Palm Beach County is located on the southeast coast of the State of Florida. It is the largest of the sixty-seven counties in the state, and has the third largest population. There are thirty- seven incorporated municipalities in the County, most of which are located along the coastline. Three municipalities are located in the western portion of the county in an area commonly called the Glades. The County's most important and basic industries are agriculture, tourism and manufacturing. The County is one of the nation's leading agricultural areas.
This section of the Palm Beach County Consolidated Plan narrates the federal resources which are expected to be made available to the jurisdiction during FY 1995-96 to address priority needs identified within the Plan. This includes formula grant allocations as well as any program income sources generated by way of prior initiatives. The section also identifies and describes resources from private and non-federal public sources that are reasonably expected to be made available and how they are planned to be utilized to leverage or match formula grant sources. More specifically, the One-Year Action Plan embodies the County's formal application to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for entitlements under the CDBG, HOME, and ESG Programs.
The 1995-96 Action Plan provides a blueprint of the County's intent to expend approximately $10.5 million of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnership Program, program income, and Emergency Shelter Grants Program (ESGP) funds. The funds will primarily be applied toward housing, capital improvements, public services, and emergency shelter related activities and services. Palm Beach County and the City of Delray Beach formulated a Consortium for the purpose of receiving a formula allocation under the HOME Program. The City of Delray Beach's portion of the Consolidated Plan submission contains a separate and distinct Action Plan delineating their strategy to expend funds.
As a vital component of the Consolidated Planning Process, Palm Beach County developed and initiated its Citizen Participation Plan. This element acts as a catalyst and planning instrument which fosters and provides a medium for public participation. Interested participants are encouraged to engage in opportunities aimed at generating community development related activities throughout the jurisdiction. Emphasis is directed toward soliciting input directly from those persons who live and work in areas targeted to receive funding assistance. The Plan provides for at least two (2) public meetings at different stages of the consolidated program year; two (2) meetings with the Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB); five (5) meetings with the ESGP Advisory Board; at least one (1) workshop (if necessary) with the Board of County Commissioners (BCC); and a public hearing to review and approve Plan components.
All public meetings are held after publishing a notice in an area newspaper
of general circulation, describing the purpose and allowing for at least seven
(7) to ten (10) days notice. Public hearing notices are published and allow for
at least fifteen (15) days notice. Prior to the July 18, 1995 hearing with the
BCC, copies of the draft Consolidated Plan were made available for public review
and comment; citizens and interested participants were given a thirty (30) day
comment period.
For the decade 1980-90, Palm Beach County's population grew by 49.7% or at an average annual rate of almost 5%. In 1990, the county had a population of 863,518. Children under age 5 had the most rapid population growth among age groups. Immigration made up 96% of the total population increase. According to the Census, the median age in the County was 39.9 years. The county's elderly population (65+) accounts for 24% of the population and contrasts with the statewide figure of 18.5% for the same age group. In 1990, the County's population was 85% White, 13% Black and 2% Other. The Hispanic origin population group constituted 7.5% of the total population.
In 1990, 37% of the households in the County had incomes less than $25,000, and 55% had incomes between $25,000 and $100,000. The median income for the County was $32,525. Of the total population, 9.3% were identified as having incomes below the poverty level. Areas of minority concentration are located mainly along the coastline in the incorporated areas and in the Glades area. Disproportionate household needs, in income categories ranging from under $5,000 to $34,999, were found for Blacks and Hispanics.
An analysis of economic trends provided the following outlook for the
County: Growth in the County's housing market continues to rely primarily on
immigration which is conditioned by the performance of the national economy and
the northern real estate markets. The fastest growing minority group will
continue to be Hispanic. Significant new job creation could depend on the county
increasing international trade. Traditional sources of past growth such as
tourism, retirement and construction may no longer be able to sustain historic
growth rates. Real wages will remain stable or decline in the short term and the
county's unemployment rate will remain above state and national levels. The
county's population continues to age.
Since 1980 Palm Beach County has been one of the fastest growing counties in the country. The most dynamic change with respect to housing in Palm Beach County during the decade was the significant increase in total dwelling units. Changes affected the status of housing relative to age of structure, type and density. Other major changes that impacted the County's housing market and local economy were changes in householder characteristics; specifically, family and non-family, and age groups of householders.
