BCC Minutes 02/03/2017 S (Urban Land Institute (ULI) Advisory Services Panel Preliminary Report) - Public Meeting February 3, 2017
TRANSCRIPT OF THE MEETING OF THE
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Naples, Florida, February 3, 2017
LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County
Commissioners, in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the
Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special
districts as have been created according to law and having conducted
business herein, met on this date at 9:00 a.m., in SPECIAL SESSION
in Building "F" of the Government Complex, East Naples, Florida,
with the following members present:
CHAIRMAN: Penny Taylor
Andrew Solis
William L. McDaniel, Jr.
Burt L. Saunders
Donna Fiala
ALSO PRESENT:
Leo Ochs, County Manager
Nick Casalanguida, Deputy County Manager
Jeffrey A. Klatzkow, County Attorney
Troy Miller, Communications & Customer Relations
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COLLIER COUNTY
Board of County Commissioners
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I N N
PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA
Board of County Commission
Chambers Collier County Government
Center 3299 Tamiami Trail East,3rd
Floor Naples,FL 34112
February 3,2017
9:00 AM
Commissioner Penny Taylor,District 4-BCC Chair
Commissioner Andy Solis,District 2-BCC Vice-Chair
Commissioner Donna Fiala,District 1;CRAB Co-Chair
Commissioner Burt Saunders,District 3
Commissioner William L.McDaniel,Jr.,District 5;CRAB Co-Chair
1. Pledge of Allegiance
2. Opening Remarks Kim Grant,Community and Human Services Division Director
3. 9:05-10:00 Urban Land Institute Advisory Services Panel Preliminary Report
Presentation*,Philip Payne,ULI Panel Chair
4. 10:00-10:30 Question and Answer Session with ULI Panel
5. As needed Public Comments
6. Adjourn
*ULI Panel members presenting:
Philip Payne,Panel Chair,Principal and CEO Ian Colgan,Assistant Executive Director Cassie Wright,Project Manager
Ginkgo Residential Oklahoma City Housing Authority Urban Ventures,LLC
Charlotte,North Carolina Oklahoma City,OK Denver,Colorado
Hilary Chapman,Housing Program Manager JoAnne Fiebe,Florida Center for Community Design and John R.Orfield,LEED AP,Principal
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Research;School of Architecture and Community Design, BOKA Powell
Washington,D.C. USF,Tampa,Florida Dallas,Texas
Lacy McManus,M.B.A.,Director of Program Dev.
Greater New Orleans,Inc.
New Orleans,LA
NOTICE:All persons wishing to speak on Public Meeting items must register prior to presentation of the
item to be addressed.All registered speakers will receive up to three(3) minutes unless the time is
adjusted by the chairman.
February 3, 2017
Page 2
MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
Please take your seats. Thank you.
Madam Chair, you have a live mike.
Item #1
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much. Good morning,
everyone. I'd like to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance.
And, Mr. Commissioner Solis, would you please lead us in that.
(The Pledge of Allegiance was recited in unison.)
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
This is a workshop and a public meeting, and we're so pleased to
see everyone here. This is about housing; housing in Collier County.
And before we begin, I'm going to briefly identify some of the
folks here. If I miss someone, please let me know; it's not going to be
everyone. But we're going to start with Rick Medwedeff, who's is the
General Manager of the JW Marriott in Marco Island. That company
employs 750 folks.
We have Reg Buxton, Linda Panaman, and Michelle McCloud,
from the City of Naples. The City of Naples employs 435 employees;
we have Nick Kouloheras, who is the Executive Director for Habitat
for Humanity; we have Frank Rodriguez, who is the CRA Officer from
First Florida Integrity Bank; we have Michael Puchalla, Executive
Director of House -- of HELP, which is Housing Education and
Lending Programs; we have Harold Weeks, the second Vice President
of the NAACP; we have Dr. Patton who's the Superintendent of Collier
County Schools. Collier County Schools employs 7,000 people that
serve our children.
We have Jace Kentner, the Director of Collier County Business
February 3, 2017
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and Economic Development; we have Frank Halas, Former
Commissioner of the Second District; we have Norm Feeder,
Commissioner, North Collier Fire Control District; we've Michael
Dalby, who is the Chairman of the Greater Naples Chamber of
Commerce; and we have Steve Sanderson, President of the United
Way.
And as you can see by the people that I mentioned, and certainly
by all of you, this a lot more than just a problem of the Commission.
This is an Economic Development Community/Countywide problem
challenge that we are delighted to have the Urban Land Institute here
to give us some ideas.
Thank you very much.
Item #2
OPENING REMARKS – KIM GRANT, COMMUNITY AND
HUMAN SERVICES DIVISION DIRECTOR
MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, let's proceed with this morning's
agenda. We're pleased this morning to introduce Kim Grant, our
Division Director for Community and Human Services. Kim and her
staff, as you know, under your direction and guidance, are working this
entire year towards the completion of a Community Housing Plan for
Collier County.
Today's obviously an important milestone in that effort, and Kim
will begin the presentation.
MS. GRANT: Good morning, Commissioners, members of the
public. Again, I'm Kim Grant, Division Director for Community and
Human Services.
This is a public meeting to hear the results of a week-long Urban
Land Institute Advisory Services Panel. These are the preliminary
February 3, 2017
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recommendations, and they're going to talk to us about housing and
affordable housing and their recommendations for our community to
consider to address the needs that have been identified.
This is, as has been mentioned, a continuation of approximately a
two-year process headed towards development of a housing plan for
our community.
The goal of the engagement with the ULI panel has been to obtain
an unbiased view of the current situation and for them to provide us
unbiased recommendations on strategies, policies, or other directions
the county may consider taking.
The panel week has consisted of tours of the entire county, one
very well attended public reception on Monday evening.
Approximately 90 individuals were interviewed throughout the week
by the panel, and then the panel went off to their deliberations, and
they're here this morning to give us their recommendations.
The people who were selected for interviews were selected by the
Affordable Housing Advisory Committee and the Stakeholder
Committee, both committees this board has appointed to assist us in
this project.
This morning the ULI group -- the ULI panel will present their
findings. Following that will be a question-and-answer period that will
be moderated by the ULI team.
At this time I would like to introduce to you the chair of the ULI
advisory team that's been here this week, and he will then lead on with
the presentation.
Item #3
URBAN LAND INSTITUTE ADVISORY SERVICES PANEL
PRELIMINARY REPORT PRESENTATION BY PHILIP PAYNE,
ULI PANEL CHAIR
February 3, 2017
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The Chair of the panel this week is Philip Payne. He is the
Principal and CEO of Ginkgo Residential in Charlotte, North Carolina,
and for over 25 years, Mr. Payne's primary focus has been on the
development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and management of
middle-market or workforce multifamily housing.
With that, Mr. Payne.
MR. PAYNE: Thank you. Don't you love this when your
computer shuts down when you're waiting to talk? Okay.
On behalf of the Urban Land Institute and this panel, I want to
thank our sponsor, the Board of County Commissioners for Collier
County, Penny Taylor, Donna Fiala, Andy Solis, Burt Saunders, and
William McDaniel, as well the City of Naples, the City of Marco
Island, Everglades City, the Collier County Affordable Housing
Advisory Committee, and the Community Housing Plan Stakeholders
Committee for inviting us and for the community at large for being so
warm and welcoming.
While it has been a bit colder than any of us expected this week,
we have -- and we have essentially been locked in a conference room
for much of the week -- we did get to tour the whole county, the whole
community, and we also managed to sample some of your finest
restaurants.
We will all go home from this trip with fond memories of the
week and, unfortunately, a few extra pounds. In short, we've had a
wonderful time, and we want to thank you for having us.
I especially want to thank and praise Kim Grant, Cormac Giblin,
and the rest of the county staff for the time and effort they have put in
devoted to helping us with this project. The briefing book they
supplied us with was one of the best I've ever seen.
In addition, I want to express our appreciation to Steve Hruby and
Nick Kouleharis for their assistance and support throughout our
February 3, 2017
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engagement.
And, lastly, I want to especially thank Beth Silverman, who is the
Senior Director for the Education Advisory Services Group at ULI
who served as our Project Manager for this engagement, and Steven
Gu, an associate for the Advisory Services Group at ULI, who
provided research and logistical support throughout the week. Without
them, we would not have been capable of getting this done in the time
frame that we were on.
The Urban Land Institute is an 80-year-old institution dedicated
to providing leadership in the responsible use of land and creating and
sustaining thriving communities worldwide. At present we have
approximately 40,000 members that represent every single possible
discipline you can think of related to the use of land and development.
Our culture is one of sharing knowledge and expertise with the
goal of improving the overall performance of our members and the
quality of the projects and communities in which they work.
Our services include original research, publications, educational
meetings and seminars, and national advisory service panels, such as
the one we're doing here.
We were invited to conduct this advisory service panel to study
housing affordability needs in Collier County. The panelists have
spent the last week exploring how the county can best address its
housing affordability needs with a strategy that considers -- no, back
one. I'm sorry, Steven. I can't see that far.
The importance of having a balanced supply of housing, major
obstacles to producing and sustaining affordable and workforce
housing and measures to mitigate those obstacles, stakeholders'
perceptions of affordable and workforce housing and the existing tools
and programs that are in place to address these issues, how public
policy can encourage redevelopment of underutilized areas, and what
policies and best practices will apply in Collier County.
February 3, 2017
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At this time I want to reduce (sic) the other panelists. It is
important to note that the panelists have donated their time to this
project. They were chosen to serve on this panel because their
background and expertise matched the needs of the panel. None of
them have done work in this area. None of them are currently doing
work in this area. And, in fact, they are prohibited from working in
this area for a year after the completion of this panel all with the goal
of making sure they're completely unbiased in the work they're doing.
Their willingness to spend a week away from their jobs and their
families and to work around the clock is simply a sign of their
commitment to giving back to the community and is the essence of
ULI's mission of sharing knowledge and expertise for the betterment of
the community.
All right. John, why don't you start.
MR. ORFIELD: John Orfield, BOKAPowell Architects, Dallas,
Texas.
MS. McMANUS: Lacy McManus, Greater New Orleans, Inc.
We're the Economic Alliance for the 10-parish Greater New Orleans
region.
MS. CHAPMAN: I'm Hilary Chapman. I'm the housing
Program Manager for the Metropolitan Washington Council of
Government. It's in Washington, D.C.
MS. WRIGHT: I'm Cassie Wright with Urban Ventures, a Real
Estate Developer from Denver, Colorado, that specializes in mixed
income housing developments.
MR. COLGAN: Ian Colgan with the Oklahoma City Housing
Authority.
MS. FIEBE: Joanne Fiebe with the -- sorry, Tampa, Florida, and
I work for USF, and I'm a Community Revitalization Planner.
MR. PAYNE: The process by which this panel worked has
followed a method that's been developed by ULI over the last 47 years.
February 3, 2017
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During that period, ULI's conducted approximately 600 of these panels
and has really developed a procedure that ensures that we can get
through the week and end up with something to say this morning.
We began on Sunday with a tour of the more urban areas of the
city, and then on Monday we spent most of the day touring the more
rural parts of the county.
On both Sunday and Monday we had dinners, and then a
reception on Tuesday with members of the local community which
were for us, actually, working events where we tried to -- attempted to
learn the thoughts and attitudes of the community toward this issue.
On Tuesday we interviewed approximately 90 people on the
issue. Wednesday and Thursday we discussed, debated, eventually
reached a consensus, and then wrote the presentation you're about to
hear.
The typical workday for these panelists started at eight in the
morning and ran to somewhere around 11 at night. I'm proud to say
we did not have a single night over midnight, which is unusual, so we
did well this week. As panel chair, I am both thankful for and amazed
at the dedication, energy, and endurance displayed by our panelists.
Throughout the week, we repeatedly heard how unique Naples
and Collier County are, and the truth is, we agree. This is clearly one
of the most beautiful places in the world. It is one of the few places I
have ever been where the word "paradise" is an appropriate
description.
But while the community is unique, the issue of housing and
affordability is not. In fact, virtually every community in the nation is,
to some degree, struggling with this issue. This is especially true in
retirement and resort communities which have significant numbers of
service-level jobs and very high real estate values.
A vibrant -- a variety of housing options that are affordable to all
segments of the market is critical for creating a vibrant and sustainable
February 3, 2017
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community.
A few years ago I was privileged to serve on a ULI panel in
Northern Colorado. The impetus for the panel was a thousand-year
flood that occurred in 2013 which profoundly impacted the
neighborhoods -- communities of Estes Park, Loveland, and Fort
Collins. This was a flood of truly Biblical proportions where a storm
system settled over the area, and it rained literally for seven days and
seven nights.
