Local government, developers, and relevant industry leaders collaborated in an all-day event to discuss various topics surrounding housing in Okaloosa and Walton Counties. The summit provided the opportunity to discuss affordable housing toย these respective areas.ย
The housing summit was hosted by theย Okaloosa County Health Improvement Partnership (OCHIP),ย Walton Community Health Improvement Partnership (WCHIP),ย and theย Emerald Coast Association of Realtors.ย When housing becomes an issue for locals, it canย provide a situation whereย residents struggle to liveย aย healthy and fulfilledย life.ย
Housing-related costs can often force families to choose between food, heating, and other basic needs, such as healthcare. A lack of housing choices can limit residents to neighborhoods that do not offer amenities such as parks, bike paths, and other recreational activities that promote health.
Picture a room at the Niceville Community Center. Elected officials, non-profits, military housing authorities, providers servingย the homeless, Realtors, developers, city council, healthcare agencies, and public safety individuals gather and begin their day speaking with local non-profits and prepare to spend the day discussing data and human needs.ย
Throughout the day, there will be speakers, panels, and open discussions on a complicated topic that is not resolved by solving one problem.ย
It will be a collaborative effort to come up withย ideas,ย but then to follow up, regroup, and put a plan together to implement these ideas. The morning began withย United Way Emerald Coastย presenting to the group what group may most be affected by a lack of affordable housing.ย ALICE, an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, and Employed,ย is a community member who earns just above theย Federal Poverty Levelย butย lessย than what it costs to make ends meet.ย While there is not one specific definition for affordable housing, discussing how to provide affordable housing would be to take ourย AMI (Area Median Income)ย and determine what affordable housing costs when this costย does not exceedย 30% of said income.ย The Area Median Income for Okaloosa County is $96,900. That means theย costย for ‘affordable’ housing wouldย sit atย $29,070 – or $2,422 per month.ย
So how do we do this?ย
By the end of the summitย a few ideasย wereย brought up.ย
Developers want all the free money and incentives that they can get.ย
The city wants to charge developers as much as possible to ensure they can deliver resources and amenities to residents.ย
For developers to build affordable housingย (byย the above definition), their costsย have toย be low enough to charge residents rents that achieve this goal.ย
However, towns need funds to provide developers with what they’ll need, such as utilities tappedย toย their properties. If the city cannot or does not provide shovel-ready land to developers, that is, land that has access toย utilities already installed, the developers must build them – and pass the cost on to the homebuyer.ย Again, it’sย not that simple, but this does give you an idea of what challenges are faced when trying to provide much-needed housing to our area.ย
One tool we have in Florida is theย Live Local Act (LLA).ย The LLA is a comprehensive, statewideย attainableย housing strategy designed to increase the availability of affordable housing opportunities to Florida residents who desire to live within the communities they serve.ย
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Developers would be eligible for a 75% or 100% ad valorem tax exemption when rent restrictionsย are met.ย It also provides that developers’ requests for permits and zoningย are pushedย toย be expeditedย in orderย forย the multi-family housing toย be builtย in a timely manner.ย
Thisย is just a brief explanationย and youย can find more information atย floridahousing.org.ย
Other ideas included fast-tracking zoning and variance requests for thoseย who seekย to build affordable housing. While this can be an excellent tool for a builder to move the project alongย this still does requireย time for planning and construction.ย Ideas that can help improve the situation in the short term would be to approach blighted and undeveloped lot owners and work on revitalization opportunities.
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