Palm Beach County's housing market is both diverse and complex. It encompasses shelter needs for the very wealthy and the very poor. It combines urban, suburban and rural housing components, an increasingly diverse racial and ethnic mix with an unusually high percentage of elderly people.
When housing needs were analyzed by race and income, it was noted that Black and Hispanic households have more housing problems than any other race groups. In addition, the incidence of overcrowding is more noticeable among renters than owners. In general, renters require more assistance than owners, specially those in the lower income categories. For both owner/renter occupied housing, severe cost burden is most acute within the low income group.
According to the 1990 Census, there were 461,665 housing units in the county, of which 20.8% were vacant. There were 365,558 occupied housing units. County-wide, 71.9% of the total occupied housing units were owner-occupied and 28.1% were renter-occupied. Of the occupied units in the county, 1.8% presented severe overcrowding conditions (>1.5 persons per room). Of the total, 2.4% were estimated to be substandard. Of the total substandard units, 46% are estimated to be owner-occupied and 54% are estimated to be renter-occupied. In addition, 93% of the total substandard units are deemed suitable for rehabilitation and 7% units should be demolished.
Residential housing starts increased in the county for the period 1992 to 1993, but even with this increase annual residential housing starts declined 10.2% over the 1988 to 1993 period. Projections for 1998 and 2003 suggest a mild recovery in housing starts both statewide and for the county.
The County projected a five-year demand of 12,882 new units to meet the needs of low and moderate income households. Of this projected total, 30.9% (3,983 units) is for rental housing demand, while 69.1% (8,899 units) is for owned housing demand. In addition, the County identified rental assistance, rehabilitation, acquisition, homeowner's assistance, and support facilities and services as activities to be carried out to meet the needs of low and moderate income renters and owners.
Homelessness in Palm Beach County is a complex issue. The latest available comprehensive survey determined there are at least 4,000 homeless persons, including 750 families throughout the jurisdiction on any given day. During preparation of the Plan, HCD also conducted the "Homeless Needs and Homeless Services Data Survey". This assisted in determining the current homeless needs and their prioritization, while providing a demographic picture of service recipients. Input was provided as seen through the eyes of the providers. Survey results determined and the Consolidated Plan recognizes transitional housing as the greatest need within the framework of PBC's "Continuum of Care" approach to serving the homeless.
The Homeless Coalition of PBC, Inc. coordinates a "network" of homeless service providers throughout the County. Of its member agencies, approximately twelve (12) provide utilities assistance, eleven (11) provide rent, food and transportation assistance, four (4) provide child care and one (1) provides housing / credit counseling. There are six (6) active providers of outreach and assessment related services to the homeless. In Palm Beach County, nine (9) member agencies provide a total of 207 emergency shelter beds, eight (8) provide 367 transitional (1-6 month) beds, eight (8) provide 156 (1-12 month) beds, six (6) provide 391 transitional (1-24 month) beds, six (6) agencies provide 264 permanent supportive housing beds, and only two (2) provide 100 beds of permanent housing. The largest identified "gap" in the County's continuum is however that of transitional housing. Nevertheless, a tremendous need for permanent housing exists as well.
The Palm Beach County (Consortium) jurisdiction has a total of 2,145 public housing units, made available by way of five (5) housing authorities through the provision of fifteen (15) developments. There are a 4,709 rental units operating under Section 8. Additional assisted housing developments exist which do not qualify under public housing or Section 8. A total of 4,476 units in the Consortium area qualify under this category; they include approximately 809 farmworker units and 3,667 subsidized units. These figures are exclusive of the Cities of West Palm Beach and Boca Raton.
It is estimated that eighteen (18) sub-standard units of public housing are scheduled to be demolished. In 1994, the vacancy rate for public housing totaled 35 units or 1%. Of the total number of units, 25% have 0-1 bedrooms, 64% have 2-3 bedrooms, and 11% have 4-6 bedrooms. At the same time, it was reported that of the 2,145 units, 146 are designated as accessible for the disabled. Based on waiting lists, at least eighteen (18) additional such units are needed. The Section 8 waiting list was much larger, at 3,766 persons. Among the existing Section 8 rental units, 715 are 1 bedroom, 2,673 are 2-3 bedrooms, and 378 are 4-6 bedrooms. None of these are expected to be lost from the inventory. A variety of restoration and revitalization needs were reported by each of the housing authorities as well.