The result was an erosive flood that wiped out substantial portions
of the only road between Estes Park, which sits at the entrance of
Rocky Mountains National Park, and Loveland, which is located at the
bottom of the mountain. Much like Naples, Estes Park over the past 30
years has evolved from a small mountain town to a high-end resort and
retirement community characterized by a significant number of service
jobs and extremely high real estate values.
When the road was washed out by the flood, Estes Park
discovered, to its surprise, that due to the lack of affordable housing,
virtually all of their emergency responders, policemen, firemen,
nurses, young doctors, teachers, service and hospitality workers were
unable to make their detail trek from Loveland, where they lived, to
Estes Park.
As a result, they were required (sic) a great expense to establish a
helicopter service that shuttled people back and forth from Loveland to
Estes Park for approximately a year while the road was rebuilt. This
served as their wake-up call for the need to address the issue of
housing affordability.
To its credit, Collier County is not in the same situation as Estes
Park. The issue of housing affordability has been a subject of
conversation and study here for years.
The panel is quite impressed with the time, effort, and quality of
work that has been invested in this subject. Many of the
February 3, 2017
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recommendations we will have today will mirror and, in fact, ratify the
work that has already been done.
The real need, in the opinion of the panel, in Collier County is for
action and implementation. This will require political will and
leadership. Not all of our recommendations will be universally popular
with the community at large, but they are, in our opinion, essential for
the long-term viability and sustainability of Naples and Collier County.
This will also require the understanding and commitment of the
community at large.
Naples and Collier County are, indeed, paradise, but to keep it so
will require adapting and preparing for the growth that is certain to
occur. An integral part of this will be developing a plan and working
to ensure housing that is affordable to all of your citizens.
There are five sort of core strategies that we're going to explore
with you today: Regulation in growth -- regulation in governance,
increased supply, to maintain and restore existing supply, enhance
transportation options, and the issue of wages.
At this point I'm going to turn the session over to our panelists to
address both the issue of housing affordability and possible solutions.
Following the completion of their presentations, we'll open this up for
questions and comments.
MR. COLGAN: So during the panel's discussions with the
community, we found what we think was consensus around the
problems of housing affordability, namely that there was an issue
regarding this topic; however, we also found that the various
definitions and perceptions of affordable housing created a scenario
where it was difficult to communicate and effectively understand this
problem, leaving confusing and misaligned goals as to what the
problem is and how to address it.
Considering this, the panel recommends that we reframe the
problem of affordable housing or housing affordability around a
February 3, 2017
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concept called "cost burden," which we think is a more appropriate
term to reference this topic.
Cost burden is effective because it doesn't focus on one's income.
It focuses on one's ability to afford housing in a local market regardless
of their income. It's a long-established term that can be modified based
on local circumstances but, essentially, if a household pays more than
30 percent of its gross income towards housing, it is considered cost
burdened. If it pays more than 50 percent, it's considered severely cost
burdened.
Typically, policy should -- from a policy standpoint to create a
sustainable community, that community should look -- examine ways
to mitigate cost burden, understanding that some people choose to pay
more for their home but then many are involuntarily cost burdened,
and to prevent severe cost burden. Locally, in Collier County, two out
of five households are cost burdened, and one out of every five
households is severely cost burdened.
But who exactly is cost burdened? It's people from across the
community in many different sectors and circumstances. In particular,
we grouped five core areas of workers that we think are of particular
note. Those are clustered in public safety, healthcare, education,
service workers, and entry/middle level professionals.
Together these job sectors make up more than 50 percent of the
county's labor force. And while there are variances in terms of the
income ranges and household sizes that define people who work in
these trades, generally, they make, collectively, up to about 150
percent of area median income and have cost-burden issues attributed
to those sectors.
They represent first responders, educators of children, healthcare
providers but, just as importantly, people in these groups are
responsible for the high-quality lifestyle that makes Collier County
such a special place.
February 3, 2017
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We took a representative sample of jobs within these sectors.
Hopefully you can read that, or just know that they considered nurses,
teachers, firefighters, service workers, et cetera, and we compared their
typical entry and median-level incomes as a representative example
against the median gross rent and the median sales price in 2015.
And by the chart, even if you can't read it, you can look at the
colors; green means not cost burdened, orange is middle cost
burdened, and red is severely cost burdened and just, with our
representative analysis, see that a substantial amount of just the sample
we took will be cost burdened, especially when -- the ability to afford a
home.
But there's still a substantial amount of cost burden when you take
the median sales price and cut it in half for about $200,000.
Importantly -- it's also important to mention another sector which
included low to moderate income seniors, mental health and support
services, households that require those, and very low income residents.
These residents are in the community, and there is almost -- there is
virtually no effective housing supply to serve these residents, forcing
many of them to leave the county or, essentially, live without good
access to housing and services. It's important to consider a
wraparound holistic approach particularly focusing on the sectors that
we pull out, but also these residents as well.
We want to go beyond the surface of cost burden because it's not
just about one's income compared to housing price or rent. Cost
burden implies much more, and there are local factors that make
Collier County -- that exacerbate the issue of cost burdened locally.
These include homeowners insurance, which is among the highest in
Florida; flood insurance that covers a substantial part of the county;
typical HOA fees; all things that, when added on to an opportunity to
own a home, reduce the purchasing power of a given household or
individual.
February 3, 2017
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Additionally, in many ways, Collier County is more expensive
than neighboring communities with more -- groceries being 11 percent
and restaurants generally being 22 percent more expensive than Fort
Myers.
Even more crucially important is the issue of transportation. To
properly address housing affordability and, therefore, cost burden, one
must also consider the topic of transportation, because it is those two
factors combined that make up a household -- the majority of a
household's expenditures.
For a household making 90 to 100 percent of area median
income, the housing and transportation costs are estimated by the
Center for Neighborhood Technology to be 75 percent of gross
income. And based on that amount, they estimate that only 15 percent
of residential neighborhoods within the county are accessible to people
who make that amount. That 90 to 100 percent of AMI is pretty much
that middle ground of the workforce that we showed earlier.
Given your location near employment centers, transportation
costs can go up 5 to 10 percent of your gross income depending how
far you go. We know that one-third of commuters already travel 30 or
more minutes to work. Together, these come together to show an issue
not only of cost burden and affordability, but also recruitment and
retention of labor force in all these sectors.
What's also important to consider is -- beyond affordability is
availability and quality. Homes and rental units at the lower end of the
price span may be affordable but they're also indicative of potential
quality and maintenance issues that provide situations that are not ideal
for many people trying to just afford housing within the community.
But when you consider availability, that's even more important,
because one can quantify the total number of units possibly available
to certain income levels, but what's just as important is what is
available in the market at any given time.
February 3, 2017
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We took a snapshot of what was on the market at any given time
for those who make 80 to 100 percent of area median income. It's not
a perfect example. It's representative of what we could find easily on
the Internet just as researching for homes.
We found that single-family homes available, there are 125; less
than 4 percent of the total inventory of homes on the market. Between
65 and 250 condominiums, most of which were one and two
bedrooms, which the supply may be reduced because we did not
consider HOA fees in this analysis.
But, more importantly, we found that for single-family and
condominium rentals there were zero below $1,500 a month, and only
23 units, all of which were one-bedroom apartments, that were
available to this income. We would recommend that any housing plan
look at data from the past to determine these issues of availability on
top of just raw cost burden and affordability.
Taken together, we get what we're -- we used the term the
Hodge's University example. This example has been mentioned to us
many, many times during our time here where police officers, sheriff's
deputies live in Lee County, can take their car home, but because they
live in Lee County, park at Hodge's University, and then continue on in
their own personal car. This anecdote matches up with data to show
that it's an indicative issue relative not just to the lower income tiers of
the community but to the very people who are responsible for
delivering services within the community and the fact that it's a
combination of housing and transportation costs that create this issue.
So when we consider the future, we must consider that the county
population growth is anticipated at 58,000 households by 2040. It's
unknown whether the proportion cost burden, the percentage, will
change over that time. But if it stays the same, 11,000 more
households will exist in Collier County that are severely cost burdened,
not just cost burdened.
February 3, 2017
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Median home sales prices and rental rates are at peak or beyond
peak prerecession levels, and there's no indication that growth will
abate or that the demand for high-tier households and rental units will
slow, creating an issue for many.
There are also additional threats to consider. Interest rates are on
the rise. Just a 1 percent rise in the interest rate can impact 5 percent or
more of one's affordability for a home.
Gas prices have been significantly low. The impact of a dollar or
two dollars in gas prices, and so many people, so many residents
already live farther out from the community, could be substantial.
So the challenge we hope to address is how does Collier County
address both its existing problem and the future need.
MS. McMANUS: So with that, what we tried to assess this week
was the vision: Who does Collier County want to be when you grow
up? What's the future look like? So I think Ian did a really good job of
showing you and illustrating some of the raw numbers around that, but
we wanted to go a little bit of a level deeper and try to understand what
do you want in your community moving forward. With these various
households and individuals moving in, this influx of change coming
upon you, what do you want to be and what do you want to look like?
And although we heard a wide consensus on the issue of housing
affordability, what we didn't hear a firm consensus around was that
vision; who you want to be and what you want to be.
We did, however, hear some key themes, some issues that folks
are concerned with, some aspects and qualities that folks clearly love
and want to continue to grow and thrive. And we wanted to make you
aware of those, because these were all things that we took into very
careful consideration as we were thinking through our
recommendations for affordable housing.
So those themes included maintaining Collier County's reputation
as a premiere tourist destination. That's clearly a huge source of your
February 3, 2017
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economy currently and a source of pride as well for the community.
Growing and maintaining your strong real estate base and
particularly retaining steady values in that sector. Also retaining a safe
and healthy community. We heard often about the Blue Zones and
how thrilled folks were with the growing push towards healthier
lifestyles and more mobility options.
Enhancing and sustaining a visually attractive and aesthetically
pleasing community was a clear priority as well. We know you love
your medians and beautiful landscape lawns, honestly, we were pretty
stunned by on our morning jogs.
Ensuring an efficient transportation system was not only a goal
moving forward, but also a concern. We heard a lot of concerns and a
lot of fears over the current traffic congestion problems that the
county's already facing and those concerns continuing to grow as well
as the county grows.
Diversifying the local economy was a theme that we heard folks
talk about often but, frankly, we didn't hear a lot of deep detail from a
wide number of people around how that was going to happen or what
that was going to look like. And given the current workforce issues
that are facing the county in regards to affordability of housing,
lifestyle, and cost of living, this is something that needs to be very
carefully considered moving forward.
So given that there is potentially some questions around what the
vision of Collier County is moving forward, we did want to give a few
snapshots of what we thought might be inevitable outcomes or
scenarios given a future with action on housing affordability and a
future without action.
So these scenarios are certainly not prescriptive and, obviously, it
just sets sort of two bookends of the spectrum. There's a variety of
interventions and a variety of pathways that can be taken between
these two bookends, but we did want to paint a picture of what we
February 3, 2017
Page 17
thought could happen with specific interventions around housing
affordability and what would likely not happen as a result of continued
inaction on the subject.
So in a future without action what we really see is a continued
loss of workforce and talent, a "brain drain," if you will, out of the
county, and I use this phrase specifically because it's one we heard
often when we were talking with the over 90 stakeholders or so that we
interviewed and discussed.
As a result, you'll have just exacerbation of the Hodges University
example with folks maybe not leaving their cars in university parking
lots, but certainly experiencing longer commutes, greater distances,
incurring greater costs to their households as a result of those
commutes, and also greater stress upon your traffic systems, greater
congestion as well. As a result, your transportation costs and costs of
maintaining that infrastructure are going to rise.
Also, you're going to have a decreased tax revenue base. If you
have a middle class that's working in the county but actually living
outside the county, they're going to be going to the grocery stores
where they live near their neighborhoods. They're going to be picking
up their dry-cleaning probably in those neighborhoods, going to the
barber in those neighborhoods, ordering pizza and going to the local
restaurants in the areas near where they live, and Collier County will
be missing out on all those tax revenues and returns while bearing the
brunt and the burden of the stress on the transportation systems.
As a result, the diminished attraction potential for labor and
industry will come online. If employers don't believe that they can get
the appropriate qualified talent and workforce base here in Collier
County, they will be less likely to move to Collier County and move,
instead, to the areas where workforce is plentiful and there is a labor
supply pipeline for them to access.
However, there's also the future with action. Again, not
February 3, 2017
Page 18
prescriptive, but we do feel that with appropriate interventions and
thought and consideration around affordability issues, Collier County
is really poised to continue to sustain an employment base that actually
lives here within the county. As a result, they will be spending their
money and time in the county. Not only their tax dollars going to the
grocery stores, pharmacies, et cetera, but also actually spending their
time in county areas where they work and play, increasing the overall
sense of civic engagement.
