Okaloosa County BOCC — March 15, 2016 — SHIP AHAC triennial report

2016 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 1 of 7 Okaloosa County/City of Fort Walton Beach Affordable Housing Advisory Committee 2016 Triennial Review Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Background Information This Triennial Review of the Okaloosa County/City of Ft Walton Beach Incentive Review and Recommendation Report for Okaloosa County and the City of Ft Walton Beach was developed pursuant to Section 420.9076 of the Florida Statutes. Okaloosa County and the City of Ft Walton Beach have entered into interlocal agreements to jointly address the provision of affordable housing within their respective jurisdictions, and have, by resolution, agreed to utilize a joint Affordable Housing Advisory Committee in fulfillment of statutory requirements. Public Hearing The Okaloosa County AHAC conducted its final review of, and adopted, this “2016 Triennial Review of the Okaloosa County/City of Ft Walton Beach Incentive Review and Recommendations Report” during its public meeting of February 4, 2016. This meeting was advertised in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 420.9076, Florida Statutes. The public hearing was held at 10:00 in 3™ Floor Conference room of the Okaloosa County Administration Building located at 1250 N Eglin Parkway in Shalimar, Florida, as stated in the advertisement (see Attachment 1). Members of the AHAC in attendance were: Kathy Orr, Mike Kent, Nitsi Bennett, Anita Williams, Nate Smith, Gary McMorrow, Ken Wolfe, and Felix Beukenkamp. Incentives & Recommendations a. Incentive: The processing of approvals of development orders or permits, as defined in s. 163.3164(7) and (8), for affordable housing projects is expedited to a greater degree than other projects. Review Synopsis: The Comprehensive Plans of both Okaloosa County and the City of Ft Walton Beach include objectives and policies which address this incentive. In addition, Section 1A.05 of Chapter 1A of the Okaloosa County Land Development Code was amended in 2010 to include a formal expedited process for affordable housing projects. Due to the nature of development in Ft Walton Beach, the City is able to adaptively respond to affordable housing requests and provide priority handling of such applications. The City’s Comprehensive Plan specifically addresses this incentive in Policy C.6.2, which states that the City will implement procedures to expedite the development order and permitting process for housing projects which meet the definition for affordable housing, or contain inclusionary workforce units. As a practice, the City will expedite the permitting and development review for affordable housing projects. 2016 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 2 of 7 Board Action: The Board of County Commissioner's 2010 amendment of its Land Development Code was the necessary action. While there have been no affordable housing projects submitted since 2010, the County should monitor the effectiveness of the expedited review process. City Council adopted the 2011-2021 Comprehensive Plan, which contains policies to expedite the development order approval and permit process for affordable housing projects. Recommendation: The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners and Ft Walton Beach City Council should continue their existing practices of working with affordable housing providers. Incentive: The modification of impact-fee requirements, including reduction or waiver of fees and alternative methods of fee payment for affordable housing. Review Synopsis: The only fee charged by Okaloosa County that may be considered an impact fee is the tap fee for connection to the County’s central water and sewer system. Because the County’s Water and Sewer Department is an enterprise fund (meaning it is funded solely by revenues from customers) and its fee structure is set by regulatory guidelines, this fee cannot be waived. The County has, however, used grant funds when available to offset hookup fee