Volusia County

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• Volusia County
• Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
• Affordable Housing Incentive Strategies
  Presentation
• March 30, 2009

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Affordable Housing Incentive Strategies
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• Pursuant to statute 420.9076, F.S., the State
  Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Program
  requires the County of Volusia to take certain
  actions to receive SHIP funds, and to continue to
  receive SHIP funds

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SHIP Funding
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SHIP Requirements
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• Create an Affordable Housing Advisory Committee
  by June 30, 2008
• Committee must review 11 affordable housing
  incentive strategies and develop a report of
  recommendations
• Committee must provide report to Volusia County
  Council no later than December 31, 2008
• County Council must review report and take
  action on the Committees recommendations within
  90 days of receiving the report

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Minimum Requirements
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• Expedited permitting (Incentive A)
• Regulatory review process (Incentive I)
• February 19, 2009 both approved by County
  Council
• March 19, 2009 County Council approved the
  amendment of the Local Housing Assistance Plan

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Household Income Chart
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Affordable vs. - Subsidized
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• Subsidized housing
• Public Housing (Rental)
• Housing Choice Voucher Program (Rental
  Ownership)
• Each year 75 of all new admissions must fall
  within the extremely low-income level (30 of
  median income).

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Affordable vs. - Subsidized
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• Affordable housing
• Affordable housing Monthly rents, or monthly
  mortgage payments (including taxes and
  insurance), generally do not exceed 30 of the
  gross annual income for households with incomes
  at 120 of the area median income or less. (low,
  very low, moderate)

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Affordable Housing Current Factors
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• Median sales price drop to 131,800
• Underwriting changes making home financing more
  challenging and home buying less affordable
• Minimum credit score increased for all loans,
  especially for loans with less money down
  (increased from 580 to 620 for FHA and 740 for
  conventional loans)
• Few banks willing to do portfolio loans, which
  allow for more flexible terms
• Grants dollars to provide down payment assistance
  are decreasing (SHIP funds tied to real estate
  sales)

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Housing Affordability
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Source FL Housing Coalition, Inc. Based on home
sold at median sales price for Volusia County
131,800 (FL Assn of Realtors, Jan. 2009)
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Incentive Strategies (Strategies with General
Consensus)
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Incentive Strategy C Density flexibility
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• Recommendations
• Enact modifications to subdivision rules in the
  Zoning Ordinance to permit clustering in support
  of density increases for affordable housing
• 1a. Including reductions in the minimum lot
  dimensions, floor area and setbacks
• Established a graduated scale that provides the
  greatest density increase for
• 2a. a single family residence
• 2b. affordable housing development that provides
  a greater number of units set aside as affordable
  housing

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Incentive Strategy D Reservation of
infrastructure capacity
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• Recommendation
• Monitor the capacity of water and address in the
  future as necessary
• Note Water Resources Utilities Division has
  open communication with St. Johns River Water
  District Division Director will be part of the
  regulatory review process (Incentive I)

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Incentive Strategy E Accessory residential
units
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• Recommendations
• Create a new definition of accessory dwelling
  structure that is a detached unit with kitchen,
  but does not require a garage.
• Consider adopting design standards for accessory
  residential units.

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Incentive Strategy F Reduction of parking and
setback requirements
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• Recommendations
• Affordable housing clustering should be adopted
  as an integral part of an affordable housing
  ordinance.
• Front, rear and side yard setback minimums should
  be reduced in connection with the clustering
  rules for affordable housing.

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Incentive Strategy G Allowance of flexible lot
configurations
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• Recommendations
• Affordable housing clustering should be adopted
  as an integral part of an affordable housing
  ordinance.
• Minimum lot size should be reduced from 5,000
  square feet to 3,500 square feet within the
  affordable housing clustering rules.
• The practice of administratively combining
  non-conforming lots should be discontinued for
  affordable housing.

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Incentive Strategy H Modification of street
requirements
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• Recommendations
• On-street parking within designated spaces should
  be considered to promote flexibility and reduce
  parking requirements for affordable housing.
• Modify sidewalk requirements in affordable
  housing developments, require on one side of
  street only.

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Incentive Strategy J Preparation of a printed
inventory of public lands suitable for affordable
housing
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• Recommendations
• Formalize the process and procedure in writing
  for preparing an annual inventory
• Define the term suitable for affordable housing
• Note Florida Statute 125.379 Disposition of
  county property for affordable housing

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Incentive Strategies (More research and analysis
needed)
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Incentive Strategy B - Modify impact fees for
affordable housing
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• Recommendations
• Adopt a graduated impact fee schedule based on
  sales price to offer incentives for development
  of affordable housing.
• Consider a process that would permit the
  collection of impact fees for affordable housing
  as part of the real property tax roll.
• Adopt an immediate 25 reduction of impact fees
  controlled by Volusia County for homes developed
  and sold as affordable housing.

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Incentive Strategy K Support of development
near transportation hubs and major employment
centers
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• Recommendations
• Determine if infrastructure is available in
  planned transportation hubs.
• Consider reduction of transportation impact fee
  for new affordable housing units developed near
  planned transportation hubs.
• Include incentives related to this in affordable
  housing ordinance.

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Recommendations
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Recommendations
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• Approve incentive strategies (C,D,F,G,H,J) for
  inclusion in Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP)
• County staff to develop an implementation
  timeframe
• Continue review and analysis for incentive
  strategies B K