Our story begins in the 1940s.
At the end of World War II, our communities started rapidly expanding due to a “baby boom” and many municipalities adapted by implementing zoning codes. A trend emerged, however, and these zoning codes customarily required:
- Separating businesses from residential neighborhoods.
- Implementing substantial setbacks for homes.
- Mandating low density so that the largest possible dwelling was built on a parcel.
Fast forward 80 years, and we now have a national crisis.
Here in Sarasota, for example, the majority of people who move into our city are retired – and they outnumber the people who work in our community but cannot afford to live in it. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development calculates affordability by Area Median Income, which is the median of all households in a given county, metropolitan area, region, etc.
This year, the Florida Housing Finance Corp. reported that the Area Median Income in the Greater Sarasota area is an individual who makes $60,500 a year or a household of four that makes $90,400 annually. As for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, it defines “affordable” by using a specific percentage – no more than 30% of total household income going towards rent or mortgage.
That sounds simple enough. But what complicates things is the reality that the term “affordable housing” can be used to mean a number of different things. They include:
- Subsidized housing that is made affordable by the use of government or nonprofit subsidies.
- Naturally occurring affordable housing, which is available to anyone, is not subsidized and is within the budget of many families. Typically these are older, less-maintained homes, and they make up most of the naturally occurring affordable housing in America.
- Market rate housing, which is rental or home affordable to a household at 100% (and above) of Area Median Income.
- Workforce housing, which is defined by the Urban Land Institute as housing affordable to households earning between 60% and 120% of Area Median Income.
- Attainable housing, which is defined as housing for households with incomes between 80% and 120% of Area Median Income.
- Public housing, otherwise known as Section 8 housing, which is for households earning less than 60% of Area Median Income.
At this moment, our most crucial type of housing is workforce housing. Every week, I hear dozens of stories of rent hikes, evictions and employee shortages. There has been a collective plea for the Sarasota City Commission to intervene – but in local government, our hands are tied by the Florida Legislature, which has significantly deprived municipalities of their ability to do more to address housing issues.
But while our municipal hands have been tied, the city has been able to do the following:
- Allow accessory dwelling units to be located citywide.
- Incentivize affordable housing through expedited permitting, waived impact fees and reduced administrative and permitting costs.
- Give more than $3 million to the Sarasota Housing Authority to help assist it in developing affordable and workforce housing.
- Ensure that the proceeds of every real property sale by the city of Sarasota will go into our Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
- Provide – through the Office of Housing and Community Development – rental aid, down-payment assistance, a first-time homebuyer initiative and essential repair programs for current homeowners.
In order for Sarasota to see noticeable improvement during this current crisis, our city needs to have six months’ worth of available housing supply. Sadly, however, we were recently estimated to have merely two weeks’ worth of available housing supply. This is a problem that cannot be solved by the government alone. It will also take considerable buy-in from the community – and moving forward, here are some actions that we need to advocate and push for:
- Declaring a housing State of Emergency.
- Deciding – with community input – whether building height should be a factor in our incentives.
- Allowing for tiny homes and multi-family housing.
- Implementing inclusionary zoning where feasible.
- Requiring developers to provide 25% affordable housing in all new developments or mandatory payment into the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
- Seeking partnership with large employers in our area to create housing specifically for their employees.
- Using standardized Land Use Restrictive Agreements with developers seeking to build affordable housing to ensure the proper use of funds and property.
- Waiving or reducing private utility metering fees for affordable housing developments.
- Reducing, deleting or offsetting the property taxes for affordable housing projects under 90% of Area Median Income.
- Providing for a fast-track process and a maximum of two rounds of government review and comments before the Development Review Committee.
- Addressing existing affordability with a form-based zoning code.
- Calculating units of 750 square feet or less to count as half-dwelling units.
In addition, we should give density incentives to developers in exchange for them providing housing for numerous income thresholds. For example, the thresholds could be:
- 60% of Area Median Income: A maximum monthly rent of $908 for a family of one, and $1,166 for a family of three.
- 80% of Area Median Income: A maximum monthly rent of $1,209 for a family of one, and $1,554 for a family of three.
- 100% of Area Median Income: A maximum monthly rent of $1,513 for a family of one, and $1,943 for a family of three.
This is the moment we can rally in the interest of the public good. This is the moment for actions instead of words. If not now, when?
Mayor Erik Arroyo is a member of the Sarasota City Commission. The views expressed in this piece are his own, and do not represent the official position of the city commission as a whole.
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