Plumas County staff says limited uptake of CDBG-DR rebuilding grants; proposes scattered-site rental plan for $14 million

Plumas County staff reported on July 15 that federal Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG‑DR) funds administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) have produced seven active single‑family reconstruction projects, with one of those projects about to break ground.

The update, given to the Plumas County Planning Commission, said demand for the separate single‑family mitigation (home hardening and defensible space) grants outstripped available funding: staff counted about 22 applications for a program that is likely to fund about 17–19 applicants.

Why it matters: county officials said the single‑family reconstruction program originally had funding to support up to 30 rebuilds but has only produced seven projects so far, leaving roughly $14,000,000 unencumbered in the grant award. Staff told commissioners the county and HCD are now looking at a state action‑plan amendment to reallocate those unspent dollars toward a “scattered‑sites” program to…