While most local municipalities have been slow to respond to the dire need for growth in their communities, this summer Governor Kathy Hochul rolled out the next major initiative of the New York Housing Compact—a plan she introduced last year to incentivize the building of 800,000 new homes in New York over the next decade.
Spending plan, Fiscal Year 2022
It’s estimated that from 2019 to 2020, Fresno’s homeless population increased by almost 70%. City Manager Tommy Esqueda is certain that number has continued to grow this year.
“We don t have enough housing capacity available to get folks out of the shelters we’ve invested in, and so we have more people on the street,” he said.
During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Esqueda presented a $25 million housing development plan for the next fiscal year.
That includes potential tiny home villages, and the state program, Project HomeKey which funds the purchase and renovation of existing motels for housing units. There are currently four Project HomeKey motels operating near Parkway Drive and Highway 99.