SPRINGFIELD — The Office of Community Development is seeking public comment over the next couple weeks about draft plans that will likely guide the city’s future in housing and community development.
Springfield residents are invited to a public hearing on May 1 at 5 p.m. inside the Brightwood Public Library to share opinions on draft versions of the 2025-2029 five-year Consolidated Plan for Housing and Development; the 2025-2026 Annual Action Plan; the proposed Neighborhood Revitalization Strategy Area renewal and the Citizen Participation Plan.
According to the city, the five-year Consolidated Plan includes an assessment of housing, homelessness and community development needs in the city and outlines a strategy to address those needs.
Lori Santaniello, senior project manager for the Office of Community Development, said the city completes a consolidated plan every five years to guide its use of federal fund allocations that it receives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Usually amounting to $6.4 million per year, the money comes from four different grant programs: the Community Development Block Grant, the HOME Investment Partnerships Program, the Emergency Solutions Grant and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS.
According to the city, the funds must benefit low-to-moderate income residents in Springfield.
“The city incorporates input from community residents and stakeholders as it develops goals and strategies for the five-year plan,” Santaniello said of the process. “The consolidated plan outlines the ways the city will allocate CDBG, HOME, ESG and HOPWA funding to address the identified needs.”
Part of developing this five-year plan is creating an Annual Action Plan each year that outlines the projects and one-year funding allocation towards meeting the goals of the Consolidated Plan.
Because the city is awaiting Congress’s annual budget process, the 2025-2026 Annual Action Plan uses fiscal year 2024 allocations to predict expected funding amounts for the next five years.
According to the Annual Action Plan document, the city projects that it will annually receive approximately $3.7 million in CDBG funding, $1.5 million in HOME funding, $827,431 in HOPWA and $329,785 in ESG money.
But those projected federal allocations could shift depending on what HUD eventually provides in each program.
“Because the federal budgeting process is being completed later than ordinarily scheduled, the planning and discussion of the Year 1 Action Plan largely took place prior to HUD’s announcement of funding allocations,” according to the 2025-2026 Annual Action Plan. “If the actual allocation provided by HUD is higher or lower than the estimated budget being used for planning purposes, the budgets will be proportionally increased or decreased from the estimated funding levels to match actual allocation amounts.”
Depending on Congressional decisions, the city also expects to receive other resources each year, including an annual allocation of $9.3 million from HUD’s Continuum of Care program to provide housing and coordination of access to services for people experiencing homelessness.
Santaniello said residents can either visit the May 1 public hearing to share thoughts on any of the draft plans, or they can submit written comments to Santaniello by May 9 at 4 p.m. at lsibilia@springfieldcityhall.com.
Residents can also submit their comments by mail directed to Lori Santaniello, Office of Community Development, 1600 East Columbus Ave., Springfield, MA 01103.
Santaniello said that all comments will be included in the five-year consolidated plan, which the city will submit to HUD, along with the other three plans, on May 15 for their review/approval.
Readers can review the four draft plans on Springfield’s city website at springfield-ma.gov/comm-dev/community-development. The documents are in English and Spanish.
