Ignoring affordable workforce housing fails majority of Floridians
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claims to be a governor for all Floridians, but, in reality, he spends a lot of time catering to those with deep pockets. For a public official elected to serve and represent ALL Floridians, his actions prove his key concern is for those rich donors and constituents who contribute to his campaign and causes.
Affordable housing, especially workforce housing, is an escalating issue across Florida and in Collier County. Housing affordability is NOT just an unemployed/low-income housing issue; it has become a serious and growing problem for our middle and low-income workforce. This includes public safety staff, hospitality, construction, health care, education and service workers, as well as entry/mid-level professionals. These worker groups comprise 50% of all jobs in Collier County. The lack of workforce housing is also a critical problem for Collier County businesses and the Collier County Chamber of Commerce due to increasing worker shortages.
According to the Florida Chamber of Commerce, lack of affordable housing affects over 81% of Floridians, including 40% of Collier County households. More than 61% of local jobs pay less than $33,250/year while overall median household income for Collier County is over $75,000 and home prices and rentals are among the highest in Florida. These income and real estate economics impede our workforce from living close to their place of employment; workers are severely cost burdened and forced to incur long commutes while spending 30 to 60% of their disposable income on housing expenses, leaving little for food, health, transportation, and other basic costs. This large segment of our population and workforce is struggling to live where they work, and thus, to succeed.
Years of neglect and inaction at the state and local government levels have contributed to this growing problem; one further aggravated by significant increases in the cost of real estate and property destruction caused by recent hurricanes. In 2017 a comprehensive study by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) was completed on how best to address and fund the growing Collier County workforce housing affordability issue. That study commissioned by Collier County commissioners and long ignored, provided many substantive solutions, including funding sources already available to finance housing development initiatives. Until this spring no action had been taken to approve and implement these solutions.
Our workforce has resorted to finding more affordable housing options outside of Collier County, some commuting from as far away as Miami-Dade or Hillsborough counties. But those choices by many have exacerbated our growing traffic congestion across the county and state, frustrating everyone.
Dealing with 45-90+ minute commutes twice a day is no longer acceptable, and local businesses are struggling to hire and retain qualified employees. The needs of our frontline workforce and our our local businesses are not being met.
The growing housing crisis in Florida has finally prompted the state legislative and executive branches, along with local governments in several counties, to start taking small steps toward a solution. In March 2023 the Florida Legislature passed the “Live Local Act,” which was backed with $711 million in state money for this year. The new law is pro-development and seeks to boost funding and incentives for property developers and owners to build and designate more units as “affordable housing.” It also gives tax incentives to developers in exchange for lower-than-market-value rental rates on their projects.
In Collier County, commissioners in late March finally took a significant step toward adopting a package of land use changes designed to incentivize the building of more affordable workforce housing. The measures approved included many of the solutions proposed in that 2017 ULI study with these encompassing:
Allowing more affordable housing by right in certain commercial zoning districts, protecting landowners’ ability to construct affordable housing, so long as it is designed to be accessible for low- or middle-income individuals and would prevent municipalities from using their regulatory powers to reduce access to affordable housing.
Increasing density allowances for affordable housing in activity centers
Establishing a new sub-district that allows more residential density in mixed-use projects that offer market rate and affordable housing, along with significant job opportunities
Raising density allowances for affordable housing projects built along county bus routes
Commissioners voted 4-1 in favor of proposed amendments developed by county staff over the last year. According to state regulation, the proposed changes to the county's Growth Management Plan must now go to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity for review and approval before a final adoption hearing by the Commission.
But the new state level “Live Local Act” limits what counties and cities can do relating to housing density. According to the Collier County attorney, this act bans rent control by local governments. And in Collier County, developers who may want to include affordable housing to take advantage of relaxed density rules can only redevelop commercial or industrial properties. Other properties, typically zoned agricultural in Collier County, would still need to follow local development rules that limit project density and height through setback and parking requirements, making these projects far less profitable for developers. And these projects could also reduce local tax revenue. Clearly more work and clarity are needed for affordable housing to become a reality for our numerous workforce constituents.
Since March, Collier County commissioners have been attempting to show their new concern for solving the shortage of workforce housing and are publicly affirming their commitment to addressing the issue. On June 5, District 4 Commissioner Dan Kowal held a public forum where, according to an article by Gulfshore Business, stated that, “It’s vital that the public and private sector work together to address the lack of income-restricted housing.” He added that, “Even in projects that aren’t required to have (affordable housing), we’re asking for it, that’s the goal.”
The real test for success in incentivizing and enabling approval for the building of several thousand badly needed housing units remains with the Collier County Board of Commissioners. Key will be the implementation of their new land use policies and measures, including reconciliation between state and local rules, and their willingness to tap public and private funds to cover workforce housing project funding gaps. The business sectors, the citizenry and the media will need to remain closely engaged in tracking progress and holding public officials much more accountable than in recent years.
Jane Schlechtweg is chair of the Collier County Democratic Party.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Ignoring affordable workforce housing fails majority of Floridians