You'll have a stronger middle class and labor pool as a result,
with greater attraction potential for business and industry and reduce
stress on transportation systems as well.
So, again, those are just two ends of the spectrum as the panel
sees them, but we wanted you to be aware of the potential areas that
you could be growing into and could be evolving into, depending on
what actions are taken in the near future.
So a vision for Collier County: As we said, we know growth is
certainly on the horizon. So why is it important now to really lock in
who you want to be and what you want to do and how you want to get
there? Well, there's a number of reasons, and I think it really goes
back to what Ian just illustrated and exemplified a few slides ago when
he talked about the workforce base that is currently cost burdened here
in the county. These are the people who are educating your children,
who are making your streets safer, who are making your boulevards
more beautiful, the folks who make Collier County so special and so
magical, who give you that perfect blend of Mayberry and Rodeo
Drive. They're the folks who can no longer live here in Collier County.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I like that. That's great.
MS. McMANUS: And it's going to continue.
And it's difficult to gauge, however, how you create the
appropriate policies, how you create the appropriate priorities and
incentives when you don't understand what those people need and want
February 3, 2017
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as well as the rest of the folks who are living here in the county. There
needs to be a widespread consensus and understanding of that vision so
that you, as commissioners and stakeholders here in this room,
understand where to act, where to invest, what to do in the events and
circumstances of the growth that is certainly coming your way.
As we feel -- the panel sees the status quo in Collier County is
only going to serve a limited number of people for a limited amount of
time and that you have an option here before you where you can either
lead this growth or this growth can lead you. You can either take the
future by the reins now and begin implementing, proactively, the
solutions and interventions that are needed to manage what could be a
crisis, cutting it off at the quick or evolve with it, and then have to deal
with the results and ramifications later on in the future in a reactive
capacity.
So how do you get there? How do you get to this vision creation?
How do you get to this point? Well, frankly, the panel doesn't feel that
it is our job to lock this vision in for you. This should be a
self-directed exercise.
And, frankly, looking at the people in this room today, looking at
the folks who were joining us on Sunday night at the community
reception, you have so much incredible stakeholder engagement. You
have a number of steering committees, you have a number of task
forces, you have really incredible homeowners associations, you have
a really fantastic network and platform already in place to start
harnessing what the vision of the future looks like, what folks in this
community actually want their future to be.
Therefore, we feel that it should very much be a self-directed
exercise inclusive of all stakeholders, all segments of your very diverse
county, and really reflective of their needs and concerns moving
forward.
We do, however, have a few recommendations on what that
February 3, 2017
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vision should include. Obviously, key considerations around quality of
life. The healthy community aspects, again, were something that we
heard very often ensuring that those specific qualities are uplifted into
a vision we think is really critical. A wide range of housing options
across the county is vital as well, and we think any vision that the
county creates should be inclusive of that.
A thriving economy, whatever that means to you. Whether it's a
more diversified tourism base that brings in both the high end and the
middle end, whether it's bringing in clean tech and new advanced
manufacturing opportunities; all of these are options that you can
pursue in the future. Driving that home and really diving into what that
means and looks like should be explored in a visioning process.
Accessible transportation options: I think as we've mentioned
several times, the stress and congestion within your traffic systems are
a clear concern; addressing that through a vision, what that looks like.
Whether it's increased public transit, whether it's potential bus rapid
transit, increased mobility options, those things should be explored and
identified. What does Collier County want to look like in terms of
how it moves people across the county?
Also clear directives to governing entities. Give the folks who've
been doing so much legwork and so much extraordinary research and
data diving on a regular basis, give them a little bit of a directive;
where should they be going in their work, in their policies, investments
and implementations.
So with that, we have some recommendations for you.
MS. CHAPMAN: Okay. Thank you, Lacy.
So how can Collier County meet its current and future housing
needs? One component of achieving that goal is adding to the existing
supply of housing available to households at a greater variety of
incomes than currently exists.
I have good news to share, and that is that several strategies
February 3, 2017
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include simply making improvements to existing procedures and
vehicles rather than creating new programs from whole cloth. There is
no need to invent -- reinvent the wheel when there are existing
structures that support the development of more affordable housing.
A housing trust fund is an example of a national best practice that
Collier County currently has at its disposal but is not currently using.
There are more than 700 housing trust funds nationwide, and they are
often a critical element of a jurisdiction's overall housing policy.
Collier County's Housing Trust Fund should be sustainable and
predictable given the long planning process involved in housing
development.
Finding revenue for a housing trust fund is what can make them
challenging. Other jurisdictions have funded their trust funds through
sales tax, real estate transfer taxes, linkage fees as part of a zoning
ordinance, inclusionary zoning-in-lieu fees, condominium conversion
fees, demolition fees, and hotel and motel taxes.
The rest and most common revenue source for a county housing
trust fund is a document recording fee paid, a fee paid upon filing
various types of official documents with the state or local government.
This is one of the few revenue sources that most counties can commit.
Existing developer incentives have clearly failed to change
existing development patterns and allow for greater production of
housing affordable to a broad range of low- and moderate-income
households. These incentives should be reasonable, flexible, and allow
for creative partnerships to produce new affordable homes.
The ULI panel recommends that bonus density should be
reassessed to allow for more mixed-use development and greater
efficiency of land use throughout the county. The issue will be
discussed in greater length by my colleague, Joanne, but this program
needs revision to allow for higher densities to ensure that additional
mixed income, mixed tenure, meaning rental as well as
February 3, 2017
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homeownership developments, are financially feasible.
Examples of this type of increased density includes Bayfront and
Naples Square at more than 20 units an acre rather than the average
two-and-a-half in other residential communities.
The density can also be flexible to allow for complementary
adjacent uses and to reflect difference preferences in the urban and
rural areas.
Impact fees are an often cited source of frustration to those
creating both market rate and affordable housing products. The high
fee structure, however, reflects the limited sources available to Collier
County to support development of all types.
The ULI panel recommends a review of the impact fee structure
to incentivize a spectrum of housing types and sizes in light of overall
square footage. Further, the ULI panel recommends that the current
impact fee deferral program cover all types of income-restricted
housing regardless of whether it is single-family, multifamily, senior,
or special-needs housing.
Expedited permitting is already also currently in place for
affordable housing developments. It could be improved to ensure that
it includes multifamily as well as single-family.
In addition to making enhancements to existing tools to create
affordable housing, ULI panel recommends tailoring several national
best practices to Collier County's unique characteristics in order to
supplement your ability to meet your current and future housing needs.
Inclusionary zoning is a really critical tool used successfully to
add the supply of affordable housing options by linking to the creation
of market-rate housing. Inclusionary housing programs have been
used across the country since 1972 and vary greatly in terms of their
structure and requirements.
And given the underutilization of the density bonus program
currently in place, the county needs to consider a more proactive
February 3, 2017
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means by which to increase the supply of housing for all of its
residents. And while these programs may not produce a great volume
of units, it has the unique ability to provide choices for residents to live
in communities with better access to transit jobs and schools.
One example that may be worth examining in greater depth for its
applicability to Collier County include Montgomery County,
Maryland's, ordinance, which is widely recognized as one of the most
successful of its kind.
The moderately priced dwelling unit program, or MPDU
program, has produced more than 10,000 affordable housing units just
during its first 25 years in existence. The program also provided a
means for its housing authority and other non-profit housing groups to
purchase additional units as well.
The MPDU program includes an innovative sliding scale density
program from 12-and-a-half percent to 22 percent for bonus density
depending on the number of affordable units produced. Units remain
affordable for 30 years for homeownership and 99 for rental.
When the control period expires, housing authority and other
qualified nonprofits has the opportunity to purchase these units to set
aside for rentals that will always remain in the county's affordable
housing stock.
It's important to note that IZ programs can be flexible in
implementation to fit the needs of the county and different project
types. For example, Collier County may want to allow for the
provision of inclusionary units to be produced offsite, payment for
units via fee in lieu to the housing trust fund, or by allowing
partnerships between for-profit and nonprofit developers to create units
that best fit their respective business models and expertise.
Mitigating the cost of land, something that is fixed, limited, and a
significant challenge to all developers in Collier County, can be
addressed through vehicles such as a community land trust as well as a
February 3, 2017
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program to designate public land for public good, such as affordable
housing.
Community land trusts operate throughout the country. They're
usually a non-profit community-based organization whose mission is
to provide affordable housing in perpetuity by owning land and leasing
it to those who live in the houses built on that land. Community land
trusts allow for successful homeownership opportunities for
generations of lower-income families.
A related structure -- approach to the community land trust to
consider a ground lease is -- both dramatically reduces land cost to the
developer, ensures long-term affordability for the housing on that site.
And the City of Naples has used this approach successfully in at
least two instances that we're aware of, as Jasmine Cay and the Carver
Apartments.
Another strategy the county could implement immediately is to
undertake a review of the currently land inventory to identify parcels
that may be available for housing development opportunities. Through
a cross-agency strategy, we should seek to find ways to engage with
community stakeholders to identify possible sites and building
intensities.
A related part of using public land for public good is to co-locate
affordable housing with the renovation or creation of new public
facilities. One successful example includes building affordable housing
for seniors adjacent to a new public library; if you can see that little
tiny picture up there, this development is called the Bonifant in Silver
Spring.
And last, but not least, it's important to note that it's not the sole
responsibility of either the government or the private sector to provide
for the housing needs of all residents. The best way to produce housing
effectively that meets a broad rather than narrow range of housing
needs is through effective public/private partnerships. And some of
February 3, 2017
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the key elements of that include a shared vision, clear roles and
responsibilities, consistent and coordinated leadership, and frequent
communication.
Just mention one other -- one potential opportunity for Collier
County to add to its supply of affordable housing is to take advantage
of vacant underutilized retail sites along major transportation corridors
through conversion to multifamily residential buildings. This could
possibly accomplish several goals simultaneously, including returning
underperforming buildings to tax rolls and generating revenue for the
county, providing an option for rental-unit apartments along existing
transportation corridors without the need to create new infrastructure.
The county's rental -- regular rental housing surveys have found
vacancy rates in multifamily rental buildings to be extremely low, at 1
to 2 percent, indicating a significant unmet demand for rental housing
options.
Next slide.
One of the most cost effective and efficient means of providing
affordable housing is to maintain the existing supply. The National
Housing Trust finds that renovating the existing property can be
one-third to one-half as expensive as new construction. Renovating
older properties does not require new land for development, takes
advantage of existing infrastructure, and reduces construction waste.
There's an existing renovation code available to developers
looking to refurbish existing properties. The county should encourage
the use of this code through incentives mentioned previously such as
expedited permitting and inspections and by reducing or deferring the
associated fees.
The county can identify opportunities proactively by tracking
properties with expiring affordability covenants, such as -- using such
resources as the National Housing Preservation Database to ensure that
existing rental properties remain affordable for the long term.
February 3, 2017
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The county should also explore implementing a right of first
refusal to purchase, either by the county or by a qualified nonprofit
partner, expiring used properties to prevent the loss of any housing that
is currently affordable to low- and moderate-income residents, and that
may also mitigate the potential effects of displacement.
With that, I'm going to hand it over to my next colleague.
MS. FIEBE: So another set of implementation recommendations
relates to changes to existing regulations and the way the county is
governed.
A lot of quality planning work is taking place in Collier County;
however, the panel recognizes that there are inherent difficulties,
unnecessary costs, and a lack of predictability in developing affordable
housing projects under the current county system.
While external market forces play a large role, the county could
reduce approval times and costs while increasing predictability. This
can be achieved in three parts: First, updating regulations to encourage
affordable housing in desired areas; second, permitting higher densities
within certain activity centers for projects that include affordable
housing; and, third, revising the governance structure to streamline the
process.
Good codes are the foundation upon which great communities are
built; however, current land development codes in Collier do not
consistently support growth in existing urbanized areas, those
generally west of Collier Parkway (sic).
Much of the Land Development Code is geared towards
large-scale planned unit developments. Conversely, small-scale
redevelopment, and infill sites in already developed areas are
challenging to consolidate, may need to address adjacent uses and
neighborhood concerns, and often require additional density to make
financially feasible.
While difficult to develop, these projects can yield great benefits
February 3, 2017
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by placing residents in close proximity to existing transit, employment,
and shopping.
So the first recommendation is to perform a comprehensive
rewrite of the Land Development Code to differentiate between urban
and rural areas. While Collier County routinely amends portions of its
Land Development Code, consideration should be given to
implementing a smart code system to, in part, encourage the
development of affordable and mixed-income housing. Smart codes
are designed to differentiate between urban and rural conditions,
reflecting different characteristics and priorities found across the
county.
