Consolidated Plan for HUD

The City of Santa Ana is developing the FY 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan (Con Plan) for the use of $41.7 million in CDBG, HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds. Public input is needed on how the City should spend this federal money for resources such as affordable housing, infrastructure and public services.

The City anticipates that it will continue to receive CDBG, HOME and ESG funding during the duration of this Consolidated Plan cycle and that it will have the following funding to target to its strategic goals and priorities:

CDBG: $30,123,118

HOME: $9,093,495

ESG: $2,504,870

Over the five-year period, the funding would be spent for a wide variety of uses, including:

Increase the availability of affordable housing for extremely low income (30% of Area Median Income), low income (50% of Area Median Income) and low income households (80% of Area Median Income).
Preserve existing affordable rental housing and ownership for low households at or below 80% of Area Median Income.
Increase access to and supply of public services.
Increase access to and supply of homeless services and facilities.
Promote economic opportunities.
Improve City public facilities and infrastructure.

The City is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to develop a five-year Consolidated Plan. The purpose of this plan is to invest federal funds to meet community needs.

Community members are invited to attend these informational meetings and share their ideas:

Tuesday, October 22, 2024, at Southwest Senior Center, 5-7 p.m.
Thursday, October 24, 2024, at Salgado Community Center, 5-7 p.m.
Friday, October 25, 2024, at El Salvador Community Center, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.

You can also share your ideas by taking the Consolidated Plan survey.

HUD requires that each jurisdiction receiving CDBG funds develop a five-year Consolidated Plan (Con Plan). The current Five Year Plan covers the period July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2024. The City's five year strategic plan contains the following six priorities:

Increase the availability of affordable housing for extremely low income (30% of Area Median Income), low income (50% of Area Median Income) and low income households (80% of Area Median Income).
Preserve existing affordable rental housing and ownership for low households at or below 80% of Area Median Income.
Increase access to and supply of public services.
Increase access to and supply of homeless services and facilities.
Promote economic opportunities.
Improve City public facilities and infrastructure.

The Annual Action Plan is a document mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that outlines local affordable housing and community development needs and identifies strategies for addressing them.

The 2021-22 Action Plan is the City of Santa Ana’s Annual Plan for the investment of annual allocations of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) during the fiscal year 2021-2022. These grant programs are consistent with HUD’s national strategy to provide decent housing opportunities, a suitable living environment and economic opportunities—particularly for low- and moderate-income people. The Action Plan utilizes the priority needs identified in the 2020 – 2024 Consolidated Plan process, which identified the City’s six priority needs, including the rationale for establishing allocation priorities and specific measurable goals to be addressed during the five year period.

Summary of the objectives and outcomes identified in the Plan

HUD’s Community Planning and Development (CPD) Outcome Performance Measurement Framework classifies objectives in three categories: decent housing, a suitable living environment, and economic opportunity. In Santa Ana’s 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan, the City identified six high priority needs to be addressed through the implementation of activities aligned with seven Strategic Plan goals. The priority needs for Santa Ana include:

Expand the supply of affordable housing
Preserve the supply of affordable housing
Access to and supply of public services
Increase access to and supply of homeless services and facilities
Promote economic opportunity
Improve City public facilities and infrastructure

Each year a CAPER is prepared for submission to HUD that summarizes the previous Program Year's accomplishments and illustrates how effectively the City is using its CDBG funding.

The 2020 Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report (CAPER) covers the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021 and reports on completed projects in the 2020 program year. This CAPER is the first of the 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan. For the 2020 program year, the City followed its allocation strategy by funding public services, public facilities, affordable housing projects, homeless related projects, and fair housing services to address unmet community needs. As part of this CAPER process, the City conducted a 15-day public review and comment period and held a public hearing on September 21, 2021 to obtain further public comment on this report. Accomplishments in addressing the priority needs include:

Affordable Housing Development, Maintenance & Preservation

Efforts to increase affordable housing include committing HOME, CDBG, Project-Based Vouchers, Inclusionary Housing, and Housing Successor Agency funds for acquisition, construction, rehabilitation and provision of affordable rental and ownership housing. Projects completed this year were limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, but included housing services for 6 downpayment assistance payments to CDBG-eligible individuals. CDBG funds were used for the acquisition of a former motel for the creation of 89 permanent supportive housing units. The Santa Ana Arts Collective was completed, for which CDBG fund were used for the acquisition costs. The project consisted of 57 affordable, rental units and one manager’s unit.

