The need for affordable housing never
has been greater. As
communities seek to help more and more families become
homeowners, they work to ensure that affordable housing is
available for families whose circumstances may keep them from
buying a conventional home with conventional financing. But
this is not as simple as providing assistance at the time of
purchase. It begins with planning for affordable housing and
cutting red tape at every step—from design and construction
to parking, transportation and employment issues.
To address the need in our community,
and in response to
Florida’s affordable housing legislation, the Volusia County
Council last year created the Volusia County Affordable
Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC). Eleven citizen
members were appointed to deal swiftly with affordable
housing issues. The committee works to facilitate the creation
of affordable housing in response to the growing need in our
community.
Edward Jasper, community assistance
director for Volusia
County Government, said the Legislature’s goal is to eliminate a
disconnect that sometimes exists between departments like his
that use state housing money for such things as down payment
assistance and foreclosure prevention and the departments
responsible for reviewing and approving development plans.
“The Legislature is encouraging
creativity in our approach
to providing affordable housing and it’s helping us be aggressive
in this area by providing funding,” Jasper said. “With funding
being dependent upon the strength our program, the affordable
housing committee is compelled to listen to the community in
its call for affordable housing.”
The definition of affordable has
evolved over the years. For
the purposes of the AHAC and Legislature, housing is
considered affordable if its mortgage payment (including
principal, interest and taxes) and basic utilities total 30 percent
or less of a family’s gross income.
The creation of the Affordable Housing
Advisory
Committee is a forerunner that allows Volusia County
Government to receive approximately $4.6 million in State
Housing Initiatives Program (SHIP) funding through the
Florida Housing Finance Corporation for affordable housing
programs. The committee has presented its program to the
Volusia County Council and now is pursuing the elements of
the program, each of which is designed to support the
availability of affordable housing where it’s needed most.
The program calls for expedited
approval of development
orders for affordable housing. It may allow for modification of
impact fees or waiver of fees, plus alternative methods of
payment for fees associated with affordable housing.
The program also allows for flexibility
in densities for
affordable housing. It gives priority to assignment of
infrastructure capacity to housing for income-qualified persons.
And it allows affordable housing residential units in residential
zoning districts.
In some cases, there may be reductions
of parking and
setback requirements for affordable housing. In addition, there
may be flexibility of lot configurations, including zero-lot line
configurations for affordable housing and there may be
modification of street requirements.
The program establishes the process by
which local
government considers (before adoption) policies, procedures,
ordinances, regulations or plan provisions that increase the cost
of housing. It establishes a printed inventory of locally owned
public lands suitable for affordable housing. It also calls for
development of affordable housing in close proximity to
transportation hubs, employment centers and mixed use
developments.
Members of the AHAC represent specified
sectors of the
local economy. Appointees include William Hansard
(residential home building industry); Sarah Truhlar
(unincorporated Volusia County); Frank Severino (serves on the
Planning and Land Development Regulation Commission);
Richard Vincik (for-profit provider of affordable housing); Lynn
Kaiser Conrad (real estate professional); Rick Fraser
(representative of employers in Volusia County); Michelina
Bowman (banking or mortgage banking industry); Deborah
Michaud (advocate for low-income persons); Rosemary Walker
(not-for-profit provider-affordable housing); Janet Bellows
(representative of essential service person); and Tadd Kasbeer
(representative of labor).
