Asheville Reporter

The Asheville City Council approved the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Action Plan for submission to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at the apr 8 city council meeting. This approval marks the first step necessary to access the $225,010,000 allocation provided by HUD on January 16, 2025, following the December 2024 Congressional appropriation. The plan focuses on estimating the city’s unmet needs from Tropical Storm Helene and outlining how the funding will be utilized to address those needs.

Nikki Reid, Community and Economic Development Director, emphasized the importance of this funding, stating, “While this funding cannot address all the unmet needs in our community, it is a critical step toward our long-term recovery.”

The city engaged in a comprehensive public engagement process to incorporate community input into the development of the action plan. It organized six public input sessions in February and conducted a survey to identify priority areas for recovery. A draft action plan was published on March 4, initiating a 30-day public comment period. Additionally, the city held three public feedback sessions in March, covering the plan's areas focused on housing, economic revitalization, and infrastructure.

James Shelton, Community Development Division Manager for the city of Asheville, praised the efforts, saying, “This has been the most collaborative effort I have ever been involved with. From the help across divisions, departments, and recovery support groups within the City to our community who participated at every stage of this process.”

The public engagement resulted in over 300 comments, which influenced revisions to the plan. “It’s not just the city who gets to decide how these funds are spent; it’s our community as well. And one thing we continuously heard from them was the urgent need for small business support and how important affordable housing is to the community, especially with so many displaced by the storm,” Shelton noted.

In response to community feedback, the city adjusted the allocations initially set forth in the draft plan. Five million dollars originally designated for infrastructure was redistributed to increase funding for the small business support program, multi-family construction program, and the city’s planning efforts. “Another thing we continuously heard from our community was the opportunity this funding affords to set us up to be more resilient in the future. That’s going to take some planning, and we want to make sure we do it right,” explained Shelton.

The final program allocations in the plan are: $125,000,000 for infrastructure, $52,000,000 for economic revitalization, $31,000,000 for housing, $3,759,500 for planning, and $2,000,000 for public services. Administrative costs are covered by $11,250,500. Shelton indicated, “Each year, the City receives $1 million through the CDBG program, which our staff of five manages. We’re going to need to increase our capacity as a team in order to be responsible stewards of these funds and deliver them effectively to our community.”

Once submitted to HUD, the department has 45 days to review, request changes, and approve the action plan. The city anticipates receiving a grant agreement in the summer, with implementation expected to begin in the fall of 2025 and early 2026. Shelton expressed optimism about the plan's approval process, stating, “We’ve been in close coordination with HUD since the beginning of this process. We’ve worked with our federal partners as they’ve updated guidance and we’ve taken proactive steps to ensure a quick approval of this plan, and they’ve been impressed by our collaboration with the State and Buncombe County.”

For more information on the progress of the CDBG-DR project, updates are available on the city's recovery website.