Victoria is a community of approximately 60,000 residents, covering 29.5 square miles along the banks of the Guadalupe River. Known as the "South Texas Crossroads", Victoria is located at the intersection of U.S. Highways 59, 77 and 87. The city is within a two hour drive or less of Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi; and 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

Action Plan

In the Action Plan , the City sets forth a specific plan for activities that it expects to pursue using $1,043,000 of Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds during the local Program Year (October 1, 1995 to September 30, 1996). These funds will be spent primarily on public works, affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, public service agencies, and code enforcement activities.

Citizen Participation

The Victoria Affordable Housing Council (VAHC) is an advisory group formed by the City of Victoria and the Community Action Committee of Victoria, a local CHDO, to provide leadership, guidance and focus on affordable housing issues in the City. VAHC conducted two public hearings related to the Consolidated Plan. A public hearing to obtain the views of citizens on the housing needs of the City was conducted by VAHC on April 25, 1995. A summary of the Consolidated Plan and request for public comment was published in the local daily newspaper on July 16, 1995. The period for public comment was established in the summary of the Consolidated Plan and request for public comment published July 16, 1995. It established 5 p.m., August 15, 1995 as the close of the public comment period. During this time, copies of a draft Consolidated Plan were available for public review and comment. Also during this period, five additional public hearings were held to review the findings and strategies of the Consolidated Plan. The last of the public hearings was held by the Victoria City Council and presentation of all public review comments led to changes in the One Year Action Plan. Notices of each public hearing were published in the local daily newspaper prior to each hearing date. City administrators were authorized by City Council to submit the Consolidated Plan to HUD for approval on August 16, 1995.

The current growth rate is steady, averaging between 1 and 2 percent per year. In 1990, Victoria's median family income was $31,686; in 1995 it had risen to $36,900.

White, non-Hispanics, represents the largest ethnic group at 53.9 percent of the total City population in 1990. The Hispanic population represents the next largest ethnic group, with 37.8 percent of the 1990 population, followed by the Black population at 7.5 percent. Within the City are 54 Block Groups, averaging slightly more than 1,000 persons per Block Group. Of the 54 census tract block groups in the City of Victoria, 27 (exactly half) contained concentrations of racial/ethnic minorities. These block groups are generally located in the southern half of the City.

Conditions

Four of Victoria's largest five employers are in the petrochemical or aluminum business: DuPont, with 1,205 employees; Formosa Plastics, 1,150; Union Carbide, 1,110; and Alcoa, 1,100 (Victoria Independent School District is the largest employer with 1,950 employees) although none of these major industrial employers is located within Victoria (and only DuPont is located within Victoria County). Other major economic and employment sectors in Victoria include the banking, medical, construction, trades and services industries. Victoria has three full service hospitals.

Housing Needs

Throughout the assessment process, affordable housing was consistently named as a critical issue facing the Victoria community for the next five years. Factors such as tight single- family sales and rental markets, available (developed affordable) land in the City, rehabilitation issues and the lack of homebuyer education, combine to create a difficult environment for Victoria's lower income residents.

Three critical housing needs are identified in the Consolidated Plan: Constructing new affordable housing, rehabilitating the existing housing stock, and increasing homeownership.

Housing Market Conditions

The median sale price of an existing home in Victoria in 1994 was $71,059, a 19.8 percent increase over the median sales price in 1991. The median value of a new single-family residence in 1994 was $103,973, a 95% increase over the median 1991 value.

The City of Victoria had 21,973 dwelling units in 1990, 19,770 (90% percent) of which were occupied. Of the occupied units, 8,282 (42 percent) were rental units and 11,488 (58 percent) were owner-occupied.

About 3,989 (18 percent) of the total dwelling units in the City of Victoria were classified as substandard in 1990. Of these 3,790 (95 percent) were suitable for rehabilitation.

Affordable Housing Needs

A very small percentage of new housing starts were within the price range available to the City's households with less than the median family income. Since the "oil bust" of 1984- 1988, housing developers have successfully targeted the higher value end of the housing spectrum and replaced high volume-low margin housing with low volume-high margin product. No recent multifamily housing construction has resulted in very low vacancy rates.

The 1990 census data indicates that among all households in Victoria, 24 percent, or one of every four households, suffered a cost burden. Cost burden is defined as housing costs, including utilities, in excess of 30 percent of household income. Severe cost burden is defined as housing costs, including utilities, in excess of 50 percent of household income. Among those households with less than 30 percent of the City's median family income, about 16 percent of all the City's households, 66 percent, or two of every three households, faced a cost burden, with 42 percent of the households facing a severe cost burden.

