Riverside Council to Consider $27.5 Million Climate, Housing Grant Application

Riverside City Council is scheduled to consider authorizing an application for up to $27.5 million in California Transformative Climate Communities funding for proposed clean-energy, smart-growth and affordable-housing projects in Arlanza, Arlington Heights and Casa Blanca.

The proposal is not a grant award. File 26-2943 is listed as agenda-ready and scheduled as agenda item 39 for the council’s Tuesday, September 15, 2026, meeting. If approved, the resolution would allow Riverside to submit the application and take related administrative and partnership actions.

When and where the council will consider it

The meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Art Pick Council Chamber in Riverside City Hall, 3900 Main Street. The city’s meeting record lists the minutes as draft and states that actions taken on legislation and their results are not yet available.

The agenda identifies Arlanza, Arlington Heights and Casa Blanca as the proposed project neighborhoods and places the item in Wards 5 and 6. Residents in those areas can watch for the council’s decision before Riverside moves to the state application stage.

What the proposed resolution would do

If approved, the resolution would authorize Riverside to submit a Round 6 implementation-grant application to the Transformative Climate Communities Program, administered through the California Department of Conservation with the California Strategic Growth Council overseeing the state funding process.

The city record identifies a maximum request of $27.5 million. The resolution also would authorize the city manager or designee to execute required grant documents, approve partnership agreements for a collaborative stakeholder structure and make a related supplemental appropriation. The item requires five affirmative votes.

The supplemental appropriation is part of the proposed local authorization. It should not be read as an expenditure of the full $27.5 million request unless later city documents establish that separately.

What the state program can fund

The Strategic Growth Council says TCC implementation grants can support multiple coordinated projects that reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and produce community benefits. Eligible categories include equitable housing, land acquisition, transit access, mobility, solar installations, energy and water efficiency, urban greening, community microgrids, and health and well-being activities.

The program also includes funded community engagement, workforce development and displacement-avoidance activities. Implementation grants can reach $27.5 million and have six-year grant terms.

For Riverside, a successful application could eventually bring together housing, transportation, energy, climate-resilience and neighborhood-health work in the three proposed project areas. The city has not announced a state award, and the council agenda does not guarantee individual projects, construction schedules or specific resident outcomes.

Next steps

The immediate decision is whether the council will authorize Riverside’s application. The Strategic Growth Council lists September 30, 2026, as the deadline for TCC Round 6 applications.

After submission, the state would conduct its separate review and award process. Until those steps occur, Riverside is seeking permission to apply for the program’s maximum implementation-grant amount—not announcing that it has received $27.5 million.

Sources

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