Okaloosa County BOCC — February 11, 2013 — reading text

Attachment: 2013 Triennial Report Final (1603 : Acceptance of SHIP Triennial Report) 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. Packet Pg. 364  8.1.a.a 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 Attachment: 2013 Triennial Report Final (1603 : Acceptance of SHIP Triennial Report) 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. Packet Pg. 365  8.1.a.a 2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 5 of 8 Recommendation: The Board of County Commissioners should monitor the effectiveness of the flexible parking requirements and alternative residential design standards to determine whether these recent revisions are having any Attachment: 2013 Triennial Report Final (1603 : Acceptance of SHIP Triennial Report) effect on the provision of affordable housing. g. Incentive: The allowance of flexible lot configurations, including zero-lot-line configurations for affordable housing. Review Synopsis: Chapter 2 of the County’s Land Development Code enables the creation of “Planned Unit Developments” (PUDs) specifically to allow “flexible land use and design regulations and to permit planned diversification and integration of uses and structures”, in order to, among other things, lower development and building costs. Reducing building and development costs helps facilitate the construction of affordable housing. In addition, the 2010 amendments to the County Land Development Code included Section 2.18.00 which provides for the use of zero-lot-line, zipper-lots, z- and angled-lots, and cluster development as residential design alternatives in multiple zoning districts. The City of Fort Walton Beach Land Development Code addresses several development alternatives to encourage affordable housing. Section 4.07.04 of the Land Development Code states allows zero lot line development in the City to enable more efficient and affordable single-family development. Furthermore, the City’s Comprehensive Plan includes Policy C.5.6, which is stated above in section f. This policy will ensure that the City is continually seeking ways to facilitate affordable housing. Board Action: As stated above, the Board of County Commissioners amended its Land Development Code to include numerous design alternatives that could facilitate affordable housing projects. City Council adopted the Land Development Code in 2012 which includes several flexible lot configurations that encourage affordable housing projects. Recommendation: The County should monitor the use and effectiveness of these provisions for affordable housing. h. Incentive: The modification of street requirements for affordable housing. Review Synopsis: As part of the County’s 2010 amendments of its Land Development Code, the width requirements for local streets as provided in the County’s Land Development Code were reduced from 66 feet to 50 feet for public roads, and to 40 feet for private roads in an effort to reduce development costs. While not specific or unique to affordable housing projects, these width reductions nonetheless provide the desired benefit for affordable housing. Policy 5.8 of the City’s Comprehensive Plan states that the City will coordinate with the Affordable Housing Alliance Committee to consider modifying current street requirements for affordable housing. The City is continually monitoring the need for flexibility in this area. Packet Pg. 366  8.1.a.a 2013 AHAC Triennial Incentive Review and Recommendation Report Page 6 of 8 Board Action: As stated above, the Board of County Commissioners has amended its Land Development Code to reduce the mandatory width of both private and public roads. No action other than monitoring is recommended at his Attachment: 2013 Triennial Report Final (1603 : Acceptance of SHIP Triennial Report) time. The City of Fort Walton Beach will also continue to assess the needs of affordable housing projects in regards to street requirements. Recommendation: The Board of County Commissioners and City Council should monitor the effect the reduction has on development, and in particular affordable housing. i. Incentive: The establishment of a process by which a local government considers, before adoption, policies, procedures, ordinances, regulations, or plan provisions that increase the cost of housing. Review Synopsis: The County has not yet formally implemented this incentive. However, the effect of various regulatory and policy changes on the affordability of housing is considered during the County’s deliberations of Land Development Code amendments and other actions. The City’s Comprehensive Plan addresses this in Policy C.5.7, which states that the City will consider the implications of adopting policies, procedures, ordinances, regulations, and plans which may increase the cost of housing and report such information to the Municipal Planning Board (currently known as the Local Planning Agency) as part of the deliberation process. Board Action: The Board of County