Homeless Needs

The City of Victoria does not presently acknowledge homelessness as a serious problem. The actual number of homeless in the City is not known; obtaining an accurate assessment of this group is extremely difficult. The U.S. Census conducted a count of the homeless one particular day and night in every metropolitan community in the spring of 1990 to determine how many families and individuals were homeless at that point in time. This analysis was not intended as an accurate count of the total population of homeless persons. Nevertheless, in Victoria this effort resulted in identification of 7 individuals in emergency shelters or shelters for abused women. The survey found 3 homeless individuals visible in street locations.

Public and Assisted Housing Needs

Public housing refers to housing financed by the Federal or State government owned and managed by a local public housing authority. The public housing authority for the City of Victoria its the Victoria Housing Authority. The Housing Authority of the City of Victoria, Texas, manages 321 public housing units within the City. This represents 1.5 percent of all the housing units in the City, and 5.8 public housing units per 1,000 population. The Victoria Housing Authority provides 277 certificates and 69 vouchers. Over the past year, the number of vacant units has been in the range of 1 to 2 percent, or 3 to 6 units at any given point of time. The Victoria Housing Authority does not anticipate that any public housing or Section 8 publicly assisted housing units will be lost over the period covered by the Consolidated Plan.

Barriers to Affordable Housing

The City-wide policies listed earlier in the Consolidated Plan have not proven to have a negative impact on the continued development of affordable housing. Nor have these policies created a discriminatory environment for members of a racial or ethnic minority group. Compared to other communities, Victoria's policies and fees are reasonable. For the most part, the high cost of housing has stemmed from the high costs of land, construction, and building materials. Nonetheless, the City acknowledges that much still must be done to increase affordable housing opportunities. As a result, the City will continue to re-evaluate all development fees, regulations and program policies and procedures to determine whether any further revisions may be appropriate to enhance affordable housing for low-income residents of the City. City Staff have met with local developers and will review Planned Unit Development (PUD) regulations to see if cost factors related to lot size, density, street widths can be modified to reduce dwelling unit costs.

Fair Housing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reviewed the City of Victoria's fair housing activities in late 1992 and found them to be in substantial conformance with established guidelines.

Lead-Based Paint

The City of Victoria planning department will continue its efforts to implement a Geographic Information System (GIS) which will provide the ability to organize data on a city-wide basis. A comprehensive housing quality survey, starting with those areas of the City felt to be most "at risk" for the hazards of lead-based paint poisoning, will be conducted to assemble a useful data base. Upon completion of a data base, efforts will be made to secure the funds necessary to address lead-based paint hazard reduction. All rehabilitation programs will include efforts to eliminate or mitigate the hazards of lead-based paint.

Community Development Needs

Community development objectives include the need for affordable housing, public works and parks improvements in lower income areas, as well as the need for economic and employment opportunities in disadvantaged and underserved neighborhoods.

Coordination

The focus of the activities to enhance coordination between public and assisted housing providers and private and governmental health, mental health, and service agencies will be the Victoria Affordable Housing Council (VAHC). The VAHC includes representatives from most supportive housing providers in the City and provides a forum for the interchange of data, information, and ideas.

Housing and Community Development Objectives and Priorities

Although specific subgroups may have problems that are unique to their populations, housing problems in the City of Victoria are primarily related to low income and housing stock age problems. Housing priorities and strategies reflect those conditions. Housing objectives focus on the supply of affordable housing. Community development objectives focus on economic development.

Housing Priorities

The following housing priorities were identified during the Consolidated Plan process:

• To preserve and rehabilitate the City's existing single family housing stock, primarily for extremely low, very low and low income families (0-80 percent of median income).
• To improve the living conditions for extremely low, very low, and low income renters (0-80 percent of median income), and to improve services to the City's residents that become homeless in order to return these families and individuals to independent living in permanent housing.
• To improve housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income (50-95 percent of median) for homeownership, particularly for first time homebuyers.
• To preserve, provide and improve social services for residents with special needs, particularly the elderly, the physically disabled and children who are troubled or at risk of inadequate housing.

Notwithstanding these goals, the City of Victoria realizes that its funds for housing and other community needs are very limited. Therefore, the City plans to concentrate its efforts on programs which emphasize cost effectiveness while achieving maximum benefit to the lower income community.

Non-Housing Community Development Priorities

The City's non-housing Community Development Priorities are to expand economic development and employment opportunities in the community, particularly for lower income residents.

