Trilogy of Housing & Community Development Services
City of Cumberland Maryland
The Challenge:
The City’s Cumberland Economic Development Corporation, the City’s Human Relations Commission, and Neighborhood Advisory Commission were in need of a workforce housing needs strategy that also fit neatly with their upcoming HUD Consolidated Plan and Fair Housing Plan.
Our Strategy:
OUC partnered with LSA Planning consultants in 2019 working with highly-regarded economic and housing demographer and researcher Lisa Sturtevant. Working with CEDC to convene an advisory board of leaders including leading employers, the team interviewed experts, researched best practices, created a survey, and led a series of focus group and meetings. Site visits were key in better understanding the city’s strengths such as its solid regional employment base, location on the historic C&O Canal, proximity to two other states, and its rich historic fabric. The team was also asked to consider three sites for redevelopment.
Progress to date:
The team completed the 2020-2024 Five-Year HUD Consolidated Plan in March 2020. Key features included recommendations for Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Areas (NRSA).
In June 2020, the City of Cumberland submitted its 2020 Analysis of Impediments to Fair Housing Choice (Fair Housing Plan) guiding the city’s use of limited HUD funds to NRSA’s where there is a higher concentration of poverty and people of color as well as concentrating limited funding to the lowest income families especially seniors and the disabled.
And finally, the Comprehensive Housing Analysis, that provided guidance on the three selected sites for mixed-income redevelopment using Low-Income Housing Tax Credits and others subsidies, recommendations for small subsidies to small property owners, subsidies for homeowners, and a revisions to the city’s historic preservation guidelines to enhance opportunities for affordable and workforce housing.
The City continues to pursue reforms to its historic preservation procedures to more easily rehabilitate historic buildings for affordable housing. Other projects are on pause as CEDC refocuses efforts on saving downtown businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
mochoa@ochoaurbancollaborative.com | 202-413-6910