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AHAC Subcommittee 02/20/2024Fet'rruary' 10. 1024 MINUTES OF THE COLLIER COU\iTY AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE Naples, Florida, February 20,2024 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, the Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory committee Subcommittee, in and for the Counry of Collier, having conducted business herein, met on this date at 9 a.m. in REGULAR SESSION at the Collier County Growth Management Community Development Deparrment Building, Conference Room #6091610,2800 Horseshoe Drive N.' Naples, Florida, with the following members present: Sub Chair: Jennifer Faron (excused) Acting Sub Chair: Mary Waller Hannah Roberts Planning Commissioner Paul Shea Gruntv Staff Members Present: ffising Policy & Economic Development, GMCD Sarah Hanington, Planning M*ug.., Housing Policy & Economic Development, GMCD Derek Perry, Assistant County Attorney Julie Chardon, Ops Support Specialist II, GMCD Mike Bosi, Director, Zoning & Planning Department' GMCD I February 20"2024 Any persons in need of a verbatim record of the meeting ntay request a copt, of the audio recordingfrom the Collier County Growth Management DepartmenL I. CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mr. Gibtin called the meeting to order at 9 a.m. and the committee recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 2. ROLL CALL OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS AI{D STAFF Mr. Giblin called the roll call. A quorum of three was present in the boardroom. He said the agenda is to discuss the AHAC's workplan and incentive strategies and how they relate to the Incentive Strategies Report. The subcommittee needs to determine a temporary chair to run this meeting because the subcommittee's standing chair, Jennifer Faron, is unable to attend. (The committee skipped to 3.b.) 3. APPROVAL OFAGENDA ^. Approval oftoday's agenda Ms. Roberts made a motion to accept the agenda- Second by Planning Corumissioner Shea The motion passed unanimously, 3-0. b. Selection of a Temporary Chair Planning Commissioner Shea made a motion to nominate Mary *Yaller as the temporary chair. Second by Ms. Roberts. The motion passed unanimously, 3-0, 4. INF'ORMATIONAL ITEMS AND PRESENTATION (None) 5. PUBLIC COMMENT (No public speakers) 6. DISCUSSION ITEMS (None) 7. STAFF AND COMMITTEE GENERAL COMMUI{ICATIONS a. AHAC Workplan Draft (S. Harrington) b. 2023 State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) Incentive Strategies Report (C. Giblin) Mr. Giblin explained the Workplon and Incenrtves Strategies Report: . Some new AHAC members were looking for the purpose of the AIIAC and a gleater understanding of what it works on yearly. . They also wanted documentation and measurable outcomes that they could look back on yearly or quarterly to determine progress with certain goals. o That culminated in the attached worksheet on pages I -4, the workplan. o It was brought back to the AHAC a few times last year with updates on progress and new items. It was last reviewed last summer as the AHAC started pivoting to its work on the incentives, the lncentive Strategies Report. o The Incentive Strategies Report is on pages l-12. It's the only statutorily required 2 Februaty 20.2024 .4 discussion ensued about the dffirence between the workplan and Incentive Strategies Report and rhe subcommittee decided to go over the differences and determine what should be added to the Incentive Strategies ReporL M* Harrington told the subcommittee: o The Incentives Strategies Report is a template provided by the state, so the formatting is different from the workplan- o Items in the Incentives Strategies Rcport are required by the state. . lf you want to add items from the workplan, it will make the report more robust. A discussion ensued over what's an important AHAC function and which items to add to the Incentive Strategies Report: . Going to Neighbbrhood Information Meetings does not need to be added because rve cin't speak at a developer's NIM, but we can attend them' o It's more important to go to Planning commission hearings. o You're attending as yourself, not representing the AHAC's position, unless there's been a vote. o If the AHAC supported it, you could state that' o You can Say you ." a member of the AHAC and then say these are your personal opinions' .r :+r^ L^^+ .,,r.o- rrrarpro o fnmql rrntc anrl \ Io Mr. Bosi noted it's best when there's a formal vote and you can say lt recelve( unanimous suPPort. o Mr. Giblin not.A tnut items l4 are under "promote," meaning the AHAC will seek to promote substantive and impactful policies and programs through active participation and engagement in the community' . Mr. Harrington suggested incorporating that into the lncentives Strategies Report under Recomm"rd"tion No. 3, where it says, "The AHAC established the development of a work plan matrix to identifu actions, time frames and outcome goals ftr its ongoing efforts." You could have a section saying "promote" and list it.rnr, such as publicly speaking and attending hearings' A discussion ensued over incorporating items into the Incentives strategies Reporl Michael Puchalla, head of the new The Housing Alliance (THA), told the AHAC: o There may be some overlap with the alliance and the AHAC, especially promotion of affordable housing within the community' I The non-pro{it alliance already is having major conversations with employers, including Collier County Public Schools, the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce and NCH. o We,ve started doing workforce housing surveys to identifo their groups' needs and how employees can qualiff for a more sustainable rental or home-ownership opportunities. o The alliance can help the AFIAC fill in some of those gaps and could provide a report to the AHAC. o Through the Land Trust, we're also working with developers to try to move forward with whatever incentives the community has available at the local, state 