Several obstacles have been identified in Palm Beach County which have attributed to creating barriers to affordable housing. These obstacles can be identified by two (2) broad categories: 1) public policies; and 2) natural economic forces; which affect the cost of housing or incentives to develop, maintain, and improve affordable housing. Palm Beach County, through the Commission on Affordable Housing (CAH), has provided for a staff that creates and implements low-and moderate-income housing opportunities through policy and program development. The policies and programs developed serve to reduce or ameliorate adverse effects of existing public policy as well as offer incentives to the private sector to create affordable housing opportunities. CAH staff will review policies (both new and revised) impacting affordable housing, and may introduce amendments to the Palm Beach County Comprehensive Plan and Unified Land Development Code (ULDC).
Several specific fair housing needs have been identified on a county-wide basis. However, the greatest needs have been identified in the Western Glades Areas of Palm Beach County. These needs include a lack of fair housing awareness/education and enforcement activities to adequately assess the true extent of fair housing violations. Since fair housing agencies do not currently have staff located in the Western Glades Area, those residents have limited accessibility/knowledge of fair housing services and laws.
The Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 90-1 on October 3, 1985, providing for public safety, public health, and general welfare for all persons to live in available housing and benefit from all aspects of public accommodations regardless of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, handicap, familial status, sexual orientation, age and/or marital status. To ensure further support of fair housing in Palm Beach County, ordinance 90-1 created the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) and a budget to establish the Division of Fair Housing. Furthermore, the ordinance created the Fair Housing Board. During 1995 ordinance 90-1 was amended in order to qualify the OEO for the designation of a "substantially equivalent" agency by HUD. The amendment will serve to enable the OEO to implement a HUD approved "Fair Housing Assistance Program" (FHAP).
Additionally, HOPE, Inc. a not for profit organization located in Dade County, will continue to expand its efforts to provide fair housing education and testing in Palm Beach County. While HOPE, Inc. cannot enforce fair housing laws, it is able to incorporate lawsuits against housing providers accused of violating those laws.
Lead-based paint is considered to be one of the major sources of lead in the environment and one of the leading causes of lead-poisoning in children throughout the nation. Although the use of lead in residential paint was banned in 1978, a national survey conducted in 1990 determined that approximately 57 million privately owned and occupied housing (1\2 of the nation's existing housing stock) units built prior to 1980 are effected with some level of LBP. In Palm Beach County, it is believed that 116,213 housing units run a high risk of being contaminated. In 1994, 3,108 blood tests were conducted by the PBC Public Health Unit. Of that number, there were determined to be 63 persons with excessive blood lead levels. Review of the cases by zip code indicated (as expected) that the geographic distribution correlates with older housing units and\or catchment areas of Medicaid recipients.
Non-homeless with Special Needs: Another identified essential need is that of permanent supportive housing for non-homeless persons with special needs. The Consolidated Plan, through the use of growth projections and information provided by area service providers, attempts to estimate (to the extent practicable) the needs of these populations in Palm Beach County. Another component of the Plan describes significant characteristics of the current housing stock available to serve these populations. Expanded availability of permanent supportive housing and related services was found to be crucial for elderly and frail elderly persons, persons with physical, developmental, and severe and persistent mental disabilities, persons with alcohol and other drug addictions, persons with HIV/AIDS and their families, public housing residents, and victims of domestic assault.
Many public facilities and service providers have not been able to expand or maintain existing levels of services in proportion to increased demand. This can be attributed to the overall high growth rate, and the increased cost of living in proportion to annual income levels for low-and moderate-income persons that affected Palm Beach County residents during the last decade. The population of the County, exclusive of West Palm Beach and Boca Raton, increased from 460,053 in 1980 to 658,584 in 1990, on overall increase of 41.9%, or 3.5% per year. The highest rated community development needs include: affordable child care centers and services; transportation and health care for the elderly; teen and adult employment training; flood, water, and sewer improvements for existing low-and moderate-income neighborhoods; economic development activities in identified development regions and target areas; youth centers and services; and, supportive services for the homeless and persons with special needs.
