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HomeMy WebLinkAbout_2006 08 21 City Commission Workshop Minutes CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP AUGUST 21,2006 CALL TO ORDER The Workshop of Monday, August 21, 2006 of the City Commission was called to Order by Mayor John F. Bush at 6:30 p.m. in the Commission Chambers of the Municipal Building (City Hall, 1126 East State Road 434, Winter Springs, Florida 32708). Roll Call: Mayor John F. Bush, present Deputy Mayor Michael S. Blake, absent Commissioner Robert S. Miller, present Commissioner Donald A. Gilmore, present Commissioner Sally McGinnis, present Commissioner Joanne M. Krebs, present City Manager Ronald W. McLemore, present City Attorney Anthony A. Garganese, absent A moment of silence was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. REGULAR AGENDA REGULAR 300. Office Of The Mayor Discussion On Workforce Housing. Ms. Jaimie Ross, Affordable Housing Director, 1000 Friends of Florida, Post Office Box 5948, Tallahassee, Florida: addressed the City Commission. In discussing this concept, Ms. Ross stated, "Local Government's primary role is not to build affordable housing. We don't want local Governments in the business of building affordable housing. The role is to facilitate the production of affordable housing by the private sector." Further discussion. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21, 2006 PAGE20F8 Discussion ensued on "Area Median Income" (AMI). Commissioner Robert S. Miller asked, "Do we have that information also?" Ms. Ross stated, "This is from the Florida Housing Coalition Website. This will be very good for you to have the Website information - flhousing.org." Discussion. Ms. Ross stated, "SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) is your local program; which comes from the Sadowski Act." Furthermore, Ms. Ross stated, "There is no other state in the country that has a State and Local Housing Trust Fund like we have in Florida through - Sadowski Act." Additionally, Ms. Ross remarked, "That is our dedicated revenue source. It raises an enormous amount of money." Mayor Bush noted, "This money - it says, local governments receive annual allocations based on population distributed monthly. This goes to the counties?" Ms. Ross stated, "And, 'Entitlement' Cities. Which means you don't get it because you are not an 'Entitlement' City. Orlando, gets a distribution because they're an 'Entitlement' City. They're large enough. An 'Entitlement' city is one that gets their CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) money directly from the Federal Government and you have to have a larger population, at least 50,000 in population - to be an 'Entitlement' city." Furthermore, Ms. Ross explained, "The SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) program is the Local Housing Trust Fund program that's funded from the Sadowski dedicated revenue source." With discussion, Mayor Bush asked, "Who decides at the county level who gets the money?" Ms. Ross noted, "Every local government has their own SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) Housing Assistance Plan (HAP). Their HAP, their Housing Assistance Plan. And, you can look at the Seminole County's Housing Assistance Plan. You can get a copy of it online." Ms. Ross continued, "Go to the Florida Housing Finance Corporations website which is floridahousing.org and - you can - look at every local governments SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) plan." Ms. Ross suggested, "I think it would be good - for you and your community development division, to learn about the Seminole County SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) program so you can educate your residents about it; maybe even have a brochure." Mayor Bush added, "Could educate our new employees." Ms. Ross added, "They probably do have a brochure, and then you could have those brochures here at the City and be making it available." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21, 2006 PAGE 3 OF 8 Continuing, Ms. Ross added, "Employer Assisted Housing Program, EAH's, are becoming very popular because so many employers are finding that they can't recruit and retain employees because housing costs are so high, so they'll have a program where for instance, they'll throw in five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) to make it part of their employee package - benefit's package." Discussion. Regarding mobile homes, Ms. Ross continued, "We have a huge problem in Florida now, but I don't know about Winter Springs, whether this is an issue for you - of mobile home parks being redeveloped and those people basically being left to fend for themselves." Furthermore, Ms. Ross added, "There is a Florida Statute that's outside of [Florida Statutes] 163. This is all from Chapter 163. But, there is a Florida Statute which is 723.083 - which says that, Local governments cannot rezone mobile home parks; cannot make a Land Use change to mobile home parks, unless there is an adequate and suitable place for the people to live, who live in mobile home parks." Ms. Ross stated, "Generally - your Housing Element, like all of your Comprehensive Plans should be measurable, objective, measurable. I took a quick look at your Plan before coming over. It doesn't actually have any measurable objectives. In other words, there's no numbers in there. Like by a certain date; certain number of units - you don't have that. So, that might be something you might want to consider." Tape 1/Side B Continuing, Ms. Ross commented on "Inc1usionary Housing Ordinances" and explained that that is "An Ordinance that the local government adopts that requires a certain percentage. It can be mandatory, it can be voluntary, they don't tend to work too well voluntary - it requires - a certain percentage of the units built within a market rate development, will be affordable units." Mayor Bush said, "Do you know any cities that have that in their Ordinance?" Ms. Ross said, "Yes." Ms. Ross added, "Not in Seminole County." Ms. Ross added, "The main area where we really need local governments, is really the counties more than the cities, to adopt Land Development Regulations that require a certain percentage of the units to be affordable is in large-scale developments. Really big developments are called DRI's, Developments of Regional Impacts, meaning that they impact more than one local government." Discussion. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21,2006 PAGE 4 OF 8 Next, Ms. Ross stated, "What I wanted to mention about is another tool that the City of Winter Park uses to raise money is a 'Linkage Fee Ordinance'." Ms. Ross then explained, "There are CRA's (Community Redevelopment Agency) - everywhere." Furthermore, Ms. Ross noted, "The [Florida] League of Cities supports all of this; the Community Redevelopment area. If you want to find out more information about that, they would be your resource on it." With further discussion on the statutory parameters around the SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) plan, Ms. Ross continued, "It can only go up to one hundred twenty percent (120%) of AMI (Area Median Income). It looks like Seminole County is not serving up to 120. What I saw - it looked to me like they were stopping at eighty percent (80%) of AMI (Area Median Income)." The Linkage Fee Ordinance was further discussed, and Ms. Ross stated, "In other words, one that is substantiated - what is the nexus, the impact, of this development on the need for affordable housing, it's going to come up with a much higher number per square foot." Ms. Ross added, "In order to have a Linkage Fee Ordinance like that, you have to have a nexus study done because it's just like an Impact Fee." Continuing, Ms. Ross stated "Providing local government contributions, is one way local government's role in affordable housing. And, land donation right now is a big - issue." Continuing, Ms. Ross addressed House Bill 1363 and stated that it is "A lot - on land donation. Starting in July of [20]'07, next July, every local government, that means including the City of Winter Springs, because it's not just 'Entitlement', and counties, but every local government, is going to have to have an inventory of all their surplus land. Land that you own, but - it's not in use. And, you have to make a list of it; where is it located; what's the size of it; and make it available. If you don't need it; make it available for affordable housing. And, then the Statute lays out that you can donate that - to a non-profit or, and it is encouraged that it be used for a permanently affordable housing. " With discussion, Commissioner Miller commented that "The City's properties that you are refeITing to would be unused property actually, owned by anybody, or it would be owned by the City. . .?" Ms. Ross responded, "... Owned by the City." Ms. Ross noted, "If it's being used for Parks, then it's being used. This would be like surplus - that you're not using." Ms. Ross mentioned that she was recently advised that "FSU (Florida State University), they've done a project, and they have an inventory, so if you don't know your own inventory, I think you can contact FSU (Florida State University) and you can get from them, the information on what land you have in your ownership." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21, 2006 PAGE50F8 Discussion followed on Code Enforcement and Liens. Regarding Education and Public Relations, Ms. Ross stated that "Is a role of local