4 February 2(1.2024 function of the AHAC, to prepare this report, get it approved by the Board of County Commissioners and sent to Tallahassee to ensure completion. It has certain strategies mandated by state statute that the AHAC must weigh in on and try to incorporate into the local government. There are sections in the report for localAHACs to come up with other ideas they'd like to pursue and provide updates on to their boards and the state. The Incentive Strategies Report takes time to complete to ensure rve follow the required template and provide the Board of County Cornmissioners with a thorough report on rvhat the AHAC has been working on during the year and what the AHAC plans on working on the following year. As we started working on the report, we found a tremendous anlount of overlap between the Incentive Strategies Report and the AHAC workplan, so much so that we stopped updating the workplan because everything was duplicated in the lncentive Strategies Report, the one that matters. It's staff s recommendation that we review both documents and if there are items in the workplan that the AHAC wants to add to the regular agenda and put into the Incentives Strategies Report, we'd recommend doing that. We don't see value in having two different documents that both provide a report card on the AFIAC's actions. Acting Chair Waller agreed they were duplicates and it doesn't eliminate things that we have already done and taken care of. We've often done it by the time we get to the workplan, so having two separate documents for the same thing is redundant. Mn Giblin reported that: . The Incentive Strategies Report is due to the state by December 3l't each year. To make that deadline, the AHAC starts working on the plan fairly early so it can work on it throughout the year to get it ready for the Board of County Commissioners and then the state. o A draft timeline of what your schedule would be this year is we amticipate bringing it to your next full AHAC meeting in March. o At the May meeting, u'e'll give you both documents or just the Incentive Strategies Report and discuss what items the AHAC would like added deleted, amended or updated. o At the June meeting, we'll present a first draft of the Incentive Strategies Report. o In September, we'd bring a frnal draft. o Our load date to get it to the Board of County Commissioners' November l2th meeting is October 8, so at the AHAC's September 17e meeting, you'd review a final draft and possibly add final thoughts that could be incorporated by October 8'h for staff to load into the county's agenda system so they can be heard by the BCC on November l2th. o There's only one BCC meeting in November and December. so rve'd shoot for the November 12fr board meeting in case something happened and it's pushed to the Decernber rneeting. . The December 31't deadline is a hard-and-fast date, so we envision this report rvill be reviewed by the AHAC at every meeting as we continue to format it and get it ready to go to the state by the end of the year. J a a a a a Februarry 20.2021 and federal level. We can help the community understand where units are, who can provide units, where incentives are and how to acquire them. This will be done under the Housing Navigator program, which will help solve some housing-affbrdabi lity challenges. He doesn't want the AHAC to duplicate what the alliance is doing if we're already working on a similar path and tlere's aligument. Planning Commissioner Shea said it would be nice if Mr. Puchalla could provide a status report at AHAC meetings and tell us whcre we can help. Mr. Puchalla said that's what he was thinking and the AHAC may be able to provide assistance or support. I\Ir. Giblin noted that Michael comes to every AHAC meeting. A discussion ensued and thefollowing points were made: o Acting Chair Waller didn't like the term "promote." o Mr. Giblin noted that most affordable-housing developers want to present to the AHAC on their way through the public hearing process so they can get an AHAC recommendation. o What can go into the lncentive Strategies Report is, "The AHAC will seek to promote substantive and impactful policies and programs through active participation and engagement in the community," then list how, such as "We iecommend that developers proposing to build affordable housing in Collier CountY come Present to us." . That goes under No. 2, Recommend. The AHAC would recommend and encourage positive support. o There's a policy goal that can go into the lncentives Strategies Report and individual tasks can be bulleted under them. . you can add No. 6, that the AHAC recommends that developers bring forward their proposed develoPments. Further discussion ensued over what to use from the workplan in the Incentive Strategies Report and M* Horrtn$on incorporated those ideas into the reporl Mr. Giblin said there's a county lobbyist team that goes to weekly legislative sessions and updates county staff on the bills working their way through the system in Talahassee, including affordable housing, impact fees and development. Staffprovides the lobbyists with feedback. It's too short a time window to provide that information to the AHAC, seek advice and get it back to the lobbyists. After a discussion, the foltowing were added to the Incentive Strategies Report: o County staffwill update the AHAC about current legislation. . Impacr fees will fall under state-required incentives, which includes allowable fee waivers. o The AHAC will review projects at its meetings. a a a 5 February'20. 