The city is changing the goal for a community project in Newhall after the federal government said the city’s original plan violated the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s floodplain policies.
The city has received about $1.4 million each of the past few years from Community Development Block Grant funds to support low- and moderate-income residents’ housing and programming needs.
On Tuesday, the Santa Clarita City Council agenda called for the council to approve a “substantial amendment” to the city’s previous two action plans, in addition to its awarding of funds to local nonprofit organizations from the federal fund.
The City Council approved the changes through a 4-0 approval of the consent calendar. Councilman Jason Gibbs recused himself, citing potential conflicts with the nonprofit organizations he was involved in, some of which might receive the CDBG funds.
Gibbs said Wednesday that he is involved in the advisory boards for the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club and the Salvation Army, so he precluded himself from the discussion out of “an abundance of caution.”
The city’s intention now is to shift the federal funds from the Newhall Community Center to an acceptable project site, which city staff members identified as Creekview Park, a facility down the street in Newhall, which also serves low- and moderate-income residents in the surrounding area, on Park Street.
Tracy Sullivan, community preservation manager, said prior to the meeting that a new project for Creekview has not yet been identified. She added that the city was still planning to make the improvements to the Newhall Community Center, but a new funding source has not yet been identified or approved.
“Through the city’s 2024-25 and 2025-26 CDBG Annual Action Plans, a total of $1,448,452 has been allocated toward playground and facility improvements at the Newhall Community Center. However, the project was deemed ineligible in 2025 after initiating an environmental review and consultation with (the Department of Housing and Urban Development),” according to the council’s agenda. “Effectively, the 2024-25 and 2025-26 Annual Action Plans are being amended as part of the City Council action to include additional funding for the Creekview Park Improvement project.”
City officials said the current plan was approved in May 2024, with plans through 2029, and it “prioritizes the following areas: affordable housing, improvements to public infrastructure in low-income areas, services addressing homelessness and prevention, supportive human services, impacts of COVID-19 on lower-income residents, and program administration.”
Request approved
For the programming portion of the CDBG funds in the city’s Annual Action Plan, city staff recommended the following: just under $40,000 for the Child & Family Center’s domestic violence shelter; almost the same amount to the senior center, for access services; $39,000 to both Family Promise and Single Mothers Outreach, for “household support” and “Moving to Thrive” programs, respectively. Action, the largest substance-abuse treatment program in the Santa Clarita Valley, received $30,000 for programming to help at-risk youth and families. Carousel Ranch, which provides equine therapy for special needs children, received $25,000 to support its Project SCV and Ready to Work programs.
The city awarded about $427,000 in CDBG-CV funds, money intended to “prevent, prepare for, and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. These funds support housing, economic and public facility projects for low- and moderate-income populations, specifically targeting pandemic-related impacts,” according to the HUD website. The city also has $807,172 in remaining CDBG-CV funds, which are set to expire in September 2027.
From the CDBG-CV funds, the two biggest recipients were the local homeless shelter and the local foster youth initiative, with each receiving nearly $60,000.
Bridge to Home is using the funds to support a homeless intake specialist; and Fostering Youth Independence is seeking support for case management.
The Salvation Army is receiving $50,000 for rent and utility assistance. The YMCA is planning to receive $42,000 for child care scholarships. Family Promise is expected to receive $40,000 for household support.
Request denials
There were four organizations that were recommended for a denial of funding from staff: a request from the NAACP for $14,000 to support the Youth Civic Education and Literacy Scholarship Program; a request for a half-million dollars from God’s Glorious Praise Ministries, to help low- and moderate-income residents impacted by COVID-19; the Greater Los Angeles Agency on Deafness Inc., which was denied a $107,150 request for SCV Deaf Equity and Access Facilitation (SCV DEAF); and the Santa Clarita Music and Dance Collaborative, which requested $25,000 for its Innovation Show Choir program.
