The Housing and Community Development (HCDD) recommends City Council approval of an ordinance adopting guidelines for the Multifamily Voluntary Buyout (MVB) Program. This is one of the programs identified in the 2016 Flood Events application. Funding for this program will be received from the Texas General Land Office (GLO) in the amount of $23,486,698.00 in Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds. Proposed sites will be selected internally by HCDD in coordination with Houston Public Works (HPW) to identify developments that are environmentally vulnerable to future disasters and will provide mitigation benefits to the greater area.
The MVB program guidelines provide terms required by the laws and regulations surrounding the Tax Day Flood funding while outlining local priorities, eligibility requirements, and compliance period. These guidelines are the first step towards implementing buyout opportunities designed to assist multi-family developments that were impacted more than once because of natural disasters.
The objective of the MVB program is to help prevent localized flooding and reduce streambank erosion downstream. The program will:
• Give multifamily developers whose affordable housing units are in a floodway or floodplain the opportunity to sell;
• Create greenspaces and/or detention areas;
• Work in conjunction with Houston Public Works ("HPW") to identify properties or lots that were directly impacted by a natural disaster;
• Give residents the opportunity to move out of areas that are prone to repetitive flooding.
Eligible Activities
1. Acquisition of existing multifamily properties and land to create greenspaces and/or detention.
2. Demolition which will serve to reduce density in vulnerable areas.
3. Relocation to remove households from vulnerable areas.
This program is pending approval from the GLO.
Fiscal Note:
No Fiscal Note is required on grant items.
The Housing and Community Affairs Committee reviewed this item on May 22, 2019.
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Tom McCasland, Director