilities and Curb Cuts ($260,000 - CDBG)
Program activities seek to fulfill the City's American with
Disabilities act (ADA) Transition Plan. This plan targets
specific public facilities and curb cuts throughout Santa Monica.
Funding will be used in FY 1995-96 to improve accessibility at
seven targeted public facilities and complete approximately 100
curb cuts.
Public Facility Improvements - Virginia Avenue Park ($382,459 -
CDBG)
Project activities seek to support park improvements that will
improve the aesthetic, programmatic, and safety elements of
Virginia Avenue Park.
Public Service - Healthcare ($61,141 - CDBG)
Program provides free primary care and specialty health services
to low- and no-income Santa Monica residents. Primary health care
services will be delivered to approximately 1,620 low- and no-
income persons in Santa Monica. Services will include general
pediatric, adult and family medicine, a comprehensive teen
clinic, and specialty clinics and health outreach services for
homeless persons.
Public Service - Food Distribution ($73,494 - CDBG)
Program provides food distribution to social service programs who
in turn provide food or meal assistance to low- and no-income
persons. Approximately 20 direct service nonprofit food
assistance programs will be provided with 689,650 pounds of food
annually. This translates into serving approximately 7,400
individuals annually.
Public Service - Community Services ($105,484 - CDBG)
Program provides comprehensive social services, advocacy,
emergency food distribution and senior socialization to low- and
very-low income Pico Neighborhood residents. Program will provide
approximately 1,600 low-income persons in the Pico Neighborhood.
This will include the distribution of 45 bags of groceries weekly
and utility assistance for 100 homebound disabled individuals.
Public Service - Homeless Shelter ($13,231 - CDBG)
Program provides basic, temporary emergency shelter services to
homeless adult men and women. A total 100 homeless persons will
be sheltered nightly and 850 homeless persons will be served over
the course of a year. The total operating budget for FY 1995-96
is propose at $375,950. The total proposed funding will be
recommended within the context of the City's overall budget.
Minor Residential Rehabilitation ($337,498 - CDBG)
Program provides minor residential rehabilitation to existing
single and multi-family units targeting low- and moderate-income
persons in the Pico Neighborhood. Approximately 75 low-income
households will be assisted.
Public Facility Improvements - Public Works Assessment Assistance
Program ($10,563 - CDBG)
Program provides financial assistance to low- and very-low income
homeowners to complete sidewalk and streetlight repair.
Approximately 20 low-income households will be assisted.
CDBG Administration ($179,223 - CDBG)
Federal CDBG regulations allow up to 20% of the entitlement grant
to be used for administrative purposes. Approximately 11% is
being proposed for FY 1995-96.
FISCAL/BUDGETARY IMPACT
HOME funds have been increased from $572,000 to $615,000 over the
FY 1994-95 entitlement award and CDBG funds have been increased
from $1,544,164 to $1,689,000. All HOME and CDBG funding
recommendations will be appropriated within the context of the
City's overall budget to be adopted in 1995.
RECOMMENDATION
City staff recommends that the City Council: 1) hold a public
hearing to hear public comment on the draft of the Consolidated
Plan; 2) adopt the Consolidated Plan including the proposed FY
1995-96 funding allocations for HOME and CDBG entitlement funds;
3) authorize the submittal of all documents required by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive and
implement HOME and CDBG entitlement funds; and 4) direct staff to
allocate $100,000 of future tax increment bond proceeds from the
Earthquake Recovery Project Area to the Citywide Affordable
Housing Program.
Prepared by: Susan McCarthy, Director
Julie Johnson, Acting Manager
Human Services Division
Community and Cultural Services Department
Jeff Mathieu, Director
Phyllis Mueller, Manager
Housing and Redevelopment Division
Resource Management Department
Attachment I: Revised Homeless Populations and Subpopulations
Table (Section III, pg. 21)
Attachment II: Draft Consolidated Plan
Attachment III: Public comments (received as of 5/1/95)