In an effort to classify the Housing and Community Development Needs of the
jurisdiction, HCD staff identified and contacted the lead agencies and
organizations that work in the jurisdiction, which address priority community
development needs. Such agencies and organizations covered a wide cross section
of providers in the jurisdiction, including various Federal, State, and local
government agencies; private for profit organizations; non-profit groups; as
well as others that do not fall under those specific categories. It is
anticipated that continued coordination with those agencies/organizations
identified will be strengthened via the jurisdictions efforts to implement
activities to meet the needs and priorities identified in the plan.
The primary goal of the Plan is to develop viable urban communities by providing decent housing and a suitable living environment and expanding economic opportunities principally for low- and moderate- income persons.
The Plan identified an estimated total of 8,314 lower income renter households and 8,992 lower income owner households to be in need of assistance within the next five years. The estimated funds that are reasonably expected to be made available to address those identified needs approximate $59,100,000, assuming no significant changes in program funding. Housing objectives and priorities focus around the preservation and supply of safe, sanitary, adequate, affordable housing that will meet the needs of lower income persons and persons with disabilities.
In addition the estimated CDBG funds that are reasonably expected to be made available and set aside for community development approximate $13,500,000, assuming no significant changes in program funding. Community development objectives and priorities focus around the provision of public facilities and infrastructure; the availability of health educational, human and housing related services; the expansion of economic opportunities; and the preservation of historic properties.
The housing priorities were designed to assist lower income households, homeless persons and non-homeless persons with special needs. The priorities include the following: the construction of single and multifamily units; the rehabilitation of renter and owner occupied units; the provision of subsidies to make housing affordable to potential homeowners; the acquisition of housing for potential homeowners; the provision of rental assistance; the acquisition of lots for the construction of affordable housing units; the replacement of dilapidated units with affordable, sanitary and safe housing units; and the provision of supportive housing and services.
The following priorities have been identified which include activities/programs which would be beneficial to low-and moderate-income residents of distressed neighborhoods and/or development regions, target areas, and pockets of poverty, with the intent of improving the livability and safety of such neighborhoods:
Priorities for economic development activities include: the revitalization and construction of commercial/industrial infrastructure necessary to attract businesses that will create and retain jobs; to assist in the establishment, stabilization and expansion of small businesses including microbusinesses; technical assistance for business development; and, to provide access to capital and credit for development activities which promote the long term economic and social viability of the community.
Priorities for public services include: transportation and health services for the elderly; additional child care services to assist low-and moderate-income persons toward attaining self sufficiency; staffing and facilities for long term group homes for abused and homeless children ages 12 and older; the expansion of employment training and job services for public housing residents and persons in poverty; the expansion of fair housing counseling in the Glades area; and, services designed to serve families/individuals who are threatened with homelessness.
Priorities for capital improvements include: the removal of materials and architectural barriers from buildings and public facilities which restrict the mobility and accessibility of persons with disabilities; flood, water and sewer improvements for existing low-and moderate-income neighborhoods; and, to coordinate capital improvement efforts with housing and economic efforts to revitalize deteriorating neighborhoods.
The 1990 Census indicated that the total population of Palm Beach County was 863,518. Of that total, 9.3% or 78,909 had incomes below the poverty level in 1989. The Economic Element of the Palm Beach County Comprehensive Plan identified several problems with the employment base which included the outlook for strongest growth in relatively low wage and seasonal employment. In the Development Regions Action Plan for Palm Beach County, consultants identified roughly seven areas which had very high rates of poverty, low median household income and high unemployment. Additionally, such development regions also had the highest concentration of low-and moderate-income populations. The action plan prepared by the consultants for the development regions serves as the outline for the anti-poverty strategy, which sets up the blueprint for agencies to coordinate with one another, improve the employment opportunity system and implement business enterprise development.
Although numerous programs and resources are made available to address human services, health, education and other issues, Palm Beach County receives the benefit of additional resources, programs, and organizations through which housing and community development related initiatives are assisted. To that end, approximately 31 federal, seven (7) state, at least nine (9) local, and 16 private lending institutions affiliated with the Consortium for Affordable Home Financing, Inc. The primary federal resources include CDBG, HOME, ESGP, Section 8, and Public Housing Comprehensive and CIAP Grants.
