Community Grants

The Community Services Division offers grants to empower local and tribal governments to improve planning. The grants can pay to update comprehensive plans, modernize land use ordinances, or augment other planning activities. The general fund grant program, administered by the community services division, is funded by the Oregon legislature. Changes to the grant program can arise based on changes in state priorities, the economy, and other factors. In general, the funding follows the state's two-year budget cycle and is part of DLCD's agency budget.

General Fund Grant Program

DLCD's General Fund grants are used primarily for Oregon communities comprehensive planning and plan updates. The fund is divided into functional categories and made available for specific types of projects. The Grants Allocation Plan provides guidance to DLCD for the department's grant allocation decisions within the General Fund grant program. The plan is developed by the Grants Advisory Committee with assistance from DLCD staff. The plan is then approved by the Land Conservation and Development Commission at the beginning of each biennium. The general fund grants must be awarded and spent within the biennium in which the plan is approved.

Priorities listed in the Grants Allocation Plan guide grant awards. Take a look at the plan to see which grant application types are most likely to receive funding.

For additional assistance, please reach out to your designated regional representative. The rep can help you apply for the planning grants, and can also assist you in determining the types of projects that are eligible for funding.

Technical Assistance Grants

The Technical Assistance (TA) grants are competitive awards to local communities that fund projects to update a comprehensive plan, to update local land use ordinances, or other planning compliance projects. The grants must align with the priorities provided in the Grant Allocation Plan.

The following links provide information and application materials for a TA grant:

• 2021-2023 TA Grant Packet Transmittal Memo
  
• 2021-2023 TA Grant Packet (Instructions for completing the Application)
• 2021-2023 TA Grant Application
• 2021-2023 TA Grant Application
  
• 2021-2023 TA Grant Equity Guidance

Applications for a 2021-2023 Technical Assistance grant are due to DLCD by October 1, 2021.

For assistance with preparing a grant application, or for questions about eligible projects, please contact your DLCD regional representative.

DLCD offered optional information sessions in August to provide guidance on TA Grant requirements and application processes, including details about new equity and inclusion requirements for applicants. You may view a recording of the information session below.

• Technical Assistance Grant Information Session Recording

The slide deck from this webinar is available here:

• Technical Assistance Grant Slide Deck
  

2021-2023 TA Grant Awards

Each link below is to the application and project description for a Technical Assistance grant application that was awarded funds for the 2021-2023biennium. In some cases, the grant award was for less than the entire amount of the request, but the full description remains in these files.

​Applicant	​Purpose	​Amount Awarded
​Canby	Economic Opportunity Analysis	$50,000
​Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (CIOC)	Central Oregon Emergency Services Training & Coordination Center (RESTCC)	​$50,000
​Detroit	Development Code & Audit Update	​$16,560
​Enterprise	Comprehensive Plan Update	​$50,000
​Gates	Development Code & Audit Update	​$12,240
Gold Hill	Municipal Code Update	​$25,000
​Grant County	​Housing Needs Analysis – Cities of Grant County	​$100,000
​Klamath Falls	Economic Opportunity Analysis, Employment Lands, Buildable Lands Inventory	​$55,000
Lebanon	Economic Opportunity Analysis	​$55,000
Madras	​Housing Needs Analysis	​$60,000
McMinnville	​Public Facility Equity - Lowest Income Neighborhoods	​$60,000
Metolius	Comprehensive Plan Update	​$35,000
Morrow County	​Willow Creek Valley Economic Opportunity Analysis & Strategy Growth	​$34,500
​Mosier	​Comprehensive Plan Update	​$10,000
​Newberg	​Newberg Clear & Objective Audit with Needed Housing	​$50,000
​North Bend	​Economic Opportunity Analysis	​$56,000
​Port of Newport	Building Port Capacity by Replacing Port Dock 7	​$50,000
​Portland	2040 Economic Opportunity Analysis BIPOC	​$50,000
​Rogue River	Review & Update Municipal Code - Land Use & Development	​$12,500
​Sandy	Comprehensive Plan Update	​$50,000
​Springfield	Natural Resources Inventory & Protections for UGB expansions	​$79,945
​Stanfield	​Comprehensive Plan & Development Code Updates	​$50,000
​Wasco County	​Comprehensive Plan Guidebook​	​$8​​,000

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Housing Grants (HB 2001 and HB 2003) - Request for Assistance

With House Bill 2001 and House Bill 2003 passed in the 2019 Legislative Session and signed into law by Governor Brown in August, 2019, the Legislature provided funds for local governments to begin to implement these bills. Please find specifics on each bill and the process to indicate a community's interest in applying for some of these funds below.

Housing Choices (HB 2001)

DLCD is to administer the allocation of $3.5M in assistance monies to local governments in implementing two aspects of House Bill 2001 to help ensure more housing choice in cities over 10,000, Metro cities over 1,000, and urbanized portions of Metro counties. Funds may be requested for code updates and an infrastructure-based time extension request.

The deadline to submit applications for Planning Assistance has passed, and projects are currently underway in jurisdictions that have requested funding. Please contact DLCD at housing.dlcd@dlcd.oregon.gov if you are interested in planning assistance updates or future assistance opportunities.

Housing Needs and Production (HB 2003)

DLCD was appropriated $1M to distribute to local governments for the purposes of completing housing needs analyses and housing production strategies. As written in the bill, DLCD may only grant money to cities with a population greater than 10,000.

• List of eligible cities

The deadline to submit applications for Planning Assistance has passed, and projects are currently underway in jurisdictions that have requested funding. Please contact DLCD at housing.dlcd@dlcd.oregon.gov if you are interested in planning assistance updates or future assistance opportunities.

House Bills 2001 & 2003 Planning Assistance – Awarded Jurisdictions

Grant Young Memorial Planning Assistance Grants

These grants are limited awards given to small cities with less than 2,500 people, and counties with less than 15,000. The community services division alerts local governments when they qualify for an award. No application is needed. Unused funds, if any, may be moved to other grant programs.

Columbia River Gorge Grants

These grants are available for Hood River, Wasco and Multnomah counties only, to aid planning activities specifically linked to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Plan.

Periodic Review Grants

This grant program awards communities with funds to complete tasks associated with their periodic review work program. The work program must have been started in the last 7 years (since 2007). The awards are not competitive, but an application is required. Contact a DLCD Regional Representative for details about application requirements and schedule/deadlines.

Dispute Resolution Grants

The Dispute Resolution grants are dedicated funds to help parties in land use and planning disputes before the Land Use Board of Appeals. This grant program is administered by the Oregon Consensus program at Portland State University. The total amount awarded for this program for 2021-2023 is $20,000.

For more information about these mediation services, please visit the Oregon Consensus website.

Other Grant Programs at DLCD

The Transportation and Growth Management Program and the Oregon Coastal Management Program also administer grant programs for Oregon communities. Both grant programs fund land use planning projects and are dependent on state and federal funds. 

• Transportation and Growth Management – Transportation Grants
• Oregon Coastal Management Program – Coastal Grants

Related Resources:

• DLCD Grant Info and Opportunities Overview
• Grants Advisory Committee
• 2019-21 Local Jurisdiction Grants
• Grant Programs Report from LCDC meeting of May 2016