CBOs with Development Plans Should Meet with OER

A CBO with plans to build a community-supported project on vacant property that may have contamination should meet with OER at an early stage in the project's development to learn about resources and incentives to assist in moving the project forward.

Depending on the property and the proposed development, OER can offer a wide variety of services, including:

  • An OER vendor to conduct environmental studies
  • Pre-development funds -- $10,000 or $25,000—to pay for a wide range of necessary services and studies to keep a project moving towards construction and vendor services to perform this work.
  • OER's assistance in outreach to other public agencies to remove obstacles impeding progress of a project. This could include OER coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to develop a plan to close a petroleum spill on a property.
  • An OER comfort letter identifying grants the project is eligible for that can satisfy a lender considering whether to extend a pre-development loan to a project.
  • Free clean soil to raise the elevation of a project planned for a property in a coastal zone.

And it will include OER's advice on the most direct path forward towards a groundbreaking.

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