Invest In Neighborhoods Leadership Manual

Leadership Manual

Government Relations and Other Partnerships

City of Cincinnati Department of Community Development and Planning
Summary Description of Services

FOR INFORMATION ON ANY OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD SERVICES PROGRAMS, CALL OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE INFORMATION LINE -- 352-6146.
(as of January, 2006)

Mission and Goals

Vision:
The Department of Community Development and Planning is a unified high performance team pro-actively engaged in developing Cincinnati's neighborhoods.

Mission:
To partner in developing vibrant neighborhoods utilizing cutting edge programs and services in a pro-active focused, customer friendly manner.

Goals:

We act as a catalyst for neighborhood improvement.
We are knowledgeable, accountable and highly motivated.
We utilize cuffing-edge programs and services to enable neighborhood development.

Organizational Change and Brief History

The Department of Community Development and Planning (the Department) has undergone many organizational and work program changes. In the last 10 years, the Department has seen the following major organizational restructuring:

1995 - Neighborhood Housing and Conservation and Human Services merged to form the Department of Neighborhood Services.

2002 - Neighborhood Services and Economic Development merged to form the Department of Community Development.

2003 - Community Development is assigned functions of City Planning, Employment and Training (now Workforce Development) and Contract Compliance and renamed the Department of Community Development and Planning.

2005 - Realignment of the Department's staff and functions to streamline programs and services as well as to focus on specific needs in Cincinnati's neighborhoods

Today the Department is composed of four functional areas: Planning and Historic Conservation, Housing, Business Development, and Operations. The Operations Division handles grant management, and contract compliance.

Description of the Core Services and Functions of Department Divisions

The Planning Division is responsible for the regulation of land uses within the City and oversight of Historic properties and Districts. Additionally, the Planning Division is responsible for:

Administration of the Zoning Code.
Administration of Subdivision Rules and Regulations, and other land use regulatory processes.
Staffing the City Planning Commission.
Providing professional guidance to property owners, the City and the Historic Conservation Board concerning certificates of appropriateness and other actions affecting the City's historic resources.
Staffing the Historic Review Board.
Data Services, including the collection, formatting, monitoring, maintaining, mapping and dissemination of statistical data/information to support information-based decision making at Departmental, City Manager, Mayor, and City Council levels, as well as support data needs of citizens, neighborhoods and developers.
Facilitating Strategic Community and Urban Renewal Plans as directed by the Administration and City Council.
Providing staff support and participation in interdepartmental processes and organizations such as Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI), Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) Expansion Project, Hamilton County Planning Partnership, and facilitation for the Cincinnati Public Schools.
Managing Coordination of Pre-development Conferences.
Providing customer service at the Permit Center.

The Housing Services Division administers programs to improve housing quality for city residents. Programs include:

Homeowner Rehabilitation Loan Program - provides low interest rate loans to homeowners.
Emergency Repair Program - provides grants for winterizing and minor repairs for qualified low-income homeowners.
Down Payment Assistance Program provides grants to assist first time homebuyers.
Neighborhood Market Rate Housing provides financial assistance for new or rehabilitated housing without income restrictions.
Cincinnati Homeowner Infill and Rehabilitation Program (CHIRP) - provides deferred forgivable loans for rehab and new construction of 1 to 3 units of single-family housing to sell to third party buyers.
Rental Rehabilitation Program - provides deferred, forgivable, cash flow or amortized loans for landlords to rehabilitate their property containing three or more units for rental to low and moderate-income residents.
Lead Abatement Program - improves the City's Housing Stock and protects our citizens by detection and elimination of lead hazards from inhabited housing units.
Continuum of Care - provides financial assistance for housing and supportive services to special needs populations.
Neighborhood Support Program - provides grants to community councils for small neighborhood improvements projects.
Tenant Rights Representation Program - provides legal resources to low-income tenants to ensure that their residences are safe, decent and sanitary.
Fair Housing Program - ensures enforcement of fair housing laws providing open and fair access to housing for all citizens.
Receivership Program - fights urban blight through court intervention on vacant and abandoned buildings.
Tax Abatement Program - provides incentives for residential renovation and new construction.
Emergency Mortgage Assistance - provides one-time mortgage assistance to eligible moderate and low- income homeowners facing foreclosure due to circumstances beyond their control (job loss, illness, death of primary wage earner, etc.).
Tenant Counseling & Placement - provides counseling to participants in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program about housing opportunities in the County area. This is a method of opening up the housing choices and to offset the concentration of poverty.
Housing Advisory Council (HAC) - the HAC is a housing policy recommending board appointed by the Mayor. Its primary function as directed by
City Council is to recommend and develop programs to address the rental
needs of low-income families in Hamilton County, including the City of
Cincinnati, and to secondarily focus on the identification of methods and
programs to increase market rate rental and homeownership opportunities
in the city of Cincinnati. In October 2004, City Council approved and filed
the recommendations of the HAC. The recommendations fell into three
categories: Homeownership (retain & create); Target Rental Units (reduce
concentration); and Build Public Awareness.
Tap and Permit Fee Assistance - provides grants to Cincinnati Habitat
for Humanity for tap/permit fees related to construction of single-family
homeownership units.
Neighborhood Capacity Building and Technical Assistance - provides assistance to build and strengthen the capacity of community development corporations (CDCs).
Blue Print for Success - a pilot partnership program between the City of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency (CAA) based on the youth-build model to help at risk youth ages 16-24 years receive high school diploma/GED and construction skills as they revitalize some of Cincinnati's houses.

The Business Development Division facilitates the retention of jobs and the creation of new employment opportunities, particularly for economically disadvantaged individuals; works to expand the City's tax base through commercial and industrial development, particularly in the City's Neighborhood Business Districts; and strives to diversify the regional economy by providing assistance to Small Businesses. Specific programs include:

Neighborhood Business District Improvements - provides public improvements to complement private investment within a neighborhood business district.
Industrial Redevelopment / SPUR Program - works to return vacant, contaminated or underutilized land to productive use.
Tax Credits, Exemptions and Abatements - provides incentives to business for creating jobs.
Acts as a liaison among developers, businesses and government.
Provides Small Business Loans and Capacity Building Services.
The Operations/Administration Division maintains the Department's financial reporting and control system, as well as insures compliance with all contractual requirements for grants received or managed by the Department. Specifically:
Performs Departmental budgeting, human resources functions and accounting functions.
Manages Contract Compliance City-wide.
Implements the City's Human Services Policy.
Facilitates funding for improvements to social service and public facilities.
Provides accountability and performance monitoring.
Implements the City's Small Business Enterprise (SBE) program.