Palm Beach County, through the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is to serve as the lead agency in coordinating private industry, non-profit organizations and public institutions through which the jurisdiction will carry out its Housing and Community Development Plan. HCD will work specifically with the Commission on Affordable Housing (CAH), the Homeless Coalition, municipalities, Community Development Corporations (CDCs), other State and Federal Agencies, and various other for profit and non-profit organizations involved in the implementation of the Consolidated Plan.
As an entitlement Urban County under the CDBG Program, Palm Beach County is
authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance
activities in the unincorporated areas of the County, and within the
jurisdictions of local governments that have entered into inter-local
agreements. The County as a result coordinates its efforts under this program
with the involved municipalities in order to effectively address the housing and
non- housing community development needs identified.
The Palm Beach County One-Year Action Plan for 1995-96 highlights the County's intent to expend approximately $10.5 million CDBG, HOME, and ESGP funds, in addition to program income. The funds will primarily be applied toward housing, capital improvements, public services, and emergency shelter related activities and services.
The majority of activities and/or projects identified in the one year action plan to address identified local objectives and priority needs will be funded under a total of three (3) formula grant programs (CDBG, HOME and ESG). These activities/projects are geographically distributed in and/or around HCD Neighborhood Strategy Areas (NSAs), Code Enforcement Areas (CEAs), and identified pockets of poverty; furthermore, some activities/projects will serve low-and moderate income residents on a Countywide basis.
Palm Beach County Housing and Community Development (HCD) will serve as the lead agency in coordination with private industry, non-profit organizations, and public institutions, in an effort to carry-out its Housing and Community Development plan. As an Urban County entitlement community under the CDBG Program, Palm Beach County is authorized to undertake essential community development and housing assistance activities in its unincorporated areas. The same may be accomplished within jurisdictions of local governments which have entered into inter-local participation agreements with the County. The County, as a result, coordinates its efforts under this program with the involved municipalities in order to effectively address the identified housing and non-housing community development needs.
Palm Beach County expects to assist an average of 400 owners and 819 renters
annually, assuming no significant changes in program funding. This assistance
will be provided through rehabilitation of single and multifamily units, new
housing construction, housing acquisition, rental assistance, direct
homeownership assistance and impact fee assistance. In addition, Palm Beach
County proposes to provide supportive housing and services to homeless
individuals and families; and non-homeless individuals and families with
special needs.
The City of Delray Beach, like many Florida Coastal communities, experienced a decline in its charm and attractiveness during the 1970s and 1980s as development moved west into the unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County. Recognizing the City's strengths -- an authentic downtown, historic architecture, accessible beaches, neighborhood schools and a diverse population, residents of Delray Beach took it upon themselves to work together to revitalize the City and recapture the City's Character of previous years. The City's Consolidated Plan incorporates the goals and vision for the City as mandated by Citizens of the City of Delray Beach.
The City of Delray Beach Consolidated Plan outlines a strategy to revitalize deteriorating neighborhoods using resources from Community Development Block Grant ($669,000), Program Income ($8000) Federal HOME Investment Partnership ($184,040), State Housing Initiatives Partnership ($286,454), and the local Bootstrap Rehabilitation Program ($200,000).
The City has adopted the "visioning" process to obtain public
input relating to all planning related matters. This process assembles
residents and community leaders from every sector of the City. The residents
provide directions to the City Commission and staff as to how and where
resources should be targeted. The City's 1995 Consolidated Plan is based on the
assemblies of "Visions 2000" held in 1988 and "Visions 2005"
held in May 1994. On April 5, 1995, a public meeting was held at Pompey Park to
obtain comments from residents who receive the primary benefit of Community
Development Block Grant funds.
The City of Delray Beach is a community of approximately 50,000 permanent
residents and 8,400 seasonal residents. The City's minority population is 26%
of the total. Forty-eight percent of the 21,387 households have incomes of less
than 80% of median (based upon HUD's adjusted income limits), while 73% of the
minority population's income is below 80%. The predominance of the substandard
housing is concentrated within the CDBG Target area, that area bounded on the
west by I-95, the east by Federal Highway/U.S. 1, on the north by Lake Ida Road
and the south by Linton Boulevard. In 1990 46% of all units in the City were
rental or vacant although 72% of the occupied units were occupied by owners.
