Syracuse housing board clarifies Block Challenge Program rules, keeps front-yard fencing option

The Syracuse Housing Strategies Corporation Board of Directors on a motion carried Tuesday approved clarifications to eligibility for its Block Challenge Program and voted that front-yard fencing should not be listed as an ineligible project.

Michelle, a staff member, told the board the amendments were meant to “be transparent about prior to accepting an application,” and listed examples of work the program would not fund. She said the draft language would bar the program from paying to enclose an open front porch and would allow porch removal only if an in-kind replacement was installed. For private-tree removals, Michelle said the program would consider funding only where the tree is visible from the right of way and where an opinion from “a qualified arborist or landscape professional” shows the tree is hazardous or diseased.

The board spent…