Toledo holds first public hearing on 2025–2029 Consolidated Plan; Fair Housing Center outlines impediments to housing choice

The City of Toledo’s Department of Housing and Community Development opened the first public hearing on the city’s 2025–2029 Consolidated Plan and the accompanying Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice. Rosalind Clements, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, introduced the hearing and said the consolidated plan “is a process that we have to go through as an entitlement community that receives HUD’s housing and community development fund.”

Brian Hull, president of CEW Advisors, presented the plan’s preliminary needs assessment and funding outlook. He said the plan will guide how the city uses federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) funds over the five-year period. Hull said the city expects approximately $47.3 million across those three HUD funding streams over the next five years and gave the following annual and five‑year estimates cited in the presentation: roughly $7.1 million in CDBG next year, about $1.9 million in HOME next year (approximately $9.2 million over five years) and roughly $650,000 a year in ESG (about $3.3 million over five years).

The needs assessment presented by CEW and summarized to attendees draws on U.S. Census sources, HMIS homelessness data, the American Community Survey and other federal and local data sets, together with focus groups, neighborhood meetings and an online needs survey. Key findings described at the hearing included:

- Population and housing stock: the city population was described as about 260,000 and has declined for decades; presenters said Toledo has about 18,000 households and about 33,000 housing units. Presenters said the city’s vacancy rate is roughly 11.6 percent.

- Demographics and age: the 65–74 age cohort grew about 50 percent from 2010–2023, while youth populations have declined, which has implications for…