HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 5a. Annual Community Development Block Grant Community Needs Workshop Item 5a
Human Relations Commission
Agenda Report
For Agenda of: 9/3/2025
Item Number: 5a
FROM: Samantha Vethavanam, DEI Administrative Specialist
Phone Number: (805) 781-7064
E-mail: svethava@slocity.org
SUBJECT: ANNUAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT COMMUNITY
NEEDS WORKSHOP
RECOMMENDATION
The Human Relations Commission to take public feedback and vote on funding priorities
for the Community Development Block Grant program as deliberated during the meeting.
BACKGROUND
Annually, the Human Relations Commission (HRC) hosts a Community Needs Grant
Workshop which allows the public to provide comments on current community
development, social equity, and human service needs in the community. This input is
used by the HRC to review, update, and approve funding priorities for the Community
Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
CDBG funds are intended to assist in the development of viab le urban communities by
providing decent housing and a suitable living environment, and by expanding economic
opportunities, principally for low- and moderate-income persons. Eligible projects include
those that meet community development needs, and that are identified as a public
improvement or facility. The estimated allocation for CDBG funding for the City of San
Luis Obispo will be released when the County of San Luis Obispo releases their Notice
of Funding Availability on September 11, 2025. For the 2024-25 funding cycle, the City of
San Luis Obispo had $395,676 for project applications.
The primary goals of this workshop are to inform the public about the grant process,
provide an overview of eligible activities, and describe how activities are select ed to
receive CDBG funding through the City of San Luis Obispo, as well as to receive feedback
from key stakeholders on the funding priorities for the CDBG program.
The ranked CDBG funding priorities for the 2024-25 cycle were as follows:
1) Provide emergency and transitional shelter, homelessness prevention, and
services.
2) Develop and enhance affordable housing for low- and very low-income persons.
3) Enhance economic development (to include seismic retrofit, economic stability,
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Item 5a
low- and moderate-income jobs).
4) Promote accessibility and/or removal or architectural barriers for the disabled and
elderly.
NEXT STEPS
Staff have determined the next steps for the 2026 -27 CDBG funding cycle and outlined
them in the tentative schedule below:
Date Action
September 3, 2025 HRC Community Needs Workshop and Recommendation of
Funding Priorities
September 11, 2025 San Luis Obispo County Releases CDBG Notice of Funding
Availability (NOFA)
October 10, 2025 Applications Due by 5:00 PM to San Luis Obispo County
October 21, 2025 City Council Reviews and Approves CDBG Funding Priorities
November 5, 2025 HRC Reviews Applications and Votes on Funding
Recommendations
February 2026 City Council Reviews and Approves CDBG Funding
Recommendations
April 2026 San Luis Obispo County Reviews and Approves Funding
Recommendations*
*Public Notice will be published for a 30 -day review prior to the April 2026 Board of
Supervisors meeting.
After the Community Needs Workshop, the HRC will vote to approve the funding
priorities to help guide potential CDBG applications in developing their proposals and
will also provide guidance on prioritization. After City Council approves the
recommended funding priorities, staff will return to the HRC in November for a public
hearing to develop draft CDBG funding recommendations. Those recommendations will
then be sent to City Council for approval and then to the County Board of Supervisors
for final approval.
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