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AHAC Bylaws Subcommittee Agenda 03/02/2023Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) Bylaws Subcommittee Growth Management Division Conference Room 609/610 March 2, 2023 – 10:00 a.m. AGENDA Subcommittee Members: John Harney, Chair Jennifer Faron, AHAC Member Steve Hruby, AHAC Member County Staff Members: Cormac Giblin, Interim Director, Economic Development & Housing Mike Bosi, Director, Planning & Zoning Jaime Cook, Director, Development Review Chris Montolio, Operations Analyst, Economic Development & Housing Kelly Green, Accountant, Economic Development & Housing 1. CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL 2. APROVAL OF AGENDA & MINUTES a. Approval of February 2, 2023 Meeting Minutes b. Approval of today’s agenda 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. AHAC Strategic Work Plan Development 4. PUBLIC COMMENT 5. NEXT MEETING DATE MINUTES OF THE COLLIER COUNTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE STRATEGIC PLAN SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING Naples, Florida, February 2, 2023 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, the Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee STRATEGIC PLAN Subcommittee, in and for the County of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 1 P.M. in REGULAR SESSION at the Collier County Growth Management Department Building, Conference Room #609/610, 2800 Horseshoe Drive North, Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Chairman: John Harney Jennifer Faron Steve Hruby Paul Shea (also attended) County Staff Members Also Present: Cormac Giblin, Interim Director, Economic Development & Housing Mike Bosi, Director, Planning & Zoning Jaime Cook, Director, Development Review Susan Golden, Immokalee Housing & Family Services Derek Perry, County Attorney’s Office Chris Montolio, Operations Analyst, Economic Development & Housing Kelly Green, Accountant, Economic Development & Housing Any persons in need of the verbatim record of the meeting may request a copy of the audio recording from the Collier County Growth Management Department. 1. CALL TO ORDER & ROLL CALL Chairman Harney called the meeting to order at 10 a.m. A quorum of four members was present. 2. APROVAL OF AGENDA & MINUTES a. Approval of today’s agenda No changes to the agenda were made; there were no prior minutes. 3. DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Stated Purpose of the Subcommittee b. Review of Florida Counties’ AHAC Bylaws and Ordinances c. Review of Collier County AHAD Ordinances No. 2013-27 and No. 2020-27 Chairman Harney noted that this is the first AHAC Bylaws Subcommittee meeting to set up new bylaws. The AHAC found they were a little out of date. The original state laws are 30 years old and housing laws also have changed. A discussion ensued and the following points were made: • We should update what AHAC does and its role. • The bylaws describe only what AHAC is required to do, how many members should be on the board and the number of meetings. • The Florida statute says we have legal obligations, but we should address other things. • We need to update the bylaws, modify our roles and responsibilities to expand our role and get codified by the BCC so there’s no pushback. • Statewide, the only community that made any significant changes to their original roles was Saint Petersburg. • Most AHACs aren’t doing what Collier County’s AHAC is doing. They’re not meeting regularly, they’re not making regular recommendations to commissioners. • Other boards meet every few months, then more often when they prepare the annual report. • This is an opportunity to go beyond the original charter. • What we do only has to be approved by the BCC, not the state, which makes the process easier and faster. • The public believes AHAC is the be-all-end-all on affordable housing. • We need to decide what we want to be and get codified to do more than what we’re allowed to do now, to go beyond an advisory board and operate like a team. • Commissioner LoCastro suggested that we structure the bylaws better. Mr. Giblin provided his views on the AHAC: • He’s been on this committee for 25 years or more. • AHAC gives the BCC an annual incentives report (it used to be every three years) and report back on how different housing affordability strategies are working in Collier County. • AHAC also can suggest new strategies. • There are only two required strategies, fast-tracking and the ongoing review process. • Everything else – creation of new units, rehab of existing units, increased densities, parking and other incentives – are in addition to the two required strategies. • AHAC has the statutory authority to produce an annual report. The question is, how far do you push in creating and suggesting new strategies, working with the planning and housing teams to suggest new ones to add to the report? • Those strategies would be reviewed by the BCC, which decides which to act on. • The operating ordinance gives AHAC the authority to create a report and explore other avenues that might be advantageous to increase housing affordability. • The avenue to create strategies is the annual report to the BCC. • Samples in your agenda packet show some