One focus should be to stimulate and accommodate infill growth
while encouraging affordable housing. This can be accomplished
through residential density bonuses, mixed-use height bonuses,
reductions in parking requirements, modifications to buffers, and other
incentive-based measures.
In addition to creating a smart code, there are a number of
revisions to existing codes that can make it easier to develop affordable
units, specifically in the urban areas, such as reducing parking
standards. Consider establishing a standard percentage reduction in
minimum parking requirements for the urban portions of the county
where transit services, opportunities to walk to shopping and
employment, or where shared parking opportunities exist.
The second is to create well-defined compatibility, building
massing, and buffer standards. The panel heard about a number of
recent development applications where compatibility issues with
adjacent neighborhoods feel distrust between the community and
developers. These conflicts are, in part, due to a lack of clear
expectations as to what should be required.
For infill projects that include affordable housing, this lack of
certainty causes concerns for homeowners about property values and
February 3, 2017
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existing views while also unduly burdening developers.
Another is to permit guesthouses as accessory dwelling units.
There are a number of existing guest homes, predominately in the
eastern portions of the county that, if permitted to be used as rentals,
could have an immediate impact on the supply of affordable rental
housing. Additional rental income could also have a positive impact
for those families who rent the units.
And lastly in this section is to encourage efficient site
infrastructure requirements. There are a number of onerous land
development expectations that we heard about through our interviews
that add unnecessary expense to projects. These requirements further
exacerbate the challenges to providing affordable units.
Examples include certain streetscape requirements, right-of-way
commitments, and others that sometimes are even more burdensome
than regulations in Lee County.
So the second set of recommendations relate to targeting certain
activity centers for significantly higher density with the provision of
affordable housing. Collier currently has high concentrations of
housing in particularly low-density areas of the county.
A healthy mixed-income community should have higher densities
to promote a walkable environment but not high concentrations of
low-income housing in one place.
Mixed-income communities are a market-based approach that
include diverse housing for people at a range of income levels.
Mixed-income communities are healthier than homogenous
low-income neighborhoods because they prevent blight, support
upward mobility, and help retain property values.
So the first of these is to strengthen the affordable housing density
bonus program. Current maximum residential densities permitted in
the county is generally 16 units to the acre and only within specified
activity centers and when affordable housing is provided.
February 3, 2017
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While maximum buildout density is frequently not achieved in
large planned unit developments, these smaller infill sites in the
western portions of the county will need additional density to be
financially feasible.
For example, 30 units to the acre may be a more realistic
maximum density to provide incentive market-rate developers to
provide affordable housing.
The second is to identify strategic opportunity sites, consider
further density increases in limited areas -- urban areas such as the
Bayshore/Gateway Triangle CRA where high-quality transit facilities
along transportation corridors could be provided.
And I just want to briefly explain the transportation corridors.
That map is very -- is definitely too small, but the purple lines are what
-- we sort of went through an exercise of looking at a framework for
the county and where you might want to look at transportation
corridors as they relate to where the activity centers are in the county.
So there could be a broader exercise that looks at land use, densities,
transportation corridors, and affordable housing altogether.
Finally, the third set of -- the third set of recommendations is to
streamline the project approval process when affordable housing is
provided. And the first of these is to expedite plan review and increase
administrative approval for select cases. While there is expedited
construction permit review process, this should be expanded to include
Comprehensive Plan amendments and zoning approvals.
Comprehensive Plan amendments could also be reviewed concurrently
with zoning changes for projects that include affordable housing.
Consideration should also be given to increasing the number of
administrative approvals that do not require Board of County
Commission approval to streamline the process and provide greater
certainty.
And, finally, land use decisions are largely decided in Collier, by
February 3, 2017
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the five-member Board of County Commissioners here in front of us,
by supermajority rule. According to developers, there is a great deal of
uncertainty in knowing whether or not a zoning application will be
approved due to the ability for only two board members to veto a
project. For projects that include affordable housing, this lack of
certainty is a key impediment to project viability.
Additionally, while all board members are charged at looking at
the county as a whole in general, there is no at-large board members
who specifically are charged with overseeing countywide issues. The
panel recommends to change to a seven-member board and reducing
the supermajority to a five-of-seven approval process. If adding new
board members is not feasible, reducing the supermajority requirement
to a simple majority is also recommended.
Thank you.
MR. ORFIELD: So the first we showed you, Ian talked about the
analysis of your need, and we think that there is that, and then we've
talked about, the panel has, both Hilary and Joanne have talked about
what are some of the methodical and the procedural things that we can
do to make the county more encouraging of affordable housing, and
we've also talked about the vision that we need to do.
But the good question might be is what does all that mean? What
does that actually look like? So we thought the next section might
dedicate just a little bit of time to understanding what the face of
housing might be, what the face of affordable housing might be in your
county in the future.
So we've got together seven case studies. There's a range of
different ownership options. Some of them are for sale, some of them
ownership, some of them are rental. There's a variety of scales as well.
Some of them are quite large, and then some are very small and single
focused.
We also, then, have a variety of aesthetics, and these are a series
February 3, 2017
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of examples from around the country. So part of the aesthetic variation
relates to where they are in the country and the traditions and the
architectural heritage of those places, but they also relate to where they
are in the city.
And so even within the city of Collier -- or the county, we would
expect that there would be a range of different expressions. What's
appropriate closer to the beach or to the City of Naples is not
necessarily appropriate for the eastern side of the county.
So with that, though, it's also important to realize that these
examples share some common values, values that we think would
make a rich environment for Collier County, and some of those is that
the units all have a residential scale. They feel like places where people
live, and there's a sense of action and variety to the masses.
They have an inclusion of meaningful detail, and I think that's
really an important thing. That's part of what makes Collier County so
wonderful is when you walk down the street, the variety and interest in
the houses that they have, the variety in the landscaping. So all of
those things you'll see in these examples.
They also have kind of a rich tradition, and there's different in
each slide of what the transitional space is. Is there a porch? Is there
an arcade? Is there a balcony? How do those transitions from inside
to outside help establish the public community as well as the private
community?
There's also a variety of forms that you'll see in all of these.
They're not single-minded in terms of a repetitious element. There's a
lot of activity going on, and it helps people identify with their place
where they live, their unique experience.
And then, finally, perhaps the most important thing is these
projects are all interested in making a public space. So in addition to
the residential unit, which is very important where people live, these
projects all sense the obligation that they have to the community where
February 3, 2017
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there -- it's not just the residence, but how these residences all go to
make the public forum.
So the first one you see is Cassidy Ridge in Telluride. And
Cassidy Ridge -- Telluride, in general, is a much, much smaller place,
but it does share some common functions or common attributes with
Collier County. It is an indescribably beautiful place which, by virtue
of its geography, is landlocked. That, in itself, drives real estate values
to a very high level. There, typically sales are between $1,000 and
$1,500 a square foot.
That, obviously, then makes affordable housing very much in
demand, and typically the city of Telluride and Mountain Village,
which are sister cities, have inclusionary zoning. This is a project that
had that inclusionary zoning, and the developer in this case chose to
build the required units within the project in the same vocabulary that
the rest of their project was built in.
The next two projects you'll see are in Indianapolis, and they're
single-family. They're not inclusionary zoning. This is partial.
They're mixed-use neighborhoods. And one of the things that's
particularly interesting about the Martindale is the customizable nature
of this development.
So there is a base condition for these homes that then could be
augmented in terms of both area and amenities depending on the
income level and the ability to qualify for the functions.
Fall Creek Place and, I should say, the Martindale project as well,
both of these have a great kind of variety of forms that really give a lot
of character to the space. One of the things that we found most
attractive about when -- the panel, when we were reviewing these
projects, was kind of a sense of creation of the street, a creation of
great transitional spaces so that you'll see kind of porches where people
can meet the public, and the public can be greeted by them, but also
then the fact that there's a lot of variety. There's not all the same color.
February 3, 2017
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There's a difference in a variety of forms. And we think that within the
context of creating a homogenous community, that also creates variety.
One of the things that's intriguing about Legends Parks -- and you
can see that it's got quite a variety of unit sizes and acreages -- is that
the masses here are broken up into a variety of different forms. So we
have larger buildings and smaller buildings, townhome units. This
helps give a sense of variety and richness to the neighborhood, and
there's also some significant elevated outdoor living spaces in this,
which I think adds variety as well.
Lennox Chase in Raleigh is a slightly different condition;
whereas, in the previous projects we're looking at creating a near-town
urban context, Lennox Chase is in a bit more suburban location.
Because of that, there's an availability of more land.
And so one of the things that was a focus on this was creating an
overall project -- and it's not very large; it's 37 units. But, actually, that
functions as essentially an estate home. So there's -- a different
approach is taken to creating a meaningful vocabulary.
And because the land is available in this case, there's also an
emphasis on exterior spaces and exterior amenities and covered outside
spaces.
Westlawn Gardens is more dense. It's a very interesting project in
the sense that it's a mixed use, but all of the affordable housing in this
case is senior housing, and it's created in Milwaukee. One of the things
that is really nice is that there's a series of different types of massing
units. In this case it feels like the neighborhood was built over time,
and it has richness of not being homogenous and yet a series of
materials and vocabulary that tie it all together.
And the last example, Columbia Park in New Orleans, is a very
large and very rich project. It, in two ways, really ties itself neatly to
the City of New Orleans. In the first case, it takes the planning
principles that have made New Orleans quite rich. Buildings are
February 3, 2017
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brought to the street side, making a vibrant sidewalk and street
experience, creating courtyards inside.
And, now, one of the benefits to that organization was that the
parking was shielded, and you also had kind of a private, secured
interior courtyard which helped mitigate the conditions of the
neighborhood when it was built.
The other great thing that it does is develop a really rich
vocabulary that really emphasizes indoor/outdoor living and engages
the public as you walk by.
And, finally, one of the great benefits to this project is that it's
heavily amenitized, and so there's a complete array of retail, theater
experiences, public function spaces, and plans for schools.
MS. McMANUS: So because the panel is looking at the issue of
housing affordability through the lens of cost burden, we wanted to
address two issues that we think are really critical to enhancing
affordability options here in the county. One of those is transportation.
So the Federal Highway Administration recommends or actually
has analyzed that the average American household spends about 19
percent of its income on transportation. If that household is in a
completely auto-dependent or suburban context where they're taking a
car to and from everything, that actually increases to 25 percent of its
household budget on transportation.
If that household is located near transit corridors, however, and/or
a walkable or bikeable environment, that number goes down to 11
percent.
So if you're thinking of housing affordability, having a range of
transportation options and, as Joanne was saying earlier, really linking
those housing options to transit corridors and to transportation options
can really increase the affordability and lighten the overall cost burden
for a household.
So with that in mind, we had a few recommendations around your
February 3, 2017
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transportation systems. The first is really, as Joanne was speaking,
looking at how to best locate and target certain areas and pockets of
development along transit and transportation corridors. But in addition
to that, really looking at some innovative approaches especially given
the size of this county, which is huge, for some of your areas like
Immokalee and some of the farther more suburban areas, looking at
park-and-ride systems, for instance, where folks can go and park their
car at a parking lot, at, perhaps, Super Walmart or a dedicated parking
lot, leave it there for the day, and either car pool, van pool, or take a
bus into a job center or city center.
To that end, potentially down the line, exploring bus rapid transit
or express lane service. This builds upon a lot of the great work CAT
is already doing, trying to really target workforce centers with job
centers but in a more direct, expedited fashion.
Las Vegas actually has a really great example of bus rapid transit,
given that they also have a pretty significant geographic footprint but,
obviously, have a very strong tourism economy as well with folks
really traveling to the strip and downtown. They have established a
BRT service that connects folks in outlying neighborhoods directly
into the strip which has minimized their traffic congestion and
transportation stress while also really efficiently and cost effectively
bringing folks from outlying areas into their job centers.
We also recommend that you look at your -- enhancing your
bicycle and pedestrian systems. And we were really pleased to see the
great planning efforts that have already been undertaken at the MPO
and county level and the City of Naples as well really looking at how
to ensure greater bicycle and pedestrian safety. Obviously, we
discussed already the Blue Zones and the great work and community
advocacy going on around those. Figuring out the best ways to ensure
that those crash corridors and collision sites that have been identified
in some of your safety plans or addressed and prioritizing addressing
February 3, 2017
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those quickly and efficiently is really critical.
To that end, we really think that hiring a bicycle and pedestrian
coordinator would go a long way in actually drilling down and actually
implementing the great recommendations and those plans that you
already have, ensuring that there's better signage, potentially some
public awareness campaigns, greater education and outreach to law
enforcement officials, engineers, et cetera, to ensure the design and
implementation of laws and policies goes a little bit further.
