By Caroline Glenn | The Orlando Sentinel
In a first step toward addressing a regional crisis, the Orange County Commission unanimously approved a plan Tuesday that over the next decade could create 30,300 new places to live and inject $160 million into affordable housing projects.
The 10-year plan was devised by the Housing for All task force, a group of representatives from Universal Orlando and Disney World, realtors, architects and leaders from nonprofits and hospitals that Mayor Jerry Demings created shortly after he was elected last November. The 38-member task force met over several months in hopes of lifting Orlando from last place among U.S. cities for affordable housing, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
“I have no delusions here that we were going to solve poverty …” Demings said. “Their [the task force’s] charge was really to come forward with a plan of action … to address the lack of housing that is affordable in our community. I would urge you to exercise a bit of patience and understanding that this is just the beginning of a very lengthy process.”
The plan, among other things, calls for relaxing the county’s zoning codes to allow for more diverse housing; giving bonuses to developers who build in neighborhoods most in need of housing; developing a strategy to preserve rent-restricted units; and establishing a loan fund for nonprofits to build housing.
Members of the task force have called it the “most comprehensive housing plan developed by the county to date.” However, some members of the community and the advocacy group Organize Florida have criticized it as shallow, pointing out that while it creates additional housing it does not address the needs of extremely low-income renters or the homeless.
“We know there are other issues that we may need to address, but this one solves the supply issue,” said Chip Tatum, CEO of the Apartment Association of Greater Orlando, who sat on the task force.
Commissioners Mayra Uribe and Maribel Gomez Cordero lauded the task force’s work but also had concerns that the plan does nothing to protect renters. The number of commercial and residential evictions in Orange County was 10 times higher in 2018 than it was in 2007, and there are currently 800 people in Orange County on the waiting list for Section 8 subsidized affordable housing.
“If you get evicted, it’s almost impossible to qualify for an apartment afterward,” Uribe said. “That is a major hindrance.”
Critics have also questioned whether the housing that will be created will be affordable to extremely low-income residents. About 11,000 of the units that could be created would be for households that make between $26,000 and $83,000 a year, and 19,300 would be for those who make between $83,000 and $97,000.
County officials and task force leaders emphasized the plan is just one component of the county’s strategy to address the housing shortage. Mitchell Glasser, manager of county’s housing and community development division, mentioned other programs the county has to provide rental subsidies, assist residents facing eviction and to help the homeless find housing.
The affordable housing trust fund that will be established will annually collect $10 million from the county’s general budget, and contributions will increase by 10% each year. The county will also solicit private companies and other organizations to donate to raise $160 million over the next 10 years. Demings said he has spoken with “corporate partners” who are willing to contribute.
Money from the fund, the first of its size in the county, could be spent on myriad things, including building new housing or helping to offset rent, Demings said.
The county also will launch a revolving loan fund with money from the State Housing Initiatives Partnership for nonprofit developers to build affordable units, and study the impact of imposing a fee on non-residential development, known as a linkage fee, that would go directly toward affordable housing.
Dedicated funding sources are essential, county officials said, because money from the Sadowski fund, a state pot of money that’s supposed to be used for affordable housing, is raided every year. This past legislative session, only $207 million of the $332 million in Sadowski dollars was used for affordable housing.
Although the plan spans 10 years, the county will immediately look to loosen some its zoning laws, including reducing or removing entirely minimum square footage requirements to allow for smaller units, which are usually more affordable to build and live in; increasing or eliminating occupancy limits to encourage co-housing; reducing parking requirements; and allowing for more flexible lot configurations and building retrofits.
“Traditionally, Orange County neighborhoods contain predominantly single-family housing or multi-family apartments,” the report states. “The ‘missing middle’ housing strategy sets up incentives for property owners and developers to fill the gap …”
The county already has removed barriers to allow developers and property owners to build accessory dwelling units, a separate living space on the same lot as a larger home. With more lax regulations in place, the county estimates it will bring in 1,135 of them in the next decade, compared with the 227 that have been permitted in the past 20 years.
The county will also identify areas that would most benefit from additional affordable housing options and possibly provide bonuses to developers who build there, especially in areas near public transportation, major employers, grocery stores and health care resources. The county selected pilot areas in Holden Heights just south of Parramore, and Pine Castle and Taft, in south Orange County. It will also look at Pine Hills, International Drive, East Orlando and downtown.
Article last accessed on January 6, 2020 here. A print-ready version is available here.