The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), with funding from the Statewide Affordable Housing Support Fund, has established the Local Planning Capacity (LPC) grant program, which will be managed by the Community Development Office (CDO) within DOLA’s Division of Local Government (DLG).
Donor Name: Colorado Department of Local Affairs
State: Colorado
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/04/2023
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The intent of the program is to increase the capacity of local government planning departments responsible for processing land use, permitting, and zoning applications for housing projects. The program supports local governments’ capacity to address affordable housing, especially by expediting review, permitting, zoning, and development of affordable housing. Grant funds could support new staff wages, hiring consultants, implementing new systems and technologies, revising land use development codes, regional collaborations, tracking and documentation of Prop 123 goals, or other efforts that achieve fast track goals by 2027, as required by Proposition 123.
Funding Information
- Year 1: Approximately $3 million available in State Fiscal Year 2023 (July 2023 – June 2024).
- Year 1: Approximately $3 million available for the first round of funding (July 2023 – June 2024).
- Subsequent funding rounds will begin in spring 2024 with approximately $6.4 million available for Year 2 (July 2024 – June 2025) and annually thereafter.
- Award amounts: Suggested maximum award amount is $200,000. Larger grant requests may be considered, particularly for multi-jurisdictional projects.
- Local match: This program requires a 20% minimum cash match by local governments. Local cash match does not include other DOLA grant funds.
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- An applicant experiencing extreme financial hardship may request a reduced match waiver from program staff before submitting their application.
Eligible Project Types and Activities
- Implementing new IT solutions or technologies that streamline development review including adopting online permitting and tracking systems, electronic plan review.
- Implementing “lean” business principles to improve inter-agency coordination on review and approval of affordable housing projects.
- Regulatory changes such as land use or development code amendments that effectively streamline development review of projects with affordable housing.
- Planning efforts to convert or preserve existing housing units from market-rate to affordable housing with a mechanism such as a deed restriction or land use restriction.
- Tracking or documentation activities related to Prop 123 including tracking a jurisdiction’s annual growth commitment or fast track metrics.
- Activities that support local governments’ capacity to increase or expedite affordable housing, including navigating funding opportunities and grant applications, data collection or site inventory of publicly-owned land for future affordable housing projects.
- Other strategies that align with the goals of the program, pending DOLA approval.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible entities include municipalities, counties, and tribal governments whose Prop 123 baseline and commitment have been accepted by the Division of Housing (DOH).
- Collaborative, multijurisdictional or regional projects are allowed, with one jurisdiction acting as the lead fiscal agent during the application and grant implementation process.
- Awards cannot be made directly to housing authorities but housing authorities or other nonprofits may partner with eligible municipalities, counties, or tribal governments.
For more information, visit DOLA.