Anti-Poverty Strategy

The City has no specific programs or policies to reduce the number of households with incomes below the poverty line. The City's efforts through its rehabilitation programs to increase the number of decent housing units available to low income households and control the rents that can be charged in those units to less than the affordability threshold will have a positive impact on some households with incomes below the poverty line by improving housing quality without increasing cost burden and reducing cost burden for tenants of rent controlled units.

Housing and Community Development Resources

The primary Federal resources include CDBG, Section 8, and public housing. Resources available from the State include the HOME program. With the annual CDBG allocation, the City has provided funds for local housing programs for the past 12 years. In addition, the City actively pursues the expansion of economic opportunities for its residents. The Victoria Chambers of Commerce and the Victoria Economic Development Corporation expend considerable effort to create an environment attractive to new businesses and supportive of the growth of existing ones. Private programs include local lending institutions' affordable housing programs and a wide range of nonprofit initiatives.

Coordination of Strategic Plan

The focus of the activities to enhance coordination between public and assisted housing providers and private and governmental health, mental health, and service agencies will be the Victoria Affordable Housing Council. The VAHC includes representatives from most supportive housing providers in the City and provides a forum for the interchange of data, information, and ideas. As the City administers CDBG funds to programs and organizations, the Planning Department will pay particular attention to any shortcomings in the delivery and management of these resources. Any gaps that occur will be discussed in subsequent Action Plans.

Description of Key Projects

• Maintown IV. This activity involves replacement of water, wastewater and drainage systems and improvement to streets, sidewalks, curbs and gutters. Area involved is S. Wheeler from Water Street to Bottom Street and the 500 block of E. Third, Second, South, Scott and Bates Streets. $513,500
• Brownson Street Park Project. This activity involves construction and installation of fence around Brownson Street Park for rail safety reasons. $8,000
• Blight Abatement. This activity involves clearance of debris and removal of dilapidated structures from vacant property. $42,580
• Interim Assistance. These activities are undertaken on an interim basis in areas exhibiting objectively determinable signs of physical deterioration where the City has determined that immediate action is necessary to arrest the deterioration and that permanent improvements will be carried out as soon as practicable or to alleviate emergency conditions threatening the public health and safety. $10,000
• Code Enforcement. This activity involves preserving and protecting existing neighborhoods against the harmful effects of deterioration caused by neglect and deferred maintenance. $10,000
• Pre-Weatherization. This activity involves housing rehabilitation in conjunction with the Community Action Committee of Victoria's "Weatherization Program" to improve the condition of homes so that they are eligible for "Weatherization Program" assistance. $48,800
• Exterior Paint. The program provides for the exterior painting of the homes of eligible applicants. $11,200
• Mortgage Assistance Program. This activity provides households which are otherwise qualified with necessary down payment and closing cost assistance. $30,000
• Single-Family Home Construction. This activity involves the stimulating new affordable single-family home construction through second lien gap financing. $45,990
• Neighborhood Revitalization. This activity involves construction and installation of park equipment and improvements at Hopkins Park. $62,580
• Public Service Agency Funding Program. This program provides grants of up to $10,000 each to public services agencies. $52,150

Locations

Maintown IV, the Brownson Street Park Project and the Neighborhood Revitalization are all in entitlement areas (i.e., census tracts in which over 50% of the households are low to moderate income households). Almost all of the code enforcement, interim assistance and clearance activities will also be in entitlement areas. The other programs are on a citywide basis with the eligibility requirement that program beneficiaries must be low to moderate income persons. Historically, beneficiaries of these programs tend to reside in entitlement areas; although geographic location is not a determinant of eligibility.

Housing Goals

Highlights of the City of Victoria's housing goals for the first year of the Consolidated Plan include the preservation of existing affordable housing stock through preventative maintenance and rehabilitation programs, increasing the number of affordable housing units through new construction programs, and expanding homeownership opportunities to low income households through mortgage and closing costs assistance programs.

Maps

MAP 2 depicts points of interest and low-moderate income areas.

MAP 3 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and minority concentration levels.

MAP 4 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, and unemployment levels.

MAP 5 depicts points of interest, low-moderate income areas, unemployment levels, and proposed HUD funded projects.

MAP 6 depicts Neighborhood Segments and streets with proposed HUD funded projects.

MAP 7 depicts Neighborhood Segments and streets with proposed HUD funded projects.

MAP 8 depicts Neighborhood Segments and streets with proposed HUD funded projects.

Mr. Trann Lackey
City Planner
PH: (512) 572-2795