Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing Program

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is providing a grant opportunity to help local governments develop and implement policies that create and preserve housing options by breaking down barriers to zoning reform. This grant opportunity is the Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing Program, in short, it is referred to as the PRO Housing grant.

HUD has developed a PRO Housing grant website to provide information about this opportunity.

Application Information

Kodiak Island Borough staff have developed an application which proposes a multi-phase project to accomplish the following: 

Phase 1 would provide an important basis for the community’s update to the comprehensive plan and an incremental approach to zoning code reform by conducting a review of both for identifying barriers to housing choice and affordable housing. The second part of phase one would be the development of a housing element to the comprehensive plan. This element would build on the first part of the project by recommending changes in policy and regulations to identify priority areas of housing as part of the future land use map and create policies in the comprehensive plan that support housing choice, affordability, and accessibility. In addition, this housing element would recommend changes to the zoning code to facilitate housing choice and affordability. These changes would build on amendments like the ADU ordinance to increase flexibility within single-family residential zones to allow more diverse housing types. 

Phase 2 of the project would look to address issues not related to policy or land use regulations. This second phase would focus on a housing strategic plan that could guide partner agencies and the community in resolving the other barriers to housing choice and affordability. 

Phase 3 would be a pilot housing project that would use the policies created in the comprehensive plan, changes to the zoning regulations, and the tools created from the housing strategic plan to address housing choice and affordability to create a housing project that could be replicated in other areas of the community.

To review the grant application please click on the following link KIB Pro Housing Grant Draft Application