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Community planning and development grants

Grants  ›  Planning grants

Metro's Community Planning and Development Grants provide cities and counties with resources necessary to prepare land for development and jobs and achieve vibrant and sustainable communities.

The Metro Council established a competitive process to provide planning grants to local governments to support regional and local planning that is required to make land ready for development after its inclusion in the urban growth boundary.

Partners throughout the region work hard to build great communities and put long-term plans into action. Cities and counties have visions for their communities but often lack the resources necessary to plan for development that achieves the shared values of supporting sustainable and vibrant communities, safe and walkable neighborhoods, and good jobs. Metro works collaboratively with local governments and the development community to support the planning necessary to achieve the region's shared goals of the 2040 Growth Concept.

Learn more about the 2040 Growth Concept

Since 2006, Metro has awarded $10 million for numerous projects across the region that support planning for new communities, redevelopment of existing communities, and development of corridors and industrial and employment areas.

The grants are funded by revenues from a regional construction excise tax. This tax is applied to construction permits and is based on the value of the permits.

Learn more about the regional construction excise tax

Learn more about the planning projects Metro has already supported with these grants

New planning projects are being solicited

Metro is soliciting applications for its next cycle of grants to fund projects that serve communities and economic development within the urban growth boundary. In addition, up to 50 percent of grant funds will be awarded for concept planning in areas added to the urban growth boundary since 2009 and in urban reserves, preparing urban reserves to be ready for development when needed for inclusion into the urban growth boundary.

Local governments (cities and counties) are invited to apply, either as sole applicants or in partnership with other government entities, non-profit organizations, or businesses. Metro anticipates $3.7 million will be awarded in this new grant cycle.

Begin the application process with a letter of intent

To apply for a community planning and development grant, prospective grant applicants must submit a letter of intent. The letter describes the proposed project and how it serves the community and the region's goals for development that achieves sustainable and vibrant communities. In addition, the letter of intent includes the requested grant amount, applicability of the project to the evaluation criteria, and proposed milestones. The deadline for submitting a letter of intent was Feb. 15, 2013. A letter of intent must have been submitted before preparing a full application.

Continue the application process by submitting a full application

The second step in the application process is the submission of a  full application to Metro. The deadline for submitting the full application is Thursday, April 18, 2013. Applications not submitted by the deadline will not be reviewed.

Evaluation process

Metro staff will review applications for eligibility and forward eligible applications to an evaluation committee appointed by Metro's chief operating officer.

Evaluation Committee: The members of the grant evaluation committee will support the objective of the community planning and development grants program by using their experience, expertise and insight to provide a quality assessment of the development potential of each grant request.

The committee, made up of members with expertise ranging from economic development to real estate and infrastructure finance, will review and score the applications and submit funding recommendations to the chief operating officer. The chief operating officer will evaluate the committee’s recommendations and submit them along with her own recommendations to the Metro Council. The Metro Council will review the recommendations, select applications for funding, determine the level of funding and award the grants. Final decisions on the next round of grant awards are expected to be made in June 2013.

Grant applicants are requested not to discuss pending or potential grant proposals with members of the screening committee outside of the grant evaluation meetings to avoid a possible conflict of interest.

Evaluation criteria

Projects funded by Community Planning and Development Grants are required to demonstrate that they can:

• Achieve on-the-ground development or re-development outcomes
• Benefit the region by achieving established regional development goals and outcomes
• Facilitate development or re-development in or near centers, corridors, main streets, station centers, employment areas or industrial areas, and areas where concept planning has been completed in support of the 2040 Growth Concept
• Implement requirements of Title 11 of Metro’s Urban Growth Management Functional Plan, which guides long-range planning for urban reserves and areas added to the urban growth boundary (if applicable) Learn more about the Urban Growth Management Functional Plan
• Demonstrate that projects will meet local needs and contribute to regional needs
• For those projects within urban reserves or areas added to the urban growth boundary since 2009, demonstrate commitment by county, city and service providers for successful planning and adoption of plans
• Demonstrate that projects can be replicated in other locations
• Leverage outcomes across jurisdictions and create opportunity for private and public investment
• Demonstrate matching funds potential
• Further the equitable distribution of funds based on collections of revenues and planning resource needs
• Demonstrate public involvement

An application handbook and other application materials for the current grant cycle are available to download from the links below.

Informational Materials

• Community planning and development grants brochure (16 pages) 3.2M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published October 5, 2012
• Administrative rules for Construction Excise Tax and Community Planning and Development Grants Program (14 pages) 51K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published January 11, 2013
• Title 11 of the Urban Growth Management Functional Plan, relating to planning for new urban areas (excerpt from Metro Code Chapter 3.07) (8 pages) 23K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published January 11, 2013
• Map of urban reserves and UGB expansions since 2009 1.5M Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published January 11, 2013

Application Materials

• Application Handbook (25 pages) 355K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published January 11, 2013
• Cover Sheet for Letters of Intent or Full Applications 140K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published January 11, 2013
• Match Form 89K Adobe Acrobat PDF | Published January 11, 2013
• Budget Form 25K MS Excel | Published January 11, 2013