Onondaga County approves 2026 HUD grant plan for community projects

The Onondaga County Legislature’s Planning and Economic Development Committee approved the county’s 2026 Action Plan for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, putting federal housing and community-development dollars back into a mix of projects that will touch Syracuse and municipalities across the county. One of the most concrete uses already on the table is a HOME CHDO request tied to 707 Otisco St. in Syracuse, where the county plans to support construction of a single-family home.

The decision keeps Onondaga County moving through the federal housing framework that governs its annual spending plans under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. The county’s 2025-2029 Consolidated Plan and 2025 Action Plan were already opened for public review and comment under the Onondaga County Citizen Participation Plan, giving residents a formal chance to weigh in before the county sends its annual HUD application forward.

County planning work tied to that broader agenda has stretched beyond housing alone. The Onondaga County planning office has said recent efforts have included the county’s first comprehensive housing study, more than 10 grants to local municipalities for comprehensive planning and zoning projects, local waterfront revitalization plans, urban master plans, multiple trail feasibility studies and a countywide Safe Streets for All action plan. In practical terms, those are the kinds of projects that can shape where new homes are built, how village and town centers are zoned, and which streets and trail corridors are made safer for pedestrians and cyclists.

The 2026 plan also lands as Ryan McMahon pushes a wider housing agenda of his own. In his State of the County proposals, the county executive called for putting 30 acres of vacant county land toward housing and sending more county money to housing subsidies. He has also backed state-funded infrastructure grants for developers building new single-family homes, a sign that county officials are trying to widen the housing pipeline from public planning into private construction.

The county has used that playbook before. Its O-CHIP program helped finance nearly 400 new market-rate housing units, and the latest HUD plan suggests Onondaga County is still relying on a similar blend of federal grants, planning money and local incentives to expand supply. For Syracuse residents, the clearest near-term sign is the house planned for 707 Otisco St.; across the county, the deeper impact is likely to show up in zoning maps, planning documents and new housing sites rather than in a single headline project.