LAND AUTHORITY ANNOUNCES PENDING CLOSEOUT OF $15 MILLION GRANT-FUNDED VOLUNTARY HOME BUYOUT PROGRAM; 21 HOMES PURCHASED

Staff from Florida Commerce visited the demolished home properties and met with the Monroe County Board of County Commissioners and Monroe County Land Authority Executive Director Cynthia Guerra at the April meeting. Hurricane Irma in 2017 badly damaged many properties throughout the Florida Keys. Through a State of Florida grant program, Monroe County Land Authority bought and demolished 21 eligible homes.  

​MONROE COUNTY, FL – The Monroe County Land Authority announced the pending closeout of a successful $15 million grant program to purchase 21 homes damaged by Hurricane Irma from income-qualified eligible applicants. The U.S. HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program and Florida Commerce administered the grant to the land authority.
 
“The program's goals included acquiring properties in high flood-risk areas, helping relocate residents to areas of lower flood risk, and reducing the impact of future flood-related disasters,” said Monroe County Land Authority Executive Director Cynthia Guerra. “Once purchased, the remaining structures were demolished, and the parcels were permanently deed-restricted for open space uses, stormwater improvements, or to restore and conserve the natural floodplain functions.”
 
The acquisitions also provided for the resolution of pending permit applications and code enforcement cases on the properties.