Orange County community development plan public hearing on Oct. 20

Orange County will hold a public hearing so the public can discuss and make comments on the proposed Housing and Community Development (HCD) Annual Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2023. The Orange County Office of Community Development currently administers the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), the HOME Investment Partnerships Program for affordable housing (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), all of which are funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Orange County acts as the lead agency for these programs on behalf of a consortium of member municipalities.

Proposed 2023 projects and programs

The municipal community development projects to be done with Fiscal Year 2023 funds have been selected by member municipalities in accordance with local priorities and are consistent with the priorities identified in the County’s 2020-2024 Consolidated Plan. In addition, the proposed projects have been selected to meet the mandatory national objectives of the program: benefit to low and moderate-income persons, prevention or elimination of slums and blight, or urgent community needs. Municipal projects were selected in July 2022 and were the subject of local public hearings to involve citizens in the process.

The purpose of the County’s 2023 Annual Action Plan is to help to improve the quality of life and living conditions for Orange County residents principally for those with low to moderate incomes through improvements to public facilities and infrastructure and the preservation and production of affordable, decent housing for homeowners and renters, prioritizing community accessibility, long-term viability, and the empowerment of people with low to moderate incomes to achieve self-sufficiency.

Orange County will hold a public hearing on the proposed FY-2023 Housing and Community Development Annual Action Plan on Thursday, October 20, 2022 at 3:00 p.m. at the Orange County Office of Community Development at 40 Matthews Street, Suite 307A, Goshen, NY and virtually via Microsoft Teams Meeting. To attend via Teams or conference call, call the Office at (845) 615-3820 for the meeting ID and passcode.

The hearing will allow the public to make comments on the draft HCD Plan, proposed projects, the County’s programs in general, or suggest other activities that may be carried out under these programs. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance or translation services to participate in this meeting, please contact Nicole Andersen at (845) 615-3820 at least 48-hours prior to the meeting so reasonable arrangements can be made to ensure accessibility.

Prior year expenditure assessments

Under the CDBG Program, the County is required to undertake projects that benefit lower income people, prevent or remove slums and blight or meet other urgent community needs. All of the County’s projects carried out in the past year meet one of these objectives. This program has been primarily directed to lower income families (below 80 percent of County median income).The HOME Program provides affordable rental housing opportunities to lower income households below 60% of the area median income and homeowner rehabilitation assistance to households below 80% of the median. A complete summary of the County’s prior year expenditures in the FY 2021 CAPER is available upon request.

Housing and community development plan

A draft of the FY 2023 Housing and Community Development (HCD) Annual Action Plan, which includes a complete listing of proposed projects, is currently available for public view at https://www.orangecountygov.com/207/Plans-Reports. Copies can also be obtained by calling (845) 615-3820. The draft Plan will be available September 30, 2022 through October 31, 2022.

The final FY 2023 HCD Annual Action Plan will consider all public comments received and will be submitted to HUD no later than November 15, 2022 or on a later date as prescribed by HUD.