counties create elaborate reports and hire consultants to come up with data for the BCC to make informed decisions, while other counties just provide a check-the-box report to show the AHAC exists, who is on the board and that they’ve achieved the two requirements. • After the reports go to the Board of Commissioners, they’re submitted to the state to fulfill AHAC’s statutory obligation. • The question of what this committee is here for is an open-ended question that you already have authority for. • You might not want to create bylaws, a mission statement or amend the ordinance to include specific things, such as inclusionary zoning or strategies. They don’t have to be enumerated in your delegating authority. • The AHAC typically has been involved in housing affordability issues as a first stop for county created incentives, such as impact fee deferrals, density bonuses, fast-tracking and others. They can be included in your report to the BCC and they either become code or not. Mr. Hruby said others ask them to weigh in on proposals, such as Land-Development Code changes and how tax monies are spent. Mr. Giblin said the mission of AHAC is more policy-based. Instead of acting as an RFP body or scoring developments, the AHAC should decide what makes a good development and how developments could be incentivized. Ms. Faron said she didn’t agree with that narrow interpretation. The fact that people are coming here proves that there is a desire for AHAC to have broader powers. McDowell Partners has been here twice. They want feedback and a blessing. The AHAC is here to provide feedback. If that’s all it is, we wouldn’t be here now. We should pay attention to what people say. They’re coming here for a reason. That’s the basis of fighting for a role beyond the statutory requirements. Mr. Hruby said everyone looks at us as the experts, but we aren’t. The BCC has so much on its plate. What they vote on comes in as an Executive Summary. We’re an advisory committee and should be vetting these things, doing a deeper dive and providing a more detailed Executive Summary, whether it’s a policy or a development. Mr. Shea said we should define our role. If we’re just doing an annual review, he wouldn’t be on this committee. People are holding AHAC accountable for affordable housing. Why don’t we write some bylaws? We could do more than an annual review, especially with the experience we can draw on here. Mr. Hruby said that in the city, it’s our responsibility to review major developments and make a recommendation to the Planning Board and City Council. That’s working. Our role is advisory, but how far do we push that and take our responsibilities? Mr. Shea asked Jamie French how he views the AHAC’s role. We’re tied in to Growth Management. We’re looking to improve what we do, but don’t want to step too far out of bounds. Mr. French told the subcommittee: • The DSAC is the single most functional advisory board in the county, but it wasn’t always that way. Twenty years ago, DSAC was ready to kill staff. Collier County was known as the worst place to get good service. We’ve changed that over time. • He volunteered to take on the responsibility of trying to get AHAC more into policy because we’ve seen great ideas that come from AHAC or housing staff conflict with our Land-Development Code, Code of Laws and Ordinances or state statutes. • We write code all the time, whether it’s updates to the Growth Management Plan, future land use, the RLSA or LDC. • We’re consistently working with the County Attorney’s Office, state and federal partners to ensure we’re not in conflict with other laws so we don’t put the BCC in harm’s way by reducing land-use rights or creating more hurdles. • AHAC could be more than what it was in the past; it’s the BCC’s decision on what your role is. • It would be beneficial to take a more educational approach and have staff provide you with the parameters of what the law says. They could work with the County Attorney’s Office, our AICP, Mike Bosi, Cormac and Jaime Cook and other staff. • We’re monitoring both leading and lagging indicators for development countywide and know about most developments you read about in the news three or four years ahead of that because we had conversations with the landowner about rezoning. • We need to educate the AHAC. Once you’re able to establish your role, there’s still a role for Kristi Sonntag’s group to come and report on how the policy is working. What gets measured gets done. • We have nothing to do with financing. We are focused on policy and future growth. • When we look at the future land-use and the Growth Management Plan, we believe there should be stronger consideration given to affordable/workforce housing. • There needs to be a stronger housing component, transitional. • If someone is 60% AMI to 120% AMI but also look at AUIR (Annual Update and Inventory Report). • We’re the only one of 67 counties that still does it. • Housing should be a component of that, and it never has been. How are we doing? How do we measure up? Not necessarily to other states or other communities but based on local demand. • What are employers asking for, what are the community concerns and what are the residents coming here for? Are they out of college or moving families