City officials will discuss an expedited process to build new infill housing in Jamestown.

One item for discussion on tonight’s City Council agenda is a resolution for pre-permitting of housing sites in an attempt to streamline housing development to make the city more attractive to housing developers.

“The Department of Development is working to streamline the permitting process to create a more appealing development environment for for-profit and non-profit developers of affordable housing,” wrote Kacie Foulk, city deputy director of housing policy and development in a memo to council members included in this week’s City Council agenda. “The City of Jamestown is in great need of quality housing through new builds, rehabilitation, or conversion of existing structures to adapt to the housing needs. The Department of Development, with the assistance of the Zoning Board of Appeals would have specific sites permitted with applicable variances that could be utilized for a faster development process.”

Council members will also discuss a lease agreement with the Chautauqua Paddle Company to rent kayaks in McCrae Point Park.

Also up for discussion is the Fiscal Year 2025 Annual Action Plan for submission to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and these two plans are set to be discussed during Monday’s city council work session. Every year the Jamestown Urban Renewal Agency is required to submit the Annual Action Plan to HUD. The addition of the Five Year Consolidated Action Plan which is for the years 2025 to 2030 will lay the foundation for future Annual Action Plans. According to the council agenda, extensive public engagement and all received and recorded public comments are considered when preparing this plan for submission each year.

JURA, pending plan submission, has been granted $1,105,265.08 through the CDBG allocation and $313,259 through the 2025 HOME allocation. This comes to a total of $1,418,512.08.

CDBG Program activities for the city of Jamestown include; strategic code enforcement, small business development and technical assistance, owner-occupied emergency repair program, environmental assessment and remediation, community engagement or enhanced community safety, neighborhood target area infrastructure improvement program, ADA improvements in public facilities, and rehabilitation publicly or privately owned commercial/industrial buildings.

Also in the CDBG program are proposed blight remediation activities, which include; strategies for anti-blight initiatives and neighborhoods target area demolition. There is also a designated CDBG administration part of the program.

For the 2025 HOME program activities, the list includes; HOME owner-occupied rehabilitation, CHDO set aside, and HOME Redevelopment, along with HOME administration.

The council’s work session begins at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the police training room on the fourth floor of city hall. Council committees meet before the work session. The Housing Committee meets at 6:30 p.m. in the police training room withthe Finance Committee at 7 p.m. in the mayor’s fourth floor conference room, the Public Safety Committee in the police training room at 7 p.m. and the Public Works Committee in the Development Department conference room at 7 p.m.