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City staff outlines $350,744 CDBG ADA project plan; council probes scope and eligibility
Summary
Community Development staff told the council the city’s 2025–26 Community Development Block Grant allocation and program income total $350,744, intended for ADA capital improvements; council members pressed on whether the consolidated plan limits uses to ADA projects and whether parks such as Riverbend qualify.
Chanel Hovalle, the city’s community development program manager, told the Lompoc City Council on May 20 that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has granted the city $262,641 in entitlement CDBG funds for fiscal year 2025–26 and that program income increases the total available for ADA capital improvements to $350,744.
Hovalle explained that Community Development Block Grant funds are “intended to develop communities for low and moderately low‑income persons” and that HUD requires eligibility and spending limits for CDBG projects. She told the council that the city’s council‑approved five‑year consolidated plan envisions using capital project funding to support Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility improvements and that such projects are an eligible CDBG use because they benefit people HUD presumes to be low‑ or moderate‑income.
Council members asked whether the consolidated plan restricts CDBG spending only to ADA improvements. Councilmember Bridge and others said they had not realized recent council action effectively limited CDBG capital projects to ADA‑related work for the next five years. Hovalle said the consolidated plan submitted to HUD emphasizes ADA capital projects for the coming five‑year period and that projects must be identified in the city’s capital improvement plan before CDBG funds will be used as a supplement.
Council members also asked whether separate programs such as a down‑payment assistance program are part of this fund. Hovalle replied the down‑payment assistance program is a separate pot of funds and not drawn from the CDBG entitlement discussed at this meeting.
Several councilors raised Riverbend Park as a site of interest that may not qualify under low‑ and moderate‑income (LMI) area rules. Hovalle said some parks outside a defined LMI area can qualify for CDBG funds if the project has an ADA nexus or if the city can demonstrate that a sufficient share of users are LMI residents. She said staff could work with community groups to document user demographics and pursue eligibility if council directs.
No formal action was taken; staff said CDBG funding will be integrated into capital projects brought back for council approval and that staff will provide additional information on eligibility and timing as projects are developed.