here? • We need to first address the real issues: What land-use constraints exist that prevent that? • McDowell Partners is a good builder, but they’ve been in our queue for three years. • Great Wolf Lodge is out of the ground and Uline will be done in less than a year. And that’s a commercial project with a lot of complexities. Permitting for housing is easy and apartment complexes are much easier than big warehouses. • Residents voted to take in $20 million on the surtax. That was adopted about four years ago, but no policy was ever written. That’s why he asked for it. We need to get a policy written and move forward for consideration. But we have to take it to the Infrastructure Surtax Committee. [Mr. Hruby left the meeting at 10:23 a.m.] A discussion ensued and the following points were made: • If the county could provide affordable housing, we wouldn’t be here today. • AHAC shouldn’t review developments to provide its blessing. It needs to go to the Infrastructure Surtax Committee, just like with Conservation Collier. The BCC makes a decision on what lands to purchase for affordable housing and put that out for bid through our Real Property Group. • There will be a score sheet for properties. We don’t want to promote development in the Coastal Fringe. We can’t get high density. • AHAC doesn’t want to be scoring or evaluating. We need a procedure for doling out the money, which hasn’t gone anywhere in four years. • We need to have a dialog. It’s good we’re working with Growth Management, which can be our guide. [Mr. Hruby rejoined the meeting at 10:25 a.m.] • The board should develop a policy based on the referendum. • The mentality here 20 years ago was not to help people. • The county isn’t pro-development or anti-development but must uphold statutes and provide services. • The county needs a policy to open up the field to more developers so it’s not just McDowell Partners and other locals. • We don’t want to create more obstacles for developers to overcome. That increases costs. We need to provide more transitional housing for people just starting careers and rising up in their careers. • AHAC can set the criteria and Kristie’s group will monitor it. • We can’t conflict with the way impact fees or funding are underwritten, and the way funding is made available. • The property McDowell came up with off Manatee was a great property, but it was in the Coastal Fringe, a high-flooding area. • In the past, the county was so siloed that various departments didn’t know what each was doing. Knowledge wasn’t shared and departments were too busy to share. • The BCC is the master of the “what” and the staff is the master of the “how.” Mr. French told the subcommittee: • We need to look at what the neighborhoods’ concerns are before we draft anything. • Why do NIMBYs show up to meetings? Is it bad marketing? Does the developer have a very aggressive attorney? • We need to ask outsiders what their biggest hurdles were. • Properties were flipped to a property manager after they were built and they fell into disrepair. Fewer people showed up to the Code Enforcement Board and there were fewer Code Enforcement complaints. • When we bring forward policy, AHAC can help staff. • We need to know what the issues are. A discussion ensued and the following points were made: • We can’t come up with a design and tell the community. We need to be a better neighbor. The community needs to be part of the design process. • Developers reach out during NIMs because they know the community will fight it more once it gets to the BCC. • We need to build our coalition before we start the design drawings. • Policy changes should be made before that, but that could stall development. • Mike Bosi always asks for a minimum of 22.6% workforce housing to be part of each development. It’s an unwritten policy. • Chicago uses set-aside areas if developers want zoning changes. It shouldn’t be a policy here but could be part of negotiations. That’s like inclusionary zoning. • We need to be careful about setting hard and fast policies. • 22% of our workforce is in construction, an area that’s oversaturated and includes people who work in supply houses, Home Depot, architects, engineers and laborers. That represents about 10% of our GDP. • We need to find ways to allow density. • Collier County isn’t focused as much on redevelopment as regrowth. • AHAC could help blighted communities. • GMD received no plats last month, which indicates the market is slowing down. • We should look at areas such as Golden Gate City. • 14,000 vacation-rental house owners have put pressure on the housing stock. It’s easier to rent for three months, which pays the mortgage and is a business model homeowners like. • The AHAC should be involved in discussions in the earlier stages. By the time it gets to AHAC, there’s nothing we can do. • We should try to reach beyond Collier County to find affordable housing builders who are building affordable housing successfully elsewhere. • That’s what’s occurring with the Community Land Trust. We reached out to at least six developers and there is interest, but people believe it’s a hard place to move to due to the cost. Mr. Giblin noted that they did this on the Bembridge property with the hopes of finding an outside