Posted by:
Steve Dubb
Joint Housing-Transportation planning grant program launched
Last month, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) launched a joint planning grant program. The effort will be coordinated by the newly created HUD Office of Sustainable Communities, announced here last February. The new HUD Office is led by Shelley Poticha, former CEO of the transit-advocacy group Reconnecting America. Together HUD and DOT will join forces to award up to $75 million in funding – $35 million in TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) II Planning Grants and $40 million in Sustainable Community Challenge Grants for localized planning activities that ultimately lead to projects that integrate transportation, housing and economic development. The program, according to Secretary Donovan, aims to break down silos and help the government make “smarter investments,” said Secretary Donovan. “This is the first time HUD and DOT have worked together to develop a joint grant program,” Donovan added. Donovan made more extensive remarks regarding the program at this address on June 24th.
The new program builds on the Interagency Partnership for Sustainable Communities, launched in June 2009, between HUD, DOT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Guided by six Livability Principles, the Partnership is designed to remove the traditional federal government silos that exist between departments and strategically target the agencies’ transportation, land use, environmental, housing and community development resources to provide communities the resources they need to build more livable, sustainable communities.
TIGER II Planning Grants may be used to plan, prepare or design surface transportation projects that would be eligible for funding under the TIGER II Discretionary Grant program. These projects include highways, bridges, transit, railways, ports or bicycle and pedestrian facilities. HUD’s Sustainable Communities funding will target urban and community planning projects that foster reform and reduce barriers to achieving affordable, economically vital and sustainable communities. Such efforts may include amending or replacing local master plans, zoning codes, and building codes either on a jurisdiction-wide basis or in a specific neighborhood or sector to promote mixed-use development, affordable housing and the re-use of older buildings for new purposes with the goal of promoting sustainability at the local level.
These activities, when done in conjunction with transportation projects, can greatly increase the efficiency and effectiveness local transportation, and access to it, while encouraging mixed-use or transit-oriented development. The program will encourage and reward areas that are planning more innovative projects that coordinate housing, economic development and transportation investments.
Eligible proposals could include the following:
* Planning activities that support the development of affordable housing near transportation through the adoption of inclusionary zoning ordinances and other activities such as community land trusts that finance the acquisition of land for affordable housing projects.
* Preparing or amending local codes and ordinances that prevent the private sector from developing neighborhoods more sustainably and inclusively, with housing located near transportation and retail.
* Planning activities related to the development of a particular transportation corridor or regional transportation system that promotes mixed-use or transit-oriented development (TOD) with an affordable housing component.
* Planning activities related to the development of a freight corridor that seeks to reduce conflicts with residential areas and with passenger and non-motorized traffic. In this type of project, DOT might fund the transportation planning activities along the corridor, and HUD might fund changes in the zoning code to support appropriate siting of freight facilities and route the freight traffic around town centers, residential areas and schools.
* Developing expanded public transportation options, including accessible public transportation and para-transit services for individuals with disabilities, to allow individuals to live in diverse, high opportunity communities and to commute to areas with employment and educational opportunities.
The $35 million for TIGER II planning grants announced today comes from the $600 million in TIGER II grants announced by Secretary LaHood on May 28. The $40 million in HUD Sustainable Community Challenge Grant funding is part of $200 million in funding approved by congress in HUD’s FY2010 budget to launch the first ever Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities.
Pre-applications are due July 26. Full applications are due on August 23. State and local governments, including U.S. territories, tribal governments, transit agencies, port authorities and others, are eligible to apply for funding.