South Vero Beach area blessing? No more 400-student school across from Citrus Elementary?
Reading the recent email from Indian River County, I was reminded of how the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Instead of a church and its new 400-student school building on almost vacant 9 acres kitty-corner from the 750-student Citrus Elementary at Fourth Street and 27th Avenue, now it looks like faith-based ministry Habitat for Humanity could build 32 homes instead.
As someone who lives 2 miles south, but passes the intersection to go to work and other places, the possibility homes could be built instead of a school and its related traffic seems like a huge win.
Or so I thought.
Habitat for Humanity seeks affordable land
I raised traffic concerns in 2019, when Glendale Christian School and its Baptist church sponsor received Planning and Zoning Commission approval to move their then 64-year-old compound down 27th from Eighth Street, expanding from 250 students.
Indian River County to help: Can old Gifford Gardens site rise from the ashes and be a model for affordable housing?
In 2022, the Rev. Randy Fullerton, trying to be a good neighbor, had vehicles in mind when school engineers unveiled in 2022 plans for a large on-site loop and other road work to ensure traffic would be kept to a minimum.
Subsequently, though, the church and school, both doing well, Fullerton said, decided not to build across from Citrus. He declined to discuss future plans the other day.
Instead, Habitat, seeking reasonably priced land to build homes for people who otherwise would not be able to afford them, saw the church's real estate listing and reached a deal to acquire the property, according to Trevor Loomis, Habitat president and CEO.
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It is exciting news in a county stricken with high home prices, including a median sale price of $375,000 in August, according to TCPalm. In 2022, things were so bad the Florida Housing Coalition called out the county’s dramatic affordability problem in the National Association of Home Builders’ “Housing Opportunity Index.”
“The Sebastian-Vero Beach MSA (metropolitan statistical area) fell a staggering 76 places, moving from being a relatively affordable place to among the least affordable communities in the country,” the coalition wrote in its annual Home Matter Report.
Housing affordability challenge for everyone
That might be good if you want to sell your home and move elsewhere. But it's an issue for the rest of us. Home inflation has driven up costs for everyone, via property insurance to prices we pay to local businesses. After all, they have to pay workers enough to live nearby or commute (and spend money on gasoline) from more affordable cities like Palm Bay, Okeechobee or Fort Pierce.
About the same time that housing report came out last year, I called out the county’s Affordable Housing Committee for giving lip service to its mission.
Earlier this year, the county was of little help to The Source, facing health department charges while trying to renovate a former motel complex operating since 1936 between U.S. 1 and Indian River Drive south of Sebastian. The Source was putting in a sewer system and renovating 18 units. The Vero Beach nonprofit planned to lease units from $450 to $650 a month.
Meantime, a group formed by the United Way of Indian River County began seeking solutions. They can’t come fast enough ― at least based on a meeting held earlier this month of a county committee tasked with reviewing Habitat’s plans.
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Barriers to affordability continue
I thought the phone-in meeting with the county’s Technical Review Committee would be perfunctory, so I didn’t record it. After the site was approved for a school, how controversial would reviews of things like fire codes, stormwater plans and traffic regulations be? After all, this is not Habitat’s first subdivision and it wants to build something the county claims it desperately wants: affordable housing.
Instead, the meeting threw Habitat officials and me for a loop when planners said the project would have to go to the zoning commission, increasing the developer’s cost, because lots ― 50 by 100 feet — were too small for a regular subdivision.
Wasn’t it obvious Habitat for Humanity builds affordable housing and should get fast-tracked through the system?
Andy Sobczak, the county’s new planning director, said officials were following existing rules, which require the zoning board to review subdivisions of more than 25 homes.
While the county tries to fast-track legitimate affordable housing projects like Habitat’s, Sobczak said he’s working on proposed changes, for consideration by the county commission, to streamline the process even more.
The second red flag I heard in the meeting was planners saying they wanted the subdivision to have only one access road. They were worried access from Fourth Street and 27th Avenue would lead to resident complaints of people “cutting through” the neighborhood and was against county policy.
Despite pushback from Habitat officials and an offer to install speed bumps, county officials remained unyielding — even if the school would have had links to 27th Avenue and Fourth Street.
I haven’t seen the policy. Sobczak, who was not at the meeting, said the rationale is to limit potential accident points, but I thought “cutting through” was the whole point of the county’s grid system: to improve traffic flow.
Would county planners and engineers rather have gated, more expensive subdivisions, which could lead to Habitat building fewer homes?
Gifford Gardens construction still not started
I asked Loomis about what I heard at the meeting. He declined to comment, saying he wanted to have a good relationship with the county. He was optimistic things would be resolved.
Even as an affordable subdivision, county policies require it to have open space, a nearly 1-acre preserve and stormwater ponds. It also would have a homeowners association in an effort to keep homes, initially priced about $200,000, in good shape.
Loomis said zoning would have allowed 54 units, but county requirements limit that. In Louisville, where Loomis worked previously (and I’ve seen this in Houston), Habitat has built on lots half as wide.
I just hope the development moves faster than a proposal to build 14 homes on the 3.3-acre site of a 1960s-era, 55-unit apartment complex demolished in 2011.
In 2020, the county bought Gifford Gardens for $10,000 and a year later sought proposals from developers to build 22 affordable homes on the land, which it would donate. Only one developer made a proposal, to build each for $350,000, and the county balked.
In May 2022, Habitat officials suggested they might be able to build three- and four-bedroom homes of about 1,125 and 1,322 square feet, respectively, for maybe $150,000 and $160,000.
Then there were talks Habitat or the county could buy adjacent land, but that did not happen. As it stands now, Loomis said he is ready to build, but he’s waiting on the county.
“We just want to get the project done,” Loomis said. “Until we have the land and a contract, I can’t even touch it.”
Loomis also is facing challenges on lots elsewhere Habitat is developing that cannot hook up to sewer systems. New state regulations have added about $5,000 per home to the cost, even if he can find companies to work on upgraded septic tanks now required by law.
Proposed county reviews could help
With about 50 homes in the pipeline, Loomis said he's looking forward to Sobczak’s efforts to review local regulations. So am I.
Habitat, which requires folks who buy their houses to help build them with volunteers and staff, offers financial counseling and referrals to hundreds of other clients, he said.
“We want to build more; we just want to keep the costs down,” Loomis said. “(Housing) is your biggest expense. People are really feeling the pinch.”
Imagine if everyone could find a home they could afford. Then there'd be more evidence the Lord was working in mysterious ways.
This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.
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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Christian school change could lead to blessing south of Vero Beach