Lastly, we really think that establishing a secure recurring
revenue source for transit is really important to making sure that CAT
can continue to meet the needs of Collier County and its residents as
the growing need for transit service is likely in the future with the
growth projections that we've already discussed.
And, finally, promoting a ride-share option. Today with the apps
that folks have on their smart phones with online social media
connectivity, ride share is easier then ever before to do car pools and
van pools safely and efficiently.
New Orleans has a great model with a green ride system. Our
regional planning commission actually implements -- uses a social
media Facebook platform, a really simple way to see if somebody that
you already know and are already friends with is headed to Baton
Rouge for the day or Lafayette for the weekend, and bum a ride with
them.
So there's very easy, very cost-effective platforms that are already
out there that we would recommend the county explore and look into.
So the second of these, I guess you could say, existential issues, if
you will, that we looked at around housing affordability from that
cost-burden lens was wages.
When we looked at some of the jobs that Ian described earlier in
the presentation, really, that 50 percent of workforce here in Collier
County, a lot of those jobs from the economic development
February 3, 2017
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perspective don't have what we would necessarily describe as career
ladders. So, for instance, when you start at an entry-level position in
some of those jobs, there isn't necessarily -- there aren't necessarily
various rungs that you can move up to a very high-paying, high-wage
position. A lot of those cap out relatively midway, shall we say, up the
career ladder, to use that analogy.
So because the ceiling is relatively low, we feel that the floor
needs to be relatively high if you're going to increase affordability here
in the county. And as a result, we would really recommend the county
explore looking at creating an enhanced minimum wage. This can be
done incrementally over time to get to a 13- to $15 an hour standpoint
potentially, allowing folks who live and -- who work in the county to
live in the county as well.
You have here on the screen a number of cities who have already
implemented this. We think there's a few ways that you can do this.
The first is really looking at how the county can raise that internally for
its staff, potentially also then extending that to anyone who contracts
with the county and then, lastly, figuring out a way for passing policies
to push that upon the private sector potentially as well.
MS. WRIGHT: Thanks, Lacy.
So you haven't heard a lot of new news, have you? We've said a
lot of things that probably you've talked about for many, many years
regarding housing affordability in the county. And so what I want to
talk about is how you can continue to bolster the programs that are
existing here to really communicate your message, to continue
conversations both within this room and outside of this room.
We believe that the county has done so much work, people in this
room have done so much work around housing affordability, but the
message is not getting out.
So we have a few recommendations around communication and
community engagement that we think are critical to really move the
February 3, 2017
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needle.
First, the county has already developed an affordable housing
database that tracks for-sale and rental units throughout the county;
however, we recommend that that be expanded to track units coming
online, to track their sunset dates so that the county has a clear
understanding of how many affordable units are available at any given
time.
We recommend that they include specific addresses, bedroom
sizes, square footage, rental rates, for-sale rates, and neighborhood
location so that everyone knows that affordability is spread throughout
the entire county and not concentrated in any one district.
We also recommend that you streamline the application process
for residents. We heard over and over again that there isn't a need for
affordable housing. Why? Well, developers have been offering it for
a long time, but people weren't applying. Huh? What's that all about?
Well, we understand that in this county developers are responsible
for accepting income verification applications. The developers are
responsible for taking the resident's wage information, tax information,
analyzing that and determining whether or not they qualify for
affordable units. Frankly, that is not a developer's responsibility.
They're not trained for this nor are they qualified to do this.
So we recommend moving that entire process to the county or to
an agent that is hired by the county such as a non-profit or a private
lender so that that responsibility is taken out of the developer's hands.
They do not have the skills, both hard and soft skills, to track this
process and really ensure that residents are being matched with
affordable housing.
Again, as part of this we recommend that you develop a clear
marketing and communication plan not only around affordable housing
but around community building because, after all, the housing question
is not just about what you live in. It's about where you live. It's about
February 3, 2017
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how you're interacting with your neighbors, with your friends, and
with your family.
We've seen a lot of plans, we've heard a lot of technical
recommendations but, frankly, unless this is being communicated to
the public at large in a clear and concise manner that is understandable
by all, again, you will not go anywhere.
This marketing and communications plan needs to appeal to a
wide variety of audiences: Current and potential residents, the
business community, and your strong philanthropic community. It
needs to appeal to people who are seeking housing, to people who
support housing affordability, and to those who are skeptics.
Language needs to be tailored around those three key audiences,
it needs to be culturally sensitive, it needs to be age appropriate, and it
needs to be multilingual.
Hiring a community outreach specialist is key to this program's
success. This person should be full time and dedicated to
communicating the message of community building to everyone
throughout your community.
That community outreach specialist should be engaged in public
meetings, in neighborhood events, in church events, in all aspects of
community. Community outreach needs to occur where people already
are. People will not come to these types of meetings. You need to go
to them.
Building upon the inventory of affordable, for-sale, and rental
units, we recommend creating an affordable housing directory that's
accessible to the public. This will, again, list both rental and for-sale
opportunities and will draw from the county's live database; however,
we understand that not everyone is comfortable with looking at
programs online, so we recommend two options for this database.
One, a web-based platform and, two, a printed document that gets
updated or amended periodically.
February 3, 2017
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For the seekers of affordable housing in the county, we
recommend employing a housing counselor or expanding existing
housing counselors' current responsibilities. An educational program
around what cost burden means is critical.
We had a gentleman come to us at our public town hall who said,
you know, I'm spending 70 percent of my income on housing. I'm
really hoping that you can convince the county that I should only pay
60 percent; 60 percent. He said, I have a wife and a baby on the way,
and that extra 10 percent will really go a long way. My jaw dropped.
Helping residents with household budgeting so that they can
understand wealth management, so that they can understand how they
can take responsibility for their finances and better themselves and
their buying power is essential.
Developing a housing resources guide is really critical as well.
And I know they're already in place, but this, I'm recommending,
include a first-time homebuyer resources guide that talks about
housing assistance for down payment programs, renters assistance, but
also shares community resources with people because, again, this isn't
just about how can I afford housing, but how can I be engaged in the
community, how can I be connected with everyone who lives around
me and not feel isolated?
Your philanthropic community here is amazing. You have so
much ability to raise money, and we really recommend you figure out
how to engage them in the issue of affordable housing. We understand
that people don't want to subsidize other people's living. That was loud
and clear. However, the philanthropic community here could really
rally around specific housing developments. They could rally around a
program or a day where everyone gets out and does facade and exterior
improvements.
We've talked, again, about all these policies and programs for
affordable housing but, you know what, talking about policy is not that
February 3, 2017
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fun. So I recommend that you really develop a community volunteer
program whereby you bring people together to grow awareness around
this topic. It doesn't have to be dullsville.
You can have planting projects. This picture, again, very small in
the lower left, was from one of our housing developments in Denver.
We had a day-long planting project whereby people came together,
planted trees, planted vegetables, planted fruit, kids drew little pictures
of what those things were. It was a great bonding experience. When
you don't make it about class and you make it about community,
everyone comes together.
Public art initiatives, welcome wagon programs, a "yes in my
backyard" campaign would go a long way here.
For the skeptics of affordable housing, we recommend a
myths-and-facts brochure because, guess what, folks, if housing is
affordable, it doesn't mean it's ugly. It doesn't mean that people who
live there are crime prone. We must debunk all of these myths that
surround housing affordability, again, in order to proceed and make
progress in this community.
Finally, a workforce housing campaign would be amazing for
Collier County. We've heard time and time again throughout our week
here that we don't want our teachers, we don't want our policemen, we
don't want our health professionals to leave at night. We want them to
be engaged; we want them to be present; we want them to be part of
our community fabric.
Reminding people that this is what housing affordability is for,
these are the people who it serves, is incredibly important.
And with that, I'll turn it over to Phil for a wrap-up.
MR. PAYNE: So, in conclusion, it is the opinion of the panel
that Naples and Collier County do, indeed, have a housing
affordability problem. We do not see it at this moment as being a crisis
but, if not addressed, the panel does believe that it will become a crisis
February 3, 2017
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and, giving (sic) the growth projections for the city and county, we
believe this will occur far sooner than you might expect.
This slide contains a summary of our major recommendations.
When the final report comes out, there will be more granular
recommendations. But all of these recommendations are intended to
help the city and county provide a housing that is affordable to a full
range of incomes found within the community.
First and foremost, we believe the county needs to immediately
establish a clear consensus vision on what you want the county to be
and how you should move forward. Do you want to remain a
community that is primarily dependent on retirement and resort
tourism for your economy, do you want to work to diversify your
economy? Do you want to attempt to limit growth, or do you want to
embrace it?
Regardless of the answer to those questions, it is, in our opinion,
essential that you address the issue of housing affordability. It needs to
be a priority. Housing affordability is absolutely essential to creating a
vibrant, sustainable community.
While you may have some time to implement our
recommendations, time is of the essence. Failure to act now will put
the very things that make your community so special at risk.
Maintaining paradise is both a privilege and an obligation. Dealing
with this issue will require political will, community will,
commitment, determination, a willingness to compromise, and in some
cases a willing (sic) to sacrifice all in the interest of promoting the
common good.
On behalf of ULI and this panel, I want to thank you for allowing
us to play a small role in helping you address this issue, and at this
point we're ready for questions and comments.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much, Mr. Payne.
I think we're going to take a 10-minute break to give our court
February 3, 2017
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reporter a moment, and then we're going to come back. We're going to
take questions initially from the Commission, and then we're going to
open it up to the floor with a mike that's going to be passed around. So
stay tuned; stay with us. See you in 10 minutes.
(A brief recess was had.)
MR. OCHS: Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We have a slight change in itinerary.
We have some panel members that need to leave here by 11:15. So
with the indulgence of my colleagues up here -- and they're coming
back -- what we're going to do is take questions from the audience
first, and then at that point until -- when you're finished with your
questions -- you're very, very important to this -- I also, just as an
aside, we have Pat Utter of Collier Enterprises here. We also have Al
Reynolds here of Stantec.
So you can see there's interest across all parts of Collier County to
listen to these very -- this wonderful panel we have and their
interesting and provocative guidance for us to deal with housing in
Collier County.
So that being said, I believe we have a live mike. And so let's
start to see if we have any questions. You don't need to come up here.
You can speak from your seat. And you can address your questions to
us, but I think these are your experts, so I would address it to them.
MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, just as a point of order, if someone
has a comment, this would, I'm assuming, be the appropriate time to
make that comment as well?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Absolutely, yes, yes.
MR. OCHS: Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Yeah. Let's not narrow it down. Okay.
Don't everybody -- ah, good.
MR. KOULOHERAS: Big surprise here that I'm the first one to
stand up and talk.
February 3, 2017
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Thank you very much. Thank you to the panel. I've had the
pleasure of spending some time with them over the past week.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Please identify yourself.
MR. KOULOHERAS: Nick Kouloheras.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. KOULOHERAS: And thank you, County Commission, for
bringing this forward.
A very brief statement I'd like to say, not so much a question, is
that as the chair of the Stakeholder Committee that you have
appointed, I will say I believe I can speak on the entire committee that
it is well rounded with employers, nonprofits, for-profits, the general
community at large, and we just hope that once ULI leaves us,
direction and action will happen sooner than later.
We believe that we're at the point where we do need to take
strong action so we can jump ahead of the curve so we're not dealing
with some of the issues that group has discussed.
So thank you once again for your time, and I appreciate your help.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MS. DOWD: Hi. My name is Louise Dowd. I'm a retiree, so I'm
not in any of the businesses that will be related to this, but I was very
much in agreement with what one of the panelists said that she heard
the residents of the county do not favor subsidizing other people's
living.
Now, that said, I did hear some ideas here that I think would help
to support the program. That is as much as we can do, support the
program with existing resources. Not hiring more bureaucrats to
promote or manage the program but doing it within what we have
would help to sell the program, I think.
Also, I like the ideas of increased density and zoning -- relaxed
rules perhaps. I realize that any of these things we talk about, though,
do carry a public cost. So whatever we decide to do, that probably
February 3, 2017
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needs to be presented.
And would this be something that would go to the voters? That's
another concern that I have when it's finally, you know, a baked cake.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Nobody else?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, there's plenty. They're just
-- they're a little shy.
MR. DUMORNAY: How you doing, everybody? Antonio
Dumornay.
As I look in the room, you know, I see -- I don't see a lot of
people from my generation. So speaking for them, as you know, many
people who range from the age of 30 and below to 18 really don't have
a place to stay. More importantly, we are renting from, you know,
people or rooming with people that we basically really don't know.
And I like the plan that the panel has brung forth that you can
actually develop affordable housing in places where you have vacant
lands such as on Bayshore Drive behind Jasmine Cay. Also along
Livingston Road, you have many empty lots and things like that.
