Council adopts Community Ownership Action Plan steps, approves $75,000 technical‑assistance grants

The Mountain View City Council on Sept. 9 approved the Community Ownership Action Plan (COPE), a multi‑pronged strategy intended to preserve and expand community‑owned housing models — such as community land trusts, limited equity cooperatives and resident‑owned communities — and authorized a $75,000 technical‑assistance (TA) grant program to help community groups prepare acquisitions and proposals.

Housing Director Wayne Chen and Housing Officer Matthew Reed presented COPE as a response to the housing element program 3.2 requirement to preserve at least 50 units through community ownership approaches. Staff described a multi‑year approach that includes the city serving as funder, capacity builder, convener and policy leader. The plan proposes flexible funding terms (loans that could be low‑ or zero‑interest, deferred or forgivable, or other flexible structures) designed to be more adaptable than traditional affordable‑housing loan products, while retaining safeguards for public funds.

Staff said the citys initial seed allocation of $4 million aims to catalyze a larger regional pool; new underwriting updates estimate approximately $25 million may be needed to preserve 50 units, higher than earlier estimates because of rehabilitation and programmatic costs unique to community ownership models. Because the full COPE underwriting and NOFA will take additional work, staff recommended launching a TA grant program this year (grants up to $25,000 each) to fund appraisals, legal support, business planning and similar pre‑acquisition steps.

Members of the Mountain View Community Land Trust and other community advocates pressed council to allow city funds to include grants as well as forgivable loans. Speakers said nascent community groups and newly forming tenant cooperatives often cannot carry recorded debt even if it will be forgiven later, because such liabilities impede their ability to secure other financing and threaten affordability.

City staff responded that loans (including forgivable loans) and grants can have similar practical effects on project finances, but loans create a repayment structure that the city can recycle and monitor. Staff said they would continue outreach to philanthropic and regional partners to expand funding beyond the city's initial $4 million seed. Staff recommended a flexible‑loan approach for program design while keeping a path open to consider grants in the program's implementation plan if additional funding sources or triggers materialize.

Council approved staff recommendations and specifically adopted a resolution appropriating $75,000 from the general housing fund to establish the TA grant program. The motion included direction for staff to develop NOFA evaluation criteria and underwriting guidelines (structured initially as flexible loans), implement the TA grant program this fall, and return with a full COPE adoption package and underwriting guidelines in Q1 2026. Council members and public speakers said they expect COPE to be iterative and urged continuing community engagement.

Ending: Staff said the TA grants will be launched this fall and that the full NOFA and flexible‑funding underwriting guidelines will come back to council for adoption early next year.