Council reallocates funding to speed Habitat for Humanity homebuilding; ARPA funds redirected to federal environmental review costs

The City Council approved an amendment on July 16 to the city’s Affordable Homeownership Expansion Program that changes funding sources for two San Gabriel Valley Habitat for Humanity projects so development can proceed more quickly.

City staff said the Torch and Stewart Avenue projects are in the approval process and that both were originally funded with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars. Because projects that use federal funding must complete a separate NEPA environmental review in addition to the state CEQA process, staff proposed replacing the ARPA dollars for the two build projects with general‑fund dollars and reserving the ARPA allocation to cover the additional federal environmental review costs.

The nut graf: The reallocation—$1,725,000 in total previously assigned to Habitat for Humanity projects—aims to eliminate a front‑end hold caused by the federal NEPA review timeline and costs, allowing Habitat to proceed to permitting and construction while preserving ARPA funds to pay for federal compliance costs.

Council members praised the partnership with San Gabriel Valley Habitat and with the Presbyterian church for making property available. "Without the Presbyterian church and their vision to use their property for good, this project would not be possible," a council member said.

Ending: The council voted unanimously to approve the funding amendment and asked staff to continue coordinating with Habitat for Humanity and the church to move the projects to construction.