developer. We had a county-owned property and we put it out for RFP to get more than just local developers competing. We got 12 to 18 different proposals from developers from as far away as Colorado, North Carolina, Miami, Orlando and other places. That’s what it takes. We need to have a lure for a developer. Mr. French told the subcommittee: • AHAC could look at RFPs and review them before they go out. • ACAC could see how effective the county is with its advertising and RFPs. That will give you an idea of how state and federal policies are performing. • Trinity Scott could speak to the AHAC about the CAT bus system. Part of the housing disadvantage is transportation. • DSAC approved LDC amendments yesterday that allow virtual NIMs. • We need community feedback. How do we best guide developers to do that? • The DSAC wants to go to virtual NIMs. Eric Johnson, who heads the DSAC, could speak to AHAC about some of the Land Development Code changes that could impact affordable housing projects and make them easier or more difficult. Mr. Giblin noted that the amendments will be going before the BCC. All LDC amendments, code amendments and Growth Management Plan policy amendments go through the DSAC- LDC subcommittee, DSAC, then to the Planning Commission and then the BCC. Something as simple as a change to the LDC could affect the cost of housing. The committee can make a recommendation before it goes to the BCC in the Executive Summary considerations section. There could be a report listing all recommendations by various committees. Mr. French said if he’s pushing for a LDC amendment, he might want AHAC’s input. He’d like an AHAC member to sit on the DSAC and be involved in the conversation. The DSAC agreed they would like that. Ms. Faron asked whether they could do a “post-mortem” or “lessons learned” from developments, which could inform them on policy moving forward. We could look at the property, see how it’s operating, the impact, who is living there and what rents are. Mr. Giblin noted that in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Collier County was very successful as a tax-credit affordable housing developer, so successful that we hit the state’s “ceiling” so we had to make it harder to get projects funded here because we got too many too quickly. That’s because we had an affordable-housing density-bonus program. At the time, one of the only ways to achieve greater densities was to build affordable housing. Since then, the BCC adopted other policies and we have site-specific Growth Management Plan amendments that grant densities for different things. There was a direct change from when the incentives were only allowed if you were doing affordable housing. We had a boom with the number of applicants and projects that came in. When incentives were spread out to almost any project, the developers did the math and found they could get the same thing without doing it. Ms. Golden said she likes the idea of the AHAC being more involved in recommending policy, but there are still three or four recommended LDC changes the AHAC was involved in with Uline that are still unresolved. What happened to the Johnson Engineering recommendations, the conversion of commercial to residential? How can we make sure that those recommendations won’t get stuck if the BCC turns them down? We haven’t gotten to that point. Mr. Bosi said Commissioner Hall spoke to the County Manager to request that those four GMP initiatives be brought back to the BCC for consideration as an agenda item. They probably will accept portions, such as 25 units per acre within Activity Centers. They’ve already shown through GMP amendments, such as Courthouse Shadows, that they’re willing to allocate higher densities in Activity Centers to provide for affordable housing. A discussion ensued and the following points were made: • Sometimes a lack of response by the BCC is a response. • The County Manager has made affordable housing a top priority so we need to move forward with it. • Developers say it’s difficult to navigate the process, so we need to create some policies to prevent delays. • Commissioner Hall is focused on helping overcome government hurdles. • AHAC needs to be involved in policy making. • The four amendments are game changers, but there is pushback in the community so we need to market them. • NABOR could help with that. NABOR had issues with including C4 and C5 and C5. • Mr. French and Ms. Cook weren’t involved in those discussions but inserted themselves into it; the prior administration had discouraged that. • What are the county’s metrics for affordable housing? What does it want to accomplish? • Former County Manager Jim Mudd wanted to fix the affordable-housing problem, but he died of brain cancer and that went off the radar. • We need to build a culture to work together toward building affordable housing. • AHAC members need to show up for DSAC and Infrastructure Surtax Committee meetings. We need to establish linkages to accomplish this. • Policy should be a prime focus, but we need to educate the community. • AHAC members also should show up for NIMs. • If the four amendments are coming back before the BCC, AHAC should invite NABOR to an AHAC meeting. • Before BCC and Planning Commission meetings