The City of Delray Beach may be considered "much improved" since the early 1980's when it suffered from aging infrastructure and an abundance of dilapidated housing. With the $21 million bond issue of the late 1980's, the City drastically changed and improved the roads, sewers, landscaping and overall character of the area by careful and planned investing. This "rebirth" of the City of Delray Beach continues as strategic targeting of available resources (State, Local and Federal) provide improvements to those areas of the City which continue to require attention.
Between 1994 and 1999, it is estimated that there will be a need for 272 additional low/moderate rental units and 561 low/moderate owner units, indicating the need to concentrate more on owner-occupancy versus rental units. The public has expressed a desire to provide new homeownership opportunities for low and moderate income homebuyers and rehabilitation assistance to existing owners.
The city's housing market is characterized as follows: only 13% of occupied housing units are more than 30 years old with 34% of all occupied units constructed since 1980; over crowdedness occurs in less than 1% of occupied units; 47% of all owner-occupied housing units are valued at $100,000 or more; 35 percent of all owner occupied units are valued between $60,000 and $99,999; and 18% of all owner-occupied units are valued at less than $60,000; within the CDBG target area, 58% of all owner-occupied housing units have values less than $60,000; 38% of the units have values between $60,000 and $99,999 while only 3.6% of the units are valued above $100,000.
It is estimated that of the 272 additional low/moderate income families requiring rental housing by the year 2000, 45% will experience some cost burden and will need subsidy in order to afford housing within the City of Delray Beach. Although the future owners will not experience cost burden at the same rate as renters, 21% will be paying more than 30% of income for housing related expenses, still a significant number of families. The greatest needs and therefore the number one priority of City resources among the very low and low- income groups will be rehabilitation of existing owner-occupied units.
No reliable data is available about how many Homeless families/individuals there are within the City of Delray Beach. Most homeless persons of South County are "regional," that is they tend to move from bordering City-to-City. The greatest category of homeless persons within the City of Delray Beach is substance abusing homeless. These individuals are homeless due to drug addiction and the unwillingness of family members to provide support due to the abuse and attendant petty crimes (burglaries, theft) associated with them. Therefore, the City's efforts to combat homelessness will concentrate on drug-prevention activities.
The Delray Beach Housing Authority administers both the Section 8 and Public Housing Programs. There is a total of 1081 units in their inventory including 200 public housing units.
The Public Housing units have been identified by the PHA as requiring a number of upgrades including kitchen cabinets, bathtubs/showers, air-conditioning units, electrical wiring, hot water heaters and safety grab bars.
During Fiscal Year 1993-94, the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee reviewed the City policies, procedures, ordinances, land development regulations and comprehensive plan to detect existing barriers to affordable housing. An Affordable Housing Incentive Plan was developed as a result of this review and was approved by the City Commission on 3/8/94. The plan provides for waiving permit fees and allows for reductions of parking and set back requirements for affordable housing among other incentives.
The City contracts with HOPE, Inc., a non profit agency, to provide education and outreach activities for City residents. Additionally, landlord/tenant and discrimination complaints are referred to the Palm Beach County Office of Equal Opportunity which has begun the process of obtaining Federal Equivalency to handle such complaints.
The City purchased lead detection kits to be used in conjunction with the Housing Rehabilitation program, providing a low cost alternative to the Spectrum Analyzer which provides precision readings. If lead is detected through these kits, the State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services Environmental Division will provide precision testing services upon request. To date, there have been no lead detected in any of the rehabilitation jobs.
Having accomplished the goals of the "Visions 2000 assembly (infrastructure and public facilities' improvement), the "Visions 2005" assembly identified the following as the primary issues to be addressed over the next ten years: youth involvement, human relations, crime prevention, economic development, deteriorating neighborhoods, governmental coordination and public education.
The City of Delray Beach's Consolidated Plan is carried out through the Palm
Beach County HOME consortium and the City's Community Improvement Department.
The day to day responsibilities are coordinated by the Community Development
Coordinator who is responsible as staff to the Affordable Housing Committee
along with fostering partnerships with nonprofit agencies and financial
institutions. There are currently three local non profit housing agencies who
refer qualified homebuyers to the City for housing assistance. The Public
Housing Agency handles Section 8 and management of Carver Estates multiple
family development.