But for someone in my generation, we really don't have that much
time to actually sit around and figure out whether we're going to leave,
because many people that I know, we are leaving, you know, and
many of us can't hold on to the places we stay. And due to the rules
and regulations that a lot of developers have upon their land, that you
cannot have someone living in your apartment for more than seven
days unless they're not (sic) on the lease. So that causes a problem for
us, because many people probably have a fellow in need or don't have
the means to actually stay where they can stay just because someone
wants to provide help and actually have a place for them to stay.
MR. NADEAU: Good morning. My name is Dwight Nadeau.
I'm a 50-year resident of Collier County, and 27 of those years was as a
professional planner in the community. Several of the board members
will remember me standing in front of you. Many of you won't.
February 3, 2017
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This is a great opportunity for Collier County. I made a few notes
while listening to the panel.
Panel, outstanding job. Really, really good ideas. I love the term
"cost-burdened housing."
Commissioners, you have the tools in front of you that -- going
forward with your housing study to look at the rural fringe as well as
the rural area to provide for greater opportunities for affordable or
cost-burdened housing in those areas.
You've got a residential infill provision in your Land
Development Code. You could modify that to lower the thresholds to
allow for cost-burdened housing in that manner using affidavits rather
than the affordable housing density bonus agreement, which does
provide for additional density. But one way that you could expedite
some of the project review with staff is to do affidavits, much like is
used in the impact fee section, to validate the affordable housing or
cost-burdened housing would be provided.
Conversion of commercial for residential is just a fabulous idea.
We have some unused parcels along the major corridors that could be
improved with rental housing; fabulous idea.
We need to change our NIMBY philosophy to remove the
emotion from consideration and only weigh the compatibility issues.
I don't really think that reducing parking standards is appropriate,
but modify the development standards for those (sic) parking to allow
grass parking, because grass parking isn't just for churches.
Increased density is not essential due to building massing in the
community for compatibility, but allowing the existing density to be
used is essential. Perhaps you could increase the base density from
four dwelling units an acre to maybe six or eight, possibly. We just
need to use the opportunities that are available to us and not have a
community that's defined by urban sprawl by only having four
dwelling units per acre spread out all over the whole county.
February 3, 2017
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And, certainly, there would be consideration to the Coastal High
Hazard Area with the higher densities, and perhaps a housing mandate
to define the need and have a private sector fill the need through
incentives would be a good idea.
Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you.
MR. DWYER: My name is Anthony Dwyer. I'm in the real
estate business. And in regards to parking requirements, reducing
parking requirements, I saw some eyebrows go up. But there was talk
about ride sharing, like Lift and Uber, and also self-driving cars are
coming, so maybe there will be self-parking cars.
So there might -- if you look, keep an eye on the future, there will
be a way where you can reduce that and it will -- won't impact as
negatively as if you did it today, so that's something to look for in the
future.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Ms. Brainard.
MS. BRAINARD: Thank you very much. I'm Beth Brainard.
I'm the Executive Director of Naples Pathways Coalition, a group that
advocates for safe bikeable, walkable communities.
So I was delighted to hear that you have included transportation
in this study, because it's not something unto itself. It's all part of the
same fabric. And I think that we're beginning to realize this in the
county.
I love the fact that you have some data now that substantiates the
fact that if you -- if people live within areas where they can bike and
they can walk or they can access transit, that their cost of
transportation goes down significantly.
And I was also very happy to hear you talk about the attention
that we need to make right now to the crash corridors in this area
which, again, are directly related to areas where we have people who
are considered living in that sort of affordable housing and where we're
February 3, 2017
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having crashes and fatalities, you know, at an unprecedented rate in the
county.
Bike-ped system, yes. So we're all for it, and we see it as
addressing some of the needs of the millennials, people who are
deciding to ride bikes as a means of transportation. Certainly it's
doable here in Florida. You don't have to deal with the snow. You
don't have to deal with a lot of things that you do in other places. And
it's a viable means of transportation, as is walking, if you have the
connectivity and the access that you need.
So I hope that the Commission will continue to think about
transportation and take what ULI has taken into -- observed as a real
issue here in the county.
Thank you.
MR. DORNE: Thank you. This panel was excellent. My name
is Dave Dorne, and I live in Pelican Bay. I currently serve on the
foundation board there. I'm not speaking on their behalf.
But over the past and in my former life I was a member of ULI
for 25 years, served on panels, and I know the work and effort you've
done.
We recently went out at Pelican Bay and bought two sites of
triplexes to house our employees. We have a couple hundred
employees. We have a hundred that show up every year for six
months, and we now house 96 of them. So that was one way to
resolve it.
So some of the private sector's going to have to go out and resolve
this issue on their own. But in doing that, I found that there is very
little affordable housing, and we searched all over within a reasonable
distance from Pelican Bay, and it's extremely difficult, and we did a
study on the recent rents, which started at 8- or $900 a month and now
are way up over 15- or 1,600. So it could be a crisis here in the near
future.
February 3, 2017
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The one comment or question I have is, if you're going to project
50,000 new housing units, I think this commission, these
commissioners, at this point, since you're studying this, as you are,
you've got to look five and 10 and 15 years down the road, and I think
you have to pick a number. Do you want 10,000 affordable units? Do
you want 8,000? Do you want 5,000?
I think when this panel leaves -- they haven't given you a number,
but I think you've got to come up with a number and say, this is what
we want to have at the end of 15 years. And, you know what? Shame
on the elected officials if you don't have it.
I think you've got to start now and say, in one year we want to
start this. In three years, we want to have 800. In five years we want
to have 5,000. At the end of 10 years we want to have, or 15 years, a
certain number of new affordable housing units. That's the only way
you're going to do it.
We've all come out of the business world, many of us around the
country. We've retired here, and it is paradise. It's wonderful. It has
the same issues that we've left.
And you have one thing that we don't have up in the northeast;
you have a lot of land. And if you're going to have 50,000 new units
going east, you've got to have the transportation and start to develop.
They gave you a lot of great examples of a variety of housing. And
we've seen this all over the country. We are, many of us, from all over
the country. And you can do it down here. You definitely can do it.
And I wish you the best of luck on it.
MR. HALAS: Good afternoon, or good morning, everybody. I'm
Frank Halas, former Commissioner here for Collier County.
And this is a topic that's been kicked around for a number of
years, affordable housing, but I suggest that as we go forward and start
developing out east that these people that own large plots of land and
they want to develop that, that we look very seriously at asking them to
February 3, 2017
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give us right-of-way to put additional transportation in. Whether it's
automobile or whether it's light rail. And have a collection point of
where people can get to a location, whether it's park-and-ride or
whether it's a bus terminal that we can then transport those people to
different areas of the county where they may work.
When people at this point in time have to pay $2,000 a month for
rent in Naples Park, we have, I think, a crisis at this point in time.
The other thing is, I'm not sure if it's feasible, but there are a lot of
developments that have ghost units, and maybe using some of them
ghost units to build affordable housing in those areas.
Another thing that maybe you should look at, too, is, first and
foremost, you have to educate the people in this community in regards
to affordable housing. There were a couple of issues that came up
while I was on the Board where we wanted to put affordable housing
in areas that was surrounded by high-end homes, and the first thing we
heard was this is HUD housing. And we tried to explain to them that
this was housing for essential personnel, whether it was for EMS, Fire,
the Sheriff, schoolteachers; there was a huge pushback.
And the first thing we need to do is educate people that, when we
want to put in affordable housing, it has no way -- no reflection
whatsoever to be HUD housing.
Thank you.
MR. BOYD: Good morning. My name is Brett Boyd.
I'd like the panel to speak to a little bit more of the details or
structure of public/private partnerships.
MR. PAYNE: You want to do it?
MS. FIEBE: Sure. Okay. So there's a variety of mechanisms
and ways that this can -- that public/private partnerships can take
shape.
So I've -- working in local government up in Virginia, I
participated in a number of these. But typically the most common is
February 3, 2017
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where the local government provides the land, sometimes at -- you
know, at some sort of reduced price, or sometimes it's done on a
long-term land lease, like a dollar a year for 99 years.
And, in exchange, a for-profit market developer, who often
specializes in these types of things, will go after additional subsidies in
some cases, like tax credits and other opportunities, and do a joint
venture where the developer builds the properties and then manages it
-- often manages it afterwards, and the public sector provides the land.
And in that way you're able to provide this amount of affordable units
without -- you know, in a viable way.
I would add that it is -- in many cases they're not -- or they can be
100 percent affordable or they can also be mixed income where some
percentage, let's say, you know, anywhere from 20 to 80 percent of the
units are done in a range of affordability, so -- and that includes
market-rate units so that it becomes a more healthy mixed-income
neighborhood.
MR. PAYNE: But what's really important about that is this idea
of maintaining the housing. So for the life of the lease or the equity
contribution of the land, if you violate the restrictions on the income,
suddenly you now have to buy the land. Usually the land plus an
escalation, you know, appreciation rate, and a penalty. So it provides
for long-term maintenance of affordable housing. That's the real goal.
MR. GOTCH: My name is Jerry Gotch. I'm just another retired
concerned citizen.
And one of the questions I have is, in most of these affordable
housing instances that you put together, how do you enforce the
income restrictions, or is it somehow monitored, and who does it?
I heard one suggestion to say, well, it's an unfair burden on the
developer to try to do that, but how do those typically come up?
MR. PAYNE: No. I think what they were talking about, the
burden. Income qualifying is a -- can be a real issue, I mean, because
February 3, 2017
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it puts you in the -- puts the poor developer or operator in the position
of trying to analyze salaries and tax returns and income statements and
certifying that they've done it and it's correct, okay.
And I can tell you, as a person who's done it, it's not a pleasant
process because then the government shows up or the person who's
enforcing the rules shows up and says, well, you're missing this form
or you didn't check this box.
So there is a move, a lot of places, to use an independent group
that actually does the certification, and then the person basically gets a
certificate that says, I am qualified for this type of housing. They show
up at the apartment community or at the seller with their certificate.
If it's done properly, the county or some agency or group
supported by the county would have a list of people who are providing
that housing, and then they can say to the person, here's the list of
places you're eligible to go. They go to the place, they take their
certificate, and it takes out the certification. That's a very different sort
of thing about enforcing the rules.
But normally the rules are enforced by annual audits of the leases,
okay, just to make sure. And it depends on how the funding was done,
who does that audit, but it's normally an annual audit of the leases.
There is -- if I could just throw something in here, because I want
to not leave some people with some misconception. This panel today,
this report, is sort of the midpoint of our work with you guys. This was
a very prolific group, and when we did our first read through, this thing
was at least twice as long as what we have today.
And so we had to -- we did a lot of pruning late yesterday and
early evening or late evening last night trying to get it down to this
length.
So all of the writing they've done, all of the work they've done, all
the cites is going to now be packaged up and sent to Washington
where ULI's professional writing production group will now start
February 3, 2017
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putting it all together and rewriting it and flushing it out and fact
checking and searching out all the examples that we've sort of cited,
putting them in the book, getting them all together.
The first draft takes around six weeks. We will then go back
through it again. We will meet with the sponsors. And, by the way,
they can't change the report, but we do want them to fact check the
report. If we've said something that they think is materially not true,
we'd like to know it. No alternative facts here. We just want to get
real facts here.
And then it takes -- but the final report will be ready in about 12
weeks. After you've had a chance to digest it for a little bit, I probably
will come back so that we can go back if you have questions. But
that's the thing.
And then on this density issue, I would like to bring it up because
we are really well aware that density is, like, a bad word here. It's like
the "D" word.
There are a lot of myths about density. One is the confusion of
density and concentration, okay, and I'm going to, as a former lawyer,
I've learned if you use extremes, it's easier to make your point.
Concentration would be the example of 500 low-income units in a
single location. They might be two units to the acre. That's
concentration.
Density is more units in a smaller space. But you could do things
like, what if we had a 30-unit property that's dense, three-story
walk-up, particularly in one of the corners of some of these semi
nonfunctional strip malls, the few shopping centers you now have.
You don't have concentration, but you have density. And in that case
density is your friend, because those are on transportation corridors.
You already have the bus lines; you already have the place in -- the
stuff in place. You've got a giant parking lot that's just, like, giving off
heat all day long, reflecting heat, but you've now put a place for people
February 3, 2017
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to live.
And so density -- one of the things we'll be working on is the
myths of density. Misused density is a bad thing. Properly used
density is a really good thing. But you have to remember the
difference between density and concentration, okay. That's a big
distinction. And most people just kind of mush them all together.
Nobody here is talking about building Bedford-Stuyvesant in
Naples.
MR. PURDON: Good morning. My name is Jesse Purdon. I'm
director of government affairs for NABOR.
