Agenda Item Name:
Title
Inclusionary Housing Discussion
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Presenter:
Ivy Bell, Senior Planner, Growth Management Department, (352) 374-5249
Description:
At its March 1, 2022 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners directed staff to bring back information about what would be involved and costs for doing an inclusionary housing study for Alachua County. Staff will provide a presentation about inclusionary housing, including what that term means, specific requirements for inclusionary housing in Florida Statutes, benefits and limitations of inclusionary housing, what is involved with an inclusionary housing feasibility study, program design considerations, and potential next steps should be Board wish to move forward with an inclusionary housing policy for Alachua County.
Recommended Action:
Recommended Action
Receive presentation and provide direction to staff on whether the Board wants to pursue establishment of an inclusionary housing policy for Alachua County.
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Prior Board Motions:
March 1, 2022: The Board of County Commissioners directed staff to bring back information about what would be involved and costs for doing an inclusionary housing study.
Fiscal Consideration:
Fiscal Consideration
There are no specific fiscal impacts associated with this policy discussion.
If the Board wishes to proceed with an inclusionary housing feasibility study and establishment of an inclusionary housing program, it would require assistance from a professional consultant with experience in conducting such studies and designing inclusionary housing programs for local governments. There would be costs to the County associated with the professional consulting services that would be required. Specific costs will depend on the direction that is given to staff by the Board at this meeting. Staff anticipates bringing back specific information on estimated costs at a future meeting should be Board wish to move forward.
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Strategic Guide:
Housing
Background:
Inclusionary housing is a local land use policy that is intended to increase the stock of affordable housing in the community. An inclusionary housing policy generally requires or incentivizes housing developers to include residential units that are affordable to households of specified income levels as part of new residential developments.
For mandatory inclusionary housing programs, a local program would typically require a housing developer to include a certain number of affordable units within a new development or pay a fee in lieu of constructing the affordable units. The number of affordable units required is typically calculated as a percentage of the total number of units within the development. The local government is required to provide incentives to fully offset all costs to the housing developer for providing such affordable housing units pursuant to Florida Statute Section 125.01055.
If or when the Board wishes to proceed with establishing an inclusionary housing program for Alachua County, the first step would be to conduct a feasibility study with the assistance of a professional consultant. The feasibility study would provide a data-based foundation for an inclusionary housing policy. Specifically, it would examine how various combinations of inclusionary housing requirements and incentives will impact the continued viability of the local housing market. The feasibility study would help determine optimal levels for inclusionary requirements that can be accommodated comfortably in the local market given the costs, revenues and incentives available locally. More specifically, this would involve determining the costs to the developer for providing affordable units and the value of the potential incentives offered by the County to offset those costs.
The inclusionary housing feasibility study would also consider various program design options including:
• Mandatory vs. voluntary participation
• Countywide or specific geographic areas
• Development size threshold and/or type that activates requirements
• Percentage of housing units required to be affordable
• Target income levels for affordability
• Design characteristics and location of affordable units within development
• Control period (how long housing units must remain affordable)
• Incentives offered to offset cost to developer
• Option for fee in lieu of construction of affordable units
• Administrative process for implementation
Staff has had preliminary discussions with the Florida Housing Coalition (FHC) about potentially working with the County on an inclusionary housing program. FHC has worked with multiple Florida local governments on inclusionary housing, including current work with the City of Tallahassee/Leon County. FHC is funded in part through the State’s Affordable Housing Catalyst Program to provide technical assistance to local governments on housing issues. Based on discussion with FHC staff, the amount of time and work that is likely going to be required to conduct the Study and related outreach and training would likely exceed FHC’s available State funding for such work, so the County would need to provide some funding to FHC to assist with the inclusionary housing study and other program design and implementation issues. In addition to having extensive experience working with Florida communities on housing issues, the costs to the County of working with FHC would likely be far less than if the County seeks assistance from a private consulting firm.