Okaloosa County BOCC — February 11, 2013 — 2013 Triennial Report Final — reading text

2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 1 of 8 Okaloosa County/City of Fort Walton Beach Affordable Housing Advisory Committee 2013 Triennial Review Incentive Review and Recommendation Report I. 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. II. Public Hearing The Okaloosa County AHAC conducted its final review of, and adopted, this “2013 Triennial Review of the Okaloosa County/City of Ft Walton Beach Incentive Review and Recommendations Report” during its public meeting of March 26, 2013. This meeting was advertised in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 420.9076, Florida Statutes. The public hearing was held at 2:00 PM in the third floor conference room of the Okaloosa County Water and Sewer Administration Building located at 1804 Lewis Turner Blvd Fort Walton Beach, Florida, as stated in the advertisement (see Attachment 1). Members of the AHAC in attendance were Board members in attendance were Ken Wolfe; Kathy Orr; Mike Kent; Nitsi Bennett; Anita Williams; Deborah Maney; Randy Wise, and Felix Beukenkamp. Nate Smith and Gary McMorrow were not present. III. 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  2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 2 of 8 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. 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. b. 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 fees for qualified households. The City of Fort Walton Beach currently has a grant program approved by City Council in June 2012 that pays up to 100% of impact fees in the City’s Community Redevelopment Area (CRA). As detailed in the City’s 2012 CRA Plan, one of the primary goals of the CRA is to promote affordable housing. Board Action: As of this writing, the County has not established a formal fund for paying tap fees, however, grant funds have been used. City Council has approved a grant program that can pay for the impact fees of affordable housing and other development in the CRA. Recommendation: The Board of County Commissioners should research the feasibility of establishing a Board- controlled fund which could be used to offset water and sewer tap fees for affordable housing projects, and should consider working with the City to determine how its program works. c. Incentive: The allowance of flexibility in densities for affordable housing. Review Synopsis: Policy 10.1 of the Future Land Use Element of the Okaloosa County Comprehensive Plan provides a bonus of 1 to 5 units per acre for affordable housing (it varies by Future Land Use Map designation). As part of its 2010  2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 3 of 8 amendments to its Land Development Code, the Board of County Commissioners created Section 2.19.00.4 which provides for density bonuses consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. The City of Fort Walton Beach Land Development Code Table 4.05.03 provides density bonus points for projects that provide units for sale or rent that meet the criteria for affordable or workforce housing. There is a possible 30 points available for developments that are providing affordable housing. Board Action: The Board’s 2010 inclusion of Section 2.19.00.4 as part of the Land Development Code is the requisite Board action. City Council’s adoption of the Land Development Code in March 2012 implemented new density bonus provisions that can encourage affordable housing development. Recommendation: It is recommended that the City and County monitor the use and effectiveness of the density bonus provisions described herein and, if necessary, work with the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee to further refine the program to be more readily usable by the development community. d. Incentive: The reservation of infrastructure capacity for housing for very-low-income persons, low-income persons, and moderate income persons. Review Synopsis: Okaloosa County currently does not reserve capacity for any development until such time as a development order is issued. There is no proactive reservation of capacity for affordable housing or any other type of development. The City of Fort Walton Beach also does not reserve capacity for any development until a development order is issued. However, the City’s Comprehensive Plan contains Policy A.2.1 which states that the City will implement the mix of uses on a district wide basis. This is to ensure that the City is not overbalanced with commercial, and that the City will include housing when reviewing developments. Board Action: As of this writing, neither the County Commission nor the City Council have established infrastructure capacity reservations. Recommendation: The Board of County Commissioners and City Council should research the legal considerations associated with reserving infrastructure capacity and, if there are no legal impediments, should consider establishing reservations of capacity for infrastructure for which Level-of-Service standards have been adopted. e. Incentive: The allowance of affordable accessory residential units in residential zoning districts.  2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 4 of 8 Review Synopsis: As part of the 2010 update, the County Land Development Code was amended to allow accessory residential structures in all residential zoning districts. The City of Fort Walton Beach Land Development Code, adopted in March 2012, now allows accessory dwellings in Residential Single-family Low Density Zoning Districts and Residential Single-family Estate Zoning Districts. Board Action: The amendment allowing accessory residential units as accessory structures is the required action. The only remaining action is to monitor whether accessory units are being constructed and used as affordable housing. Recommendation: The County and City should monitor the effectiveness of the allowance of accessory residential structures in providing affordable housing. f. Incentive: The reduction of parking and setback requirements for affordable housing. Review Synopsis: In 2010, the parking requirements of the Okaloosa County Land Development Code were amended to provide greater flexibility. Though the amendments were not specific or unique to affordable housing, the flexibility should benefit affordable housing as well as any other use. While the County has not reduced its standard setback requirements, development-specific setbacks may be established through the Planned Unit Development Process and through the use of the residential design alternatives added to the Code in 2010 as discussed under g, below. The City’s Comprehensive Plan (adopted in 2011) includes Policy C.5.6 which states that “the City will identify appropriate alternative site design standards, such as parking ratios, setback standards, and zero lot line configurations, to encourage additional affordable and workforce housing”, encouraging the City to continually monitor and improve development site standards for affordable housing projects. In addition, the City’s Land Development Code Section 2.02.02 designates the Downtown Design Overlay District (DDOD) which is established to preserve and promote the downtown area of Fort Walton Beach. The intent of the DDOD is to provide flexibility in location and design requirements. This district is located in the core of the City, which includes a mix of uses, including affordable housing. Setbacks, parking, and other development standards are relaxed in this district. Therefore, although these reductions are not specific to affordable housing, the changes still achieve the goal of reducing parking and setback requirements for affordable housing. Board Action: This issue was addressed through the County’s 2010 update of its Land Development Code. No additional action is needed at this time other than monitoring for effectiveness. The City of Fort Walton Beach will also continue to monitor its policies and development standards to determine if affordable housing projects are having difficulty complying with these existing standards.  2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 5 of 8 Recommendation: The Board of County Commissioners should monitor the effectiveness of