I appreciate ULI's study -- look it, inviting us and letting us come
out, it was wonderful. The people who did our study, very
knowledgeable. Congratulations in Collier County on getting ahead on
this issue.
Two questions that I had, or just really in regards to results that
didn't really get a lot of attention, but I'm just curious if maybe the
Board has any thoughts on these two. The first one would be the idea
of moving from a five- to seven-person board with two at-large
members, and then the second one would be a mandatory ordinance on
minimum wage and how you-all might feel about that. That's all.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think we're going to have to debate
those two.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Those are for an entirely
different public hearing.
MR. PAYNE: Look, our job in this engagement was partially to
tell you what other communities have been using successfully, okay,
and those recommendations were just things we have seen other places
in the country that people have attempted to use. We're not here to tell
you -- and that's not my role to tell you that you need to pass a
particular ordinance on minimum wage, but an increasing number of
cities are going to that as a way to try to deal with this problem.
February 3, 2017
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The issue of board size and at-large and supermajority, it comes
up in a lot of cities, and we're just telling you what other cities have
been doing. How that works out here, whether that's valuable here, is
for this group, not for me. But we were asked to give examples of
what other people are doing, and that's all it was.
MS. FIEBE: Could I just add, I think just to clarify, you know,
one of the reasons why this is recommended, I mentioned it, but
because doing affordable housing projects like this are so difficult,
providing anything that can be done in the process to improve certainty
and get past the concerns that get raised is a positive thing, and so
that's just one example of a way to reduce the uncertainty that comes
all the way at the end of the process when -- so that's just -- I just want
to make that point clear.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Reynolds?
MR. REYNOLDS: Hi, Al Reynolds.
First, I want to thank the County Commission for having the
leadership to engage ULI in this process. There is no more credible
and great resource that you can bring to bear on a topic like this, and
the panel studies that have been done over the years have produced
some of the greatest results in communities. So I think it was a stroke
of genius to bring ULI in.
The briefing book that was mentioned that the staff put together
was excellent. We have now the data and the analysis that shows
exactly where the issues are, the magnitude of the issues. The only
thing I heard today that I would maybe disagree with a little bit is that
we don't have a crisis. I think we do have a crisis, because we've been
studying this for years and years and years, and I think we are now at a
point where the community is ready, and I think the County
Commission is ready, to take some action.
And the great thing about ULI is it's an extraordinary resource
going forward, because there are no best practices that can't be
February 3, 2017
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identified using resources through ULI. And we have a District
Council for ULI of people in Southwest Florida that have been part of
ULI that can act as a support network for getting this done.
So what I would ask is that we agree that the time for studying the
issue is coming to a close and that we come up with specific
measurable, tangible, actionable items. Just like the gentleman
mentioned, we've got to quantify this, and we need to start making
forward progress.
And it can be some base hits. It can be a project. We have to
prove to ourselves that we can solve this problem in Collier County,
and we can. It's a big, complex issue, but there are lots of very specific
things that have been identified that we can do to start making forward
progress. And if we don't -- the rate of change that's occurring right
now in demographics of housing is extraordinary. And if you're
looking out across the United States, you're going to see that producing
high-quality rental housing is probably one of the most fundamental
needs if you're going to diversify your economy, because then
generations that are coming up don't all want to be single-family
owners. They want to have mobility, they want to be in great urban
places, they want -- they like high-density housing because it creates a
community.
So there's so many things that we can do, and I would just hope
that we can use this as an opportunity to say, okay, you know, it's a call
to action, let's start getting some things done, and I think we're going to
prove to ourselves that we can go from being on the wrong side of the
curve to being a leader on this issue.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Reynolds, one moment. We have a
question from Commissioner Fiala.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Al, really good statements;
everything is perfect. And you talked about possibly even being a
February 3, 2017
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crisis.
Can you tell me, in your opinion -- you would know -- what type
of affordable housing? Because there are so many different -- I mean,
so many different categories. What types do you feel are missing that
we need to try and incentivize or improve upon or gain more units for?
You mentioned high-quality rental, and I know you're right about
that, because people that come to town don't want to buy right away.
They want to rent.
MR. REYNOLDS: You know, I'd have to say almost every
category is a need with the potential exception of single-family
detached. We do have a pretty good inventory, an opportunity. If you
want to go build a single-family home and you're willing to be in a
little more remote location, that's fine. But, you know, senior housing,
big issue for us. Rental housing for young workers.
We talked about, you know, all of the -- you know, the
schoolteachers, the policemen, all of that is a big issue, but I do think
it's housing that is going to be attractive to people that maybe are
coming into the community who grew up in the community, and they
want to leave their homes and they want to start, you know, their own
businesses or they want to, you know, their first-time job. So I think it's
really all of that.
And I would say the emphasis on multifamily rental housing
would be the highest priority just because I think it's the biggest unmet
need, and I think that would be a good place to start.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Thanks.
MR. PAYNE: If I can just throw a little in there, Ms. Fiala.
We do, as a panel, agree that there is a need -- there's been a big
emphasis on single-family homeownership here, so we do think you
need to increase the rental capacity, partially because it eliminates
things like the down payment issue, which is a major obstacle.
But, that said, there really isn't a better segment, I mean, a better
February 3, 2017
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type of this housing. There's -- it can be ownership, it can be for rent, it
can be multifamily, it can be single-family, it can be three-story
walkup or detached or semi-detached. The issue is this issue of cost
burden, okay, and matching the need to the particular person.
So a young Police Officer and his wife may be great in a
one-bedroom rental flat. Add two children, and the picture changes,
but the need remains the same.
So I would not want to stand here in front of you and say that
multifamily rental is better than single-family semi-detached, okay,
with the caveat that there is a need here for more rental. Just look at
the stats. You need some more rental, okay.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: We don't have a chair, so...
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Yeah. I was just going to make one
comment to what the topic was.
One of the first things I did when I came on the Board was to
attend the Advisory Committee's Meeting, and I think it's important for
everyone to know that, I think for the first time -- and maybe the chair
of the committee can correct me if I'm wrong -- the information
showed that rental properties are now even more unaffordable than
they were before. So it really is a crisis, because that hadn't been that
way until now.
So it's a -- it is an emergency, I think, and we need to address it
head on.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Feeder.
MR. FEEDER: Yes. Norman Feeder.
First of all, I want to also commend ULI for the work that they've
done. I particularly want to note some good recommendations for
urban infill and in particular their linkage to transportation, which
obviously I very much appreciate, particularly transit, ride share, and
also pathways and biking.
But what I think needs to be focused on, and I didn't hear a lot of,
February 3, 2017
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is this board has East of 951 studies. So you've got some real
opportunities there with what you're hearing today, all this focus, to
make sure that what you're considering out in the Estates is addressing
a lot of the issues.
And right now we don't have destinations. We just have origins.
So you talk about the transportation linkage. You also have the
opportunity, and it was mentioned, that you have 40 percent structures,
auxiliary structures allowed out in the Estates lots yet you can't rent
them today. Some of it happens, but it's not allowed.
You might even encourage other people to build such structures
and accommodate workforce housing if, in fact, you change your Land
Development Code to that end.
But, in particular, as you're studying those east of 951 studies,
develop those corridors that can allow express transit, the catchment
areas, get enough density along corridors to allow for ride sharing and
other issues out there.
So, again, I want to make sure that you bring this into your focus
on the east of 951 studies you have underway.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Mr. Hruby.
MR. HRUBY: Yes. I'm Stephen Hruby. I chair the Affordable
Housing Advisory Committee, and I want to address Commissioner
Solis' comment. He was -- I think he was on the job about two days
when he walked into our first committee and said, I'm about housing
here. I want to hear what you guys are doing.
He sat through an hour-and-a-half meeting with us, had very
intelligent questions about it. And you're right, it has changed. I've
chaired this committee for almost 10 years now. And there's been a
change in the demographics, there's been a change in the focus, there's
been a change in the need, particularly as a result of the recession and
what happened to us in the recession.
So you're right, but it's only not in the move from single-family to
February 3, 2017
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rental. The whole paradigm is changing. Our demographics are
changing; our needs are changing.
Eight years ago I called a town hall to talk about this issue. I
probably had four of these people sitting in there, and we'd be
complaining. The biggest change that I've seen is the community. The
business community, the government, just the general population
taking an interest and supporting that we need to do something.
And I agree with Al, it's a crisis. Al and I sat on a very similar
panel with ULI and EDC about, what, eight years ago, Al, and went
through the same process. So, you know, it was a crisis then, and I
think it's a crisis now.
I also would like to thank the panel from ULI. I'm a ULI member.
Have been for years. You did a wonderful job, and it was a pleasure
working with you.
Thank you very much.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, on that note, about talking about
a crisis and the concern that we don't sweep it under the table or we
postpose it forever and ever, I'd like to see if I have agreement.
I spoke to our County Manager just now. He can probably speak
to this a lot of better than I can, but that at our next meeting we
workshop the recommendations that are given. And we have time to
look at them. We have a report that's coming to us, but we've got sort
of a 50,000-view ideas that, you know -- Commissioner Fiala, 16, 17
years as a FCommissioner, you have your feet in this community.
Bill, you're out in Immokalee, but you're a business owner, and
we have two land use attorneys. We have a sense of this community
and what we consider starters or nonstarters. We have the -- our
committee here that is really working on this, and I think they need
direction.
So I don't want to put this aside. I'd like to see if we aren't -- you
know, I'm not saying that we're not -- we're not changing ordinances
February 3, 2017
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right now, but we're talking about what we think is going to work and
what we don't think is going to work based on the recommendations of
this committee.
Commissioner Saunders?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Just two quick comments.
First of all, over the years I've sat in a lot of these panel discussions at a
variety of different levels, and I'll have to say this was probably the
best one that I have witnessed. So I want to thank all of you for really
dedicating a lot of time and effort. I know how much time it takes to
do this. Well, actually, I don't know how much time it takes to do this.
I can only imagine. I'm surprised you had time for morning runs from
the way this --
MS. McMANUS: They were really early.
MR. HRUBY: They were late-night runs.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Good thing it's a safe
community for that type of activity at night.
MS. McMANUS: We said that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: But, really, you-all did a great
job, and I really appreciate it.
Madam Chair, in terms of workshopping this, I think that's an
excellent idea. I think you said workshop this at our next meeting,
which is, like, 10 days from now. So I think we probably need a little
bit more time to kind of digest this.
I believe we're going to have some paperwork provided to us by
our staff. I'd like to take a look at the briefing book that was presented
to the ULI committee and be able to kind of digest this. So I think a
workshop 10 days from now is just a little bit too soon.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, then --
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: I don't want to delay this
because, I will tell you, I agree 100 percent; this is a crisis. There are
things we can do, and I want to start implementing those things. But I
February 3, 2017
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want to take a look at them a little bit more deeply before we get into
that.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. So the next meeting?
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: So the next meeting, that's
three weeks from now, four weeks from now. That will give us some
time.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. Good. And then I believe
the ULI report is coming to us in 90 days, which we'll add.
But what we're going to do is start thinking about this and having
timelines by which we need to come and give staff and our committees
direction so that they don't -- you know, we're here. We're here for
another -- well, the next election is two years from now, so we're here.
So we need to make some decisions.
September, I believe, is when we're coming with a housing plan.
We've got to get to work, guys. All right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes, ma'am. And I would like
to -- you know, I liked your idea of workshopping it on the 14th. I
would like us to have more opportunities to workshop.
One of the limiting factors we have, and this panel put forth, was
the consensus that's required for rezones and so on, the supermajority
aspect of it, and our inability, because of the Sunshine Law, to talk
about things that will benefit our community.
And the more workshops we have, the greater -- not necessarily
in a voting environment, but the more opportunity we have to bring in
public input and have discussions back and forth so that we can vet the
pros and cons before we actually go into a voting format, I'm all over
it, so...
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Let me suggest this: We have two
shots at this, but the second one, second meeting is when we make
some decisions --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sure.
February 3, 2017
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CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: -- so we can talk about this in a
nonbinding fashion. No votes, but we can talk here, and the public is
welcome. We'll make it as an agenda item on the 14th of February,
which is a beautiful Valentine's gift for Collier County.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I don't think necessarily, I
wasn't -- you know, I wasn't avoiding the fact that we need to make
some decisions --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I know that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: -- along those lines. I just want
us to have an opportunity to talk on a far more regular basis.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I was calming Commissioner Saunders.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Yes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We're not going to make decisions; just
talk about it.