Code Enforcement

Community preservation efforts continue in deteriorated and deteriorating areas to preserve the City's aging housing stock. In FY2020, Code Enforcement funds were used to respond to complaints covering residential properties within the CDBG eligible deteriorating and deteriorated areas. During the program year, the City responded to over 5,000 complaints.

Public Facilities & Infrastructure

A total of nine capital improvement project were completed including street improvements, park and lighting improvements, and installation of ADA compliant curb ramps and bathrooms in facilities across the City. Multiple public facility and improvement projects are underway across the City.

Public Service Programs

Public Services funded by the City during the report period were aimed at assisting low to moderate-income households. A total of 20 activities were funded to assist homeless, seniors, youth and families through a variety of programs.

Economic Development

CDBG funds were allocated to support workforce training and development and business assistance via training, technical assistance and general support. Activities were limited due to prioritization of COVID-19 economic development programs.

Fair Housing Services

To affirmatively further Fair Housing, the City continues to provide CDBG funds to Orange County Fair Housing Council.
HOME Program – HOME funding was utilized by the City to create a total of 11 rental housing units benefitting 11 households as part of the Santa Ana Art’s Collective.

Homeless Services and Facilities

Emergency Solutions Grant funding was used to reduce homelessness in the City by funding homeless service providers for emergency shelter, homelessness prevention, data services, and street outreach.

COVID-19 Response

On April 21, the City of Santa Ana amended the 2019 Annual Action Plan to include special CDBG and ESG allocations from the CARES Act to target the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the City of Santa Ana. These activities continued during the 2020-2021 Program Year. Activities included launching an emergency rental relief fund, allocating funding to increase the prevalence of COVID-19 testing within the City, supporting food banks and food delivery services for seniors, and supporting small businesses impacted by COVID-19. ESG-CV funds

COVID-19 Homeless Services

ESG-CV funds were allocated to homelessness prevention and emergency shelter services to individuals and households experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations found at 24 CFR 91.105, the Citizen Participation Plan sets forth the City of Santa Ana’s (City) policies and procedures for providing citizens and other interested parties with opportunities to participate in an advisory role in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) programs.

Encouraging Citizen Participation

The City encourages citizens to participate in the development of the Citizen Participation Plan, Consolidated Plan, AFH or AI, Action Plan, and CAPER. The City encourages participation by low- and moderate-income persons, particularly those living in slum and blighted areas (if any such areas are formally designated) and in areas where CDBG funds are proposed to be used, and by residents of predominantly low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Low- and moderate-income neighborhoods are defined as those in which 51 percent of the residents have incomes at or below 80 percent of area median income. The City shall also take appropriate actions to encourage the participation of all its citizens, including minorities and non-English speaking persons, as well as persons with disabilities.

The City of Santa Ana is pleased to announce its application for the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing (PRO Housing) Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

This grant opportunity is designed to help cities adopt innovative housing policies and strategies that expand affordable housing. If awarded, the funds will be used to eliminate barriers—such as zoning regulations and procedural hurdles—that slow down the development and preservation of affordable housing. Santa Ana’s application aligns with the City's ongoing efforts under the 6th Cycle Housing Element, which aims to streamline housing production, support transit-oriented development, and promote fair housing initiatives. The grant will provide critical support to advance these priorities and accelerate the production and preservation of affordable units for households of all income levels.

Review Our Application and Share Your Input

The application is available for public review and feedback for fifteen (15) days from September 29, 2024 through October 14, 2024. In addition to the City's website, the public can find a copy of the application at the following locations:

City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza, 6th Floor
City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza, 8th Floor
Newhope Library, 122 N. Newhope St., Front Desk

To share your comments or ask questions, please contact Irlanda Martinez, Housing Programs Analyst, at imartinez10@santa-ana.org or (714) 647-5461 no later than 11:30 a.m. on October 14, 2024.

Public Hearing

The application will be presented to the Community Development Commission at a Special Meeting on Monday, October 2024 at 12:30 p.m. at City Hall, 20 Civic Center Plaza, Ross Annex, Room 1600, during the Public Hearing section of the Agenda.

Community Development Commission meetings are televised on Channel 3 or streamed live at santa-ana.org/agendas-and-minutes. Members of the public can submit comments on any items in the agenda via email at bzurita@santa-ana.org by 11:30 a.m. the day of the meeting or in person the day of the meeting.

Please visit santa-ana.org/agendas-and-minutes for additional information

2025-2029 Consolidated Plan Update

2020-2024 Consolidated Plan

Annual Action Plan