2024 Mr. Giblin told the AHAC: . The Quarterly Apartment Survey was put on hold due to staffing issues, but we've worked with our partrlers at CHS to update the survey, which was completed in late January. . The survey will be put on the GMD website in place of the old version. o Moving fonvard, we hope to do it at least twice a year. It's on the agenda for the next AHAC meeting and will be distributed to you. . That survey will fall under education and outreach in the report. It's a snapshot in time of all rental developments in the county, how many units are available and what current rents are. Acting Chair llaller told the AHAC and staff: o ls there any way we can get a regular list of projects so we can gauge how many more available rentals there will be? . These are the rental units in process, which would show how many more units there will be at the end of the year or when the project will be complete. r That will give us a focus. o She doesn't want to see Naples and Collier County become a rental city with apartment buildings upon apartment buildings. It's getting to that point. e We may need to switch that up and ask developers to come in artd build condos they can sell at an affordable price. Mr. Gibtin showed the AHAC a spreadsheet dating to 2017: . This shows every development that's been approved that contains an affordability commitment of some tYPe. o Some are30o/o affordable. 100% affordable, l0% affordable. . It shows which were approved, which are active, and open and active. . Bembridge is active and open, while some are active and under development. o He can provide that to the AHAC at the next meeting. . Since 2017, there have been over 4,500 affordable units committed in Collier County, aboutZ3-7o/o of all developments. . Some won't be built for l0 years. Acting Chair Waller said that's good information and noted that developers sometimes go bankrupt. Mr. Giblin said staff can provide this as a regular update. Some developers may go bankrupt, but the restriction still remains on the property, unless the board removes it. CHS recently started publishing its monitoring reports and letters on its website to be transparent. Ms. Roberts asked if everything from the workplan will be put into the Incentives Strategies Report. Mr. Gibtin said everything will be moved. Most of it was already in there, except we need to add or beefup an education and outreach piece in the incentivc plan. ,4ction ltem: Mr. Giblin will orovide the 2AI7 spreadsheet showine all affordable- housins oroiects to the AHAC at its March meeting. The reoort will be oresented. as an 6 F-ebluarl 20. 2024 A discussion ensued and the following points were made:o It's everyone'sjob, including AHAC members. to do education and outleach about affordable housing. o The housing facts given to members a couple of meetings ago $ ere helpful.o The AHAC should vote on a statement offacts and adopt it so u'e have a pu4rose and plan. o We need an elevator pitch, something to say to people. o The fact sheet took time and was compiled from the 2017 spreadsheel and other information.. Staff looked at every development. regardless of affordability, that was approved in calendar year 2023. o Staff can provide the AHAC with an official poticy statement so AHAC members can speak as the AIIAC and not personally. . Too many people and groups were speaking about affordable housing in the community and t}re facts didn'tjibe so staffcreated the fact sheet to provide consistency and credibility.o Wc should show some success stories because this is the worst place in the nation for affordability. r The Comrnunity Foundation report on affordable housing and orher numbers is completely different from other numbers. Some are incorect. o Mr. Giblin noted there are different data sets, different parts ofthe same data set, that tell a story. . Acting Chair Waller noted that some data is time sensitive and information gathered six months ago is no longer reliable.. Mr. Giblin said county staff is required to use data from the University ofFlorida Chamber of Commerce, the state-authorized data clearinghouse on housing and population, etc. The Community Foundation may use surveys or other information. It doesn't make it any less important but county government and county planning must use the same facts authorized by the legislahrre.. Acting Chair Waller and Ms. Roberu said the fact sheet was too long.o Mr. Giblin said staffcan make it into a note card.o Acting Chair Waller said we want something we can memorizc.. Ms. Roberts called it a geat one-pager.. Mr. Giblin said they'd review it twice a ycar and update it. Ms. Harrington said for the March AHAC meering, staff will incorporate feedback received from today's meeting about items that we want to keep and incorporate from the work plan into the incentives report. Then we will bring the Incentives Strategies Report to the full AHAC. -4ction ltem: Stdff will incoroorate items from the workolan into the I centiyes Stratesies R rt and brins it back to the full AHAC for review and discussion. ,4ction ltem: Staff will create a nole merrrbers to ca rn to ,rreetihss. ,7 suntnarizins the fact sheet for AHAC undate st all full AHAC meetines, February 20.2014 planning Commissioner Shea asked if staff would create an executive summary. lVIr. Giblin said when it goes to the Board of County Commissioners, it includes an executive summary. planning Commissioner Shea asked if staff would be reporting the results of the subcommittee meeting. Mr. Giblin said we will give a subcommittee update on what occurred here. ln that update, we'll say we're migrating items from the workplan that were not in the lncentive Strategies Report. We recommend that we don't keep two sets of documents any longer and we'll give you the schedule on the upcoming Incentive Srategies Report draft. 8. NEW BUSINESS None) 9. ADJOUR}{ Ms. Roberts made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Second by Planning Commissioner Shea The motion passed unanimously,3-0' 10 NEXT MEETING DATE 9 a.m. March 19,2024 Conference Room 609/610 Growth Man agement communit-v Development Department There being no further business for the good of the county, the meeting was adjourned by the order of the chair at l0:19 a'm' COLLIER COUNTY AFFORDABLE EOUSING ADVISORY SUBCOMMITTEE Mrry Acting Chair These minutes were approved by the committee on -3/19/2024-' (check one) as presented _X_, or as amended -. 8