Commissioner Solis?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: I was just going to inquire. I think
some of the panel need to head to the airport, so maybe we can -- are
we going to wrap up and then make our comments and questions to the
rest of the --
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Well, that's fine. We can certainly do
that.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Could I just add, then, to the
discussion that we were just talking about for the second meeting and
the decision making; I don't think we should make any decisions until
we get all the information back from ULI. It's like jumping before the
cart. And, you know, I think we need to --
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Absolutely.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: It will be a while.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: And if I might say, I mean, I
don't think that we're all going to -- we're going to wave a magic wand
and make all the decisions at once.
February 3, 2017
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CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: That's right.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: It's been very apparent, it's
been put forth in the preliminary information, this is an ongoing effort.
We have to keep this at the forefront of our governance as we're going
forward, how we can incentivize projects such as what are being talked
about today to deal with this issue over a period of time. It's not, boom.
MR. OCHS: Madam Chair, if I might, just again, for the benefit
of the public and the process and the reminder, particularly for the new
commissioners, the Board had impaneled a stakeholders group to
develop for you a recommended community housing plan that was due
to come to you in September of this year. So the staff has viewed this
effort as another major input into that committee's work.
What we're really looking for at this point is kind of a decision
from the Board on whether the committee should continue to explore
all of the recommendations that the ULI panel has presented or if
there's any that the Board wants to take off the table right now so that,
as the committee moves forward to their goal in September, they can
refine and refocus their effort, not spend a lot of time on something
that the Board has no interest in.
So, you know, maybe a workshop, instead of dealing with this at
either board meeting in February, would be the proper approach.
You've got very full agendas, particularly the February 24th agenda is
chock full.
So as Commissioner McDaniel said, if you want an opportunity
to speak about this in a less formal setting where you're not pressed to
make decisions or you're not pressed by time, we can certainly look for
a workshop date that works for everyone where we can get that
direction from you and apply that to our ongoing stakeholder effort to
bring the community housing plan to you in September.
Perhaps when we meet on the 10th (sic) I can present a couple
dates that might work for the Commission. And we can workshop on
February 3, 2017
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this particular report in a setting that gives you the time to make some
informed decisions.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: I think our next meeting, isn't it the
14th?
MR. OCHS: I'm sorry, yes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: And the 28th.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: The MPO's the 10th.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So if we did this -- and, you know,
again, I'm not trying to -- I'm not trying to say we have to make
decisions and let's just go ahead. That's not what I'm saying. I'm
saying we have to keep it in the forefront, which is what you
eloquently said.
So what if we created a workshop but have it this month. I just
think it's easier to tack it onto a meeting than it is to have a special
thing. But to have it this month, have a workshop whereby we can look
at the recommendations and know what's a nonstarter, what we think.
That's it. That's it. The hard work, the heavy lifting is going to be with
our committee.
MR. OCHS: Sure. And if that's the will of the Board, I can work
with your aides and your calendars and see if we can't find one or two
dates in February that works for a morning or afternoon where you can
get together and do just that.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Yeah, I agree, a separate
workshop. By the time we finish our regular meeting, we're pretty
well fried, and this is a very important issue.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm not fried.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: Well --
MR. OCHS: I'm fried, let's put it that way.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: -- some of us are.
And so a separate workshop.
And I agree that this has to be on the front burner. It should be
February 3, 2017
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something that we move along, but it's going to take a little bit of time
to do it right.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Oh, yes.
COMMISSIONER SAUNDERS: And I'd rather do it right, take
a little more time and do it right than miss and do it quickly. So a
separate workshop, I think, is the right way to go.
MS. GRANT: Pardon the interruption: Are we okay for the
panel to leave?
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: Right. I just wanted to say -- I know
some of them are looking a little nervous with looking at their watches.
I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful work that you
did. I mean, incredible presentations under very short time frames.
And especially thank you for pointing out something that I realize is
absolutely true in your recommendations that kind of shocks me, but
it's true, and that is, we really don't have a collective vision, I don't
think, of what Collier County is going to be.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Here, here.
COMMISSIONER SOLIS: And I think that is the most -- one of
the most telling things that's come out of your presentation, for me
anyway. And I've been here since the early '90s. We need that, and I
think it's going to be incumbent upon us to help figure out what that is.
MR. PAYNE: We really appreciate you having us here. We
truly hope and trust that this has been of benefit for you. Feel free to
call us. You have our contact information.
We will continue to work. We will work diligently to get your
report back to you as soon as rationally possible. You know, we're
telling you about 12 weeks. We'll do our best, but I hate to promise
any sooner than that.
So -- but we do, really, all of us on behalf of everybody here, we
-- and the Urban Land Institute as well, we really appreciate the
confidence you put in us. Thank you.
February 3, 2017
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(Applause.)
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Take a minute-break while we
cut them loose.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: I still have questions. So I know you
guys have to go, but...
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: What we're going to do is let the ones
who have to catch the planes to go, and if -- those who can stay for a
little bit, we just have a few more questions up here.
MR. OCHS: I think most of them have to go, ma'am. I think all
of them have to.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you.
MR. PAYNE: One of those things, because the way the airlines
work, we're all on the same plane to Charlotte.
MR. OCHS: Very good.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you. Thank you very much.
Okay. I think Commissioner Fiala has some questions here.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: And maybe others, too. Does
anybody else have any questions?
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Go first. You go first.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Okay. First of all, one of the
suggestions was to increase density, and then somebody -- and this is
not. I don't think you could answer this now. I'm throwing this
question out as not expecting an answer from anybody.
MR. OCHS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: One of the questions -- or one of the
suggestions was we can build up to 30 units per acre, right, in order to
increase density and build the housing that they're talking about.
What I'm -- I'm kind of looking at Nick right now, and that is, our
road system is already in jeopardy. If we start building things like 20
units per acre or 30 units per acre, will that mean, then, that --
sometimes in some places we don't even have room to expand the
February 3, 2017
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roads as it is.
What will we do then? And that's just something to think about.
I think this is a question that we all ought to consider as we talk about
increasing density, because we don't want to increase it to the point
where it breaks the back of our road system. Okay. That was one
question.
Another one, I think it was Kim that said something -- or
somebody was saying something about affordable housing and
approved. Now, is the affordable housing we kept referring to today
approved affordable housing or affordable housing in general?
And, you know, we found that in our figures before, there is a
great deal of difference between one and the other. What are we going
to actually address, approved affordable housing or, you know, just
affordable housing in general?
MS. GRANT: I will try to give a brief answer to that.
What I heard them say was that -- and please keep in mind that
this is the first time we are hearing their recommendations as well. But
what I heard them say is that we need a much more robust inventory
that tracks more detail, is more available possibly online.
So what that says to me is that that gives us an opportunity to
continue to have that discussion and make sure that we're including
everything that the commission and the community wants us to
include.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Because it paints a different picture.
What we found was -- and I only could concentrate on mine now.
When we were given a figure, which they said that was all the
affordable housing we had, and there is much more in North Naples,
and they said we only had 1,201 here, and I was incredulous. What do
you mean? We have more just in Naples Manor. And we were told it
doesn't count. And there were many others that I was naming, and
they don't count, they don't count, like the Triangle and so forth.
February 3, 2017
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And I wanted to know why, and that's when I learned for the very
first time -- you'd think maybe I'd know it by this time or something --
that there's certain housing that's approved and certain housing that
isn't, and that's because they meet certain requirements from, what,
HUD, is it, or SHIP or whatever, and others that aren't.
And I threw on the table that there is possibly a way we could
incentivize some of this housing if we identify what kind of housing
we're talking about. Do we want skilled-worker housing? Entry-level
housing? Young-professional housing? What kind are we in need of?
And then maybe we can incentivize that, because for 80 percent and
below, we get SHIP dollars.
Well, right now we just ship it all over -- SHIP dollars that -- we
ship SHIP dollars over to the very low income, but we could
incentivize developers who now -- right now don't seem to be wanting
to build a step up or two steps up of affordable housing, yet at 70
percent or 80 percent, which I think we desperately need in order to
round out or balance out, as they were talking about, our affordable
housing. And if we could use that to incentivize them instead, I think
that that would be a great direction to go.
Let's see.
Again, I keep saying define affordable housing, but I'm the only
one that says it, and everybody just keeps talking about affordable. So
whenever we talk about it and people say, oh, well, then people object
to it. Well, that's because they think it's all low income, and it isn't.
We don't -- you know, we don't need low income. We need all
spectrums, but we need to balance out what we have so that when our
young people -- young professionals, nurses, dentists -- or dental
assistants and so forth, when they want to find a place, they don't
qualify for the low income at all.
And if we would give them a housing -- we could give a name to
it so we know what we're trying to incentivize, whether it's sheriff's
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deputies -- again, they don't qualify for low income.
There's so many different categories. What do we need? And I
look around this audience. Does anybody really know what we need?
And if we need five different categories, how many do we need in each
one? You know, you just don't know.
And I think maybe somebody should be studying that, if you can.
You know, I don't know what you're laughing at, Dwight, but I think
it's important to know that.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: He was laughing at me.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Anyway -- so let's see. I think those
were about it.
Oh, there was a lady that -- oh, the bike people. You know -- and
that was very good. In my area, a lot of people ride bikes, as you
probably know. And one of the good things about our bus
transportation system and the bike riders is we have a finagling thing
out in the front of the bus where they can ride their bike up to the bus
stop, load it on the bus, get it over to their place of employment, get it
off, and ride the rest of the way, so that's a good -- I'm bragging now. I
think that's a good attribute for our bus system, and the people in my
area use it heavily. So, anyway, I think we should encourage more and
more bike uses to be a part of this.
Okay. I think I've said it all. I think -- I don't know that the guys
are still here from Pelican Bay, but, man, that was a wonderful thing.
They built their own affordable housing. I thought, now, that's right.
They know what the people are getting paid because they're paying
them, and they're building it accordingly. That's a good idea.
Thank you.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: So no other comments?
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Oh, yes.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Okay. I have to go. Quick.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Okay. Just a couple of things
February 3, 2017
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I'd like to say. And I want to say this out loud, and I shared this with
the panelists. I didn't get a chance to address them before they left. I
would like for them to know I voiced on my bus ride with them on
Monday -- Monday, Tuesday, whatever day it was I was riding. I
announced out loud that I was not an advocate of hiring the ULI to
come and do this study.
I have to say that I have maybe a shift in that opinion as far as the
validity of what they have brought forth just in the infancy stages of
what's transpiring.
I do have an inordinate amount of faith in our staff, very
knowledgeable staff, as to issues that we, in fact, have, but I'm looking
forward to the finalization of this information that is coming to us to
ratify what our staff necessarily is already telling us.
I have a couple of little comments I'd like to make. I concur with
what the gentleman from Pelican Bay said and Al Reynolds said with
regard to this being a data-driven study for us to have a goal with
regard to the type of housing that we want to provide, and how we, in
fact, attain that from -- and then work backwards from that once we
ascertain the type of housing that we're, in fact, looking for, and having
it be data driven so that we can get there and then have a specific plan
on a per-unit basis with regard to a timing allotment, having a plan,
and then working backwards from the data that's, in fact, being given
to us.
And the last comment that I'd like to make -- and I've said this
quite regularly. It isn't necessarily an affordable housing issue. It's a
housing that is affordable issue. And maybe a change in the vernacular
along the way -- a prior commissioner, Frank Halas, talked about
affordable housing and how it got defined as HUD housing and not
such a happy thing, and maybe just a change in our vernacular in
looking for housing that is, in fact, affordable as part of our path going
forward.
February 3, 2017
Page 72
COMMISSIONER FIALA: But then we have to find out what do
we need in that affordability grouping so that we can build toward that
rather than having them to go to Fort Myers.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: I'm with you.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: We want to keep them here, you
know. So anyway...
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: All right. I think that's it.
County Manager, any comments?
MR. OCHS: No, ma'am. We appreciate the Board's input. And
we'll identify a workshop date this month that you can come together
again and give some further direction.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER FIALA: If you see any Amish people
walking around, they're my friends. They're here in town visiting me.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Nice. From Ohio?
COMMISSIONER FIALA: Yes.
COMMISSIONER McDANIEL: Sweet. I'm going to come say
hi.
CHAIRMAN TAYLOR: We are adjourned.
*****
February 3, 2017
There being no further business for the good of the County, the
meeting was adjourned by order of the Chair at 11 :31 a.m.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS/EX
OFFICIO GOVERNING BOARD(S) OF
SPECIA 100TRICTS UNDER ITS CONTROL
PENNY TAY OR, 4d/Z-C MAN
ATTEST
DWIGHT E. BROCK, CLERK
I At
Attest as to Chairman'
signature only. k
These minutes approved by the Board on -i 2A, 2017
as presented or as corrected
TRANSCRIPT PREPARED ON BEHALF OF U.S. LEGAL
SUPPORT, INC., BY TERRI LEWIS, COURT REPORTER AND
NOTARY PUBLIC.
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