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Oxnard housing staff recommends $2.85 million in HUD grants under Ventura County regional consolidated plan
Summary
Brenda Lopez, the City of Oxnard interim housing director, told the City Council that the city must submit a regional consolidated plan, an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice and a 2025–26 Annual Action Plan to HUD to receive federal entitlement grants, and she recommended allocations totaling an estimated $2,849,355.
Brenda Lopez, the City of Oxnard interim housing director, told the City Council that the city must submit a regional consolidated plan, an Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice and a 2025–26 Annual Action Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to receive federal entitlement grants, and she recommended funding allocations that together total an estimated $2,849,355.
Lopez said the three HUD entitlement grants are the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG). She told the council the City of Oxnard participated for the first time in the Ventura County regional consolidated plan, led by Ventura County, and that consultant MDG Associates was selected to prepare the 2025–2029 consolidated plan and the Analysis of Impediments after a review of three proposals.
The consolidated-plan process combined qualitative outreach and a market analysis, Lopez said, and 62 Oxnard residents or stakeholders participated in plan development. The Analysis of Impediments drew on the state-mandated housing element’s fair housing assessment, she said, and the draft AI identifies goals including affordable housing in higher-resource areas, better distribution of information, resident engagement, infrastructure improvements in areas of concentrated poverty and development of accessory dwelling units.
For fiscal year 2025–26, Lopez presented estimated allocations: $1,888,317 for CDBG (plus an estimated $100,000 in program income), $535,916 for HOME (plus an estimated $150,000 in program income) and $175,122 for ESG. Lopez said applications were accepted from Feb. 3 to March 3, 2025; staff received 19 CDBG applications and six ESG applications and recommended awards after rating and feasibility review.
Lopez outlined proposed recipients and amounts from the CDBG public-services allocation and related programs. Public-services recommendations she listed included: Palm Vista Senior Center — $30,000; Colonial Memorial Park Veterans Gym — $20,000; Police Activities League — $80,000; South Winds Youth Center — $30,505; Senior Supportive Services with the Oxnard Housing Authority — $50,000; Foundation First basic needs assistance (Sheltered Care Resources) — $35,000; Coalition of Resources counseling for survivors of interpersonal violence — $25,000; and Turning Point Foundation’s Our Place Safe Haven emergency shelter and multi-service navigation center — $27,742. Lopez said the total estimated public-services allocation is $298,247.
Under public improvements and other programs, Lopez recommended a neighborhood street resurfacing and ADA improvement project in the amount of $1,000,000 and a rehabilitation program for a historic property (listed as 201 South D Street Apartments) in the amount of $292,407. For ESG, staff recommended Mercy House rapid rehousing — $68,730; United Way (Ventura County) rapid rehousing — $40,000; and Turning Point Foundation Our Place Safe Haven — $53,258. For HOME, Lopez said roughly $536,938 would be available to developers needing assistance to build affordable housing, and roughly 10% would be set aside for administration and planning.
Lopez presented six staff recommendations for council action: (1) conduct a public hearing on the regional consolidated plan, the Analysis of Impediments and the 2025–26 Annual Action Plan; (2) approve the Ventura County 2025–2029 Regional Consolidated Plan and the Ventura County 2025–2029 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice; (3) authorize the city manager or designee to incorporate changes resulting from public input; (4) approve the 2025–26 Annual Action Plan, incorporate final HUD allocations into the plan and authorize budget appropriations; (5) authorize the city manager or designee to make budgetary adjustments up to 10% or $200,000, whichever is greater, per the citizen participation plan; and (6) authorize the city manager or designee to execute HUD agreements and sign subrecipient and interdepartmental agreements necessary to implement the plans.
The presentation concluded with Lopez asking for public comment and council action; the transcript of this portion of the meeting records the staff presentation and the six recommendations but does not record a council vote or formal action on those recommendations.
