SCAG awards $25M to help Inland Empire meet housing goals

The Inland Empire has received the largest share of funding under a Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) program that will help local jurisdictions meet their housing production goals through infrastructure investment.

SCAG’s Regional Council has approved nearly $25 million in infrastructure improvement grants to seven projects in the IE. In all, 12 projects in Southern California were awarded a total of $35 million under the Regional Utilities Supporting Housing Pilot Program (RUSH), part of SCAG’s efforts to fund planning, financing and infrastructure to accelerate housing production through SCAG’s Regional Early Action Planning (REAP 2.0) framework. SCAG has awarded more than $192 million in REAP funds to projects throughout Southern California in the past year.

“We’re thrilled to see innovative and critical projects within the Inland Empire receive this kind of funding as we work collaboratively to address Southern California’s housing crisis. The Inland Empire has emerged as one of the most dynamic population and economic centers in California. Programs such as RUSH fill a critical need by helping our local jurisdictions overcome barriers to build more housing,” said Curt Hagman, First Vice President of SCAG and a San Bernardino County Supervisor.

The following is a list of awardees within the IE:

RIVERSIDE COUNTY

City of Desert Hot Springs. Downtown and Palm Dr. Corridor Infill Development Sewer Area Study ($500,000). This grant award will fund a sewer area study for Downtown Desert Hot Springs and Palm Drive to support new infill development of local affordable housing while promoting connectivity and sustainability. The study’s boundaries include newly-zone mixed use and high density residential vacant land, as well as the Green Day Village project recently approved for a 608-unit multi-family housing development.

County of Riverside. Cabazon Infrastructure Plan ($997,500). The county will conduct an infrastructure assessment for the unincorporated community of Cabazon to help coordinate the expansion of utility infrastructure necessary for up to 1,484 housing units of high-density residential development.

Soboba Luiseño Indian Tribe. Stormwater Drainage Project ($6.1 million). This capital project will construct a storm water collection system to collect runoff resulting from rain flow from the foothills of the Soboba Indian Reservation. Catastrophic flood events have impacted existing homes and stopped future home development from continuing in the area.

City of Palm Desert. Flood Control Infrastructure for Housing Need ($8,000,000). This project will expand the city’s utility capacity to mitigate future severe flooding impacting future and existing housing developments along the I-10 corridor in an area that has experienced recent flood disasters. The project will support the development of 3,386 units currently approved and 1,663 units under review.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY

City of Upland. City of Upland Affordable Housing Utilities Planning ($303,500). This project will produce design and engineering plans for two utility projects needed for the development of 174 affordable housing units in Historic Downtown Upland.

San Bernardino County. Bloomington Sewer Extension ($6.5 million). This project will extend the existing sewer infrastructure and increase capacity for recently upzoned areas for existing and future housing developments. Bloomington, San Bernardino County’s most populated unincorporated community, has minimal active service connections and several parcels not currently supported by the local sanitation district.

City of Rialto. Water Supply Well City 3A for Regional Housing Project ($2.5 million). This project will equip an existing unused water well with a treatment system to provide an additional local water source. When completed, the system will pump treated water into an existing water distribution pipeline and provide water to the entire Rialto Water Service Area, including 4,994 newly-zoned housing units identified in Rialto’s 6th Cycle Housing Element.