The long-term goal as identified by both Visions Assemblies (Visions 2000 and 2005) is the revitalization/stabilization of the City's neighborhoods. All available resources are directed toward that goal. The City Commission has committed to assist that effort by authorizing an annual allocation of over $200,000 which may be used as a Federal match for housing programs. The allocation also provides for one full time position devoted to neighborhood stabilization activities, including organizing neighborhood associations, coordinating special projects such as cleanup campaigns, and working with Community Police and grassroots organizations.
Housing problems within the City of Delray Beach primarily relate to the tremendous number of vacant lots within the CDBG Target Area. These lots are the result in many instances of the City's aggressive effort to eliminate dilapidated housing units through demolition during the early 1980's. Therefore, the overall objective is to provide incentives for the redevelopment of these areas, thereby restoring the tax base of the target area while providing homeownership opportunities to low and moderate income residents. Community Development Objectives are focused on Public Facility needs ( youth centers, parks/recreation facilities and child care centers), Infrastructure Improvements ( drainage, streets and sidewalk improvement) Public Service (youth services, substance abuse, employment training, crime prevention, fair housing and child care).
Having identified In-fill housing as a priority need, the City has formed a partnership with the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the Housing Authority (PHA), two non profits, a lending consortium and several private builders to carry out a project called the Delray Beach Renaissance. This project includes the construction of 80 single family units over a two- year period. It is funded through State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), HOME Investment Partnership, Local Bootstrap Rehab dollars, funding from the CRA and PHA, along with a grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank.
The Highest Priority housing needs are owners with cost burdens exceeding 30% to 50% of household income and those owners whose units have physical defects.
Homeless Needs Priorities shall include outreach assessment, permanent housing and transitional shelters for families.
Priorities for Public Facilities include Youth centers, Child Care centers, and Parks/recreation Facilities.
Priorities for Infrastructure Improvements include flood drain improvements and sidewalk improvements.
Priorities for Public Services include Youth services, Crime Prevention, Substance Abuse, Fair Housing and transportation.
Priorities for other Community Development needs include energy efficiency improvements and Code Enforcement.
Neighborhood revitalization, Economic Development, Community Redevelopment, Crime Prevention, Public Schools Improvements are all ways to create jobs and attract major employers to the area. Also, the City's emphasis on Child Care service for working parents of low income provides an avenue for alleviating poverty. While the Consolidated Plan meets Federal requirements for HOME and CDBG funding, its comprehensive approach to planning provides the City with an Anti Poverty Strategy as well.
The primary resources available for carrying out the Consolidated Plan are: CDBG, Program Income, HOME, State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), local Bootstrap Rehabilitation Funds, Section 8 and Public Housing. The City also participates in the Federally funded HOPE 3 program.
The City of Delray Beach Community Improvement Department is responsible for
coordinating this plan. There are several other housing providers (the CRA,
PHA, the TED Center and the Delray Beach CDC), lending institutions, Child Care
Centers and other social agencies who are formal partners with City in carrying
out the strategy described in the Consolidated Plan.
The City of Delray Beach one-year Action Plan details the proposed use of over 1.3 million dollars in Federal CDBG, HOME and local match. The major focus of these funds is:
All activities will take place within the Community Development Block Grant Target Area except for those activities associated with acquisition/rehab which will be City-Wide.
Palm Beach County Housing and Community Development is lead agency for HOME funding while the City of Delray Beach is lead agency for all other funding activities.
The plan allows for the rehabilitation of 21 owner-occupied housing units; Emergency Repair assistance to 10 households; Childcare assistance for 135 children; Crime Prevention services for 12,361 people (generally); Housing Counseling for 25 households; and low/mod jobs benefit to 20 people (generally).
MAP 2 depicts points of interest in the jurisdiction (East).
MAP 3 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas (West).
MAP 4 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas (East).
MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels (West).
MAP 6 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels (East).
MAP 7 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels (West).
MAP 8 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels (East).
MAP 9 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.
To comment on Delray Beach's Consolidated Plan, please contact:
Lula Butler
Director, Community Improvement
100 NW 1st Avenue
Delray Beach, FL 33444
PH: (407) 243-7204
