The city of Green Bay is looking for thoughts and concerns about housing and development as part of its second and final public input meeting that will help inform neighborhood and affordable housing development.
City staff are drafting an Annual Action Plan for 2025 and a Consolidated Strategy and Plan for 2025-2029, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development asks from local governments receiving federal housing grants. Both documents will act as frameworks to address local housing needs, with the annual action plan detailing specific programs for the coming year.
The city’s anticipated public input meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. July 3 in Room 604 of City Hall, 100 N. Jefferson St. An option to listen in over Zoom will also be available.
Resident input “will directly influence how federal funds are prioritized and spent in Green Bay neighborhoods,” according to a news release from the city.
Housing affordability is the area’s biggest need. The city’s most recent five-year housing plan outlined goals that included building more high-quality, affordable housing; teaching residents fair housing practices and rights; and increasing general public services for vulnerable residents, like children, seniors, and those without a home.
The city held its first public input meeting to create a new housing plan on Nov. 20, during which the few residents who spoke talked about competing interests of wanting fewer rentals and more homeownership.
Following this second public hearing, city staff will decide what kind of housing activities the city will prioritize in the next five years, as well as create a budget with the federal housing grants received for 2025, according to Will Peters, neighborhood development specialist.
Then, the proposed budget will need approval from the Redevelopment Authority and the City Council, and be open for a 30-day public comment period before it will be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Peters said.
Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-834-4250 or jlin@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay wants your views on affordable housing, neighborhood development; meeting set for this week
Reporting by Jesse Lin, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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