Special to the Vanguard
Governor Newsom announced awards totaling nearly $94 million to create infill development that will produce 1,661 new homes in 15 counties throughout California.
Governor Newsom also issued an executive order to support efforts to transform undeveloped and underutilized infill sites and buildings into housing.
The order will help communities build thriving downtown cores, and new housing near transportation hubs and job centers — creating more housing options for Californians while further aligning the state’s housing and climate goals.
“Empty lots and vacant buildings in cities throughout our state could be transformed into much-needed housing; Californians literally cannot afford for us to ignore these opportunities,” Governor Newsom said in a statement released by his office on Wednesday. “I’m providing tens of millions of dollars to California communities to begin building these new homes on infill properties.”
He added, “I’m directing agencies to begin an all-hands-on-deck effort to help create homes on properties that have been sitting empty and unused for far too long. We’re cutting the unnecessary red tape and costs standing in the way of building new affordable homes for Californians.”
The Governor says his order will help “advance California’s goal to create 2.5 million new homes by 2030. In an effort to make housing more accessible and affordable for all, California continues to build more housing, of all types, all across the state. “
The order directs a number of state agencies, including the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB), among others, to work together to address key roadblocks in the development of infill housing.
The Governor’s office says, the agencies will work to comprehensively address the need to develop more housing by:
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- Lowering costs and increasing flexibility by exploring updates to the state building standards codes and permitting processes to accelerate housing approvals and development.
- Creating more resources for local governments to build housing through infill development, by developing mechanisms to provide local governments and developers with a range of additional resources, including state and federal infrastructure dollars and other financing.
- Building more tools and opportunities by publishing resources and guidance, including through the states’ existing Site Check website, to assist developers and other stakeholders in identifying opportunities to transform vacant sites into housing for Californians.
Governor Newsom also announced that California has awarded $94 million in infill infrastructure grants to 25 projects that will support the development of 1,661 new homes in 15 California counties. The grants awarded today through the state’s Infill Infrastructure Grant Program will support capital improvement projects in the following California counties with populations of less than 250,000 people: Butte, Colusa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Humboldt, Kings, Imperial, Madera, San Benito, Shasta, Sutter, Tehama, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba.
Click here to read the full executive order.