are held, we need to know all the objectives and solutions and whether concerns are valid. • NABOR fears specific zones because it would push C5 uses out east and create more traffic east to west. We need to work with that perception before it gets to the BCC. • All our residential is moving outward not up, but we need to create balance. • Conservation Collier’s mission is to protect undeveloped lands, especially in the highly sensitive eastern lands. They want to promote more density within urbanized areas. • Conservation Collier fought the Courthouse Shadows project, which could have been a good affordable-housing or transitional, mixed-use project. • We have PUDs that are nearly 20 years old that are not closed out because the commitments haven’t been made. There’s no retirement date. All they do is they pay for a monitoring report to say they’re not closed out. AHAC could be involved in that. • It’s critical that AHAC work with anyone who is against affordable housing projects. • We also should focus on those who haven’t made up their minds. • We should attend NIMs, Rotary and NABOR events. We can write a list and establish roles about attending those meetings. • The County Attorney can tell us what works and staff can tell us what the initiatives are. Everyone must work together. • Most developers aren’t backed by the philanthropists that back Habitat for Humanity. • Bonds on PUDs are based on what we think developers’ costs are. • When Commissioner Coletta was on the BCC, he attended all the AHAC meetings before a commissioner was required to attend. He asked that all developments come before the AHAC before the BCC. That lasted six months. Developers got it repealed because they felt it was an extra hurdle. • If a developer is building market-rate housing, they should come before the AHAC. • AHAC members should attend meetings and invite naysayers to AHAC meetings. • NIMs occur before a developer even presents plans to the county. Ms. Golden said we have enabling ordinances. They provide the history of when this initiative started in the early 1990s. She suggested everyone look at 2020-27, Section 6, Establishment of AHAC. It refers to state statutes about AHAC’s responsibilities. You need to add to Section 6, page 4, to strengthen that and add references to coordinate with other policymakers, including DSAC, and to provide community education. That section is where you could add things. A discussion ensued and the following points were made: • Maybe we shouldn’t touch the bylaws, but create a separate document, a work plan, a strategic plan with roles and responsibilities. • Staff and attorneys can decide whether we need to amend the bylaws and how to structure that. • AHAC should focus on hurdles preventing affordable housing initiatives from moving forward. • Florida is a minimum-code state, so activism is not necessarily supported from the regulatory role. There’s enough discretion within the code that allows us to provide alternative methods to reach the ultimate goal of meeting the code’s intent. • Maybe AHAC needs to recommend legislation? • Anyone against impact fees is for raising taxes. • AHAC would like a list of affordable housing projects that are coming up. • It’s important that the AHAC work with the county to publicize success stories. We need to show why people should want to live and work here. • It’s up to AHAC to decide how its annual report is formulated and presented. • Instead of changing bylaws, find out what’s need to make AHAC functional. • Staff can provide AHAC with presentations on developments. • Uline wants to be more involved. Staff is meeting with them and the County Manager to discuss their kickoff and strategy. • What are best practices around the country? • We should develop a strategy plan at the next AHAC meeting on February 14. • Mr. French would like feedback on who they’d like for a new director of Economic Development & Housing. An AHAC member could sit in on the three or four interviews. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT None 5. NEXT MEETING DATE To be determined. There being no further business for the good of the County, the meeting was adjourned by the order of the chairman at 12:02 p.m. COLLIER COUNTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMITTEE STRATEGIC PLAN SUBCOMMITTEE ______________________________________ John Harney, Chairman These minutes were approved by the Committee/Chairman on ________________, as presented (choose one) _______, or as amended ________. Staff Notes on Affordable Housing Advisory Committee “Bylaws” Subcommittee Meeting Held February 2, 2023 Discussion began with a conversation about “why are we here?” • What is the purpose of the AHAC • Public’s need for a champion • Statutory Requirements • Are “Bylaws” really what are needed? o Bylaws tend to be about members, rules, and procedures o Are we really looking for a mission, or purpose or, a “work-plan” Three main areas were brought up where members want the AHAC to focus on: 1. Permanent and recognized linkages to other Collier County Boards and Processes a. DSAC b. CCPC c. BCC 2. Advise the BCC on development and proposed code changes as they pertain to housing affordability 3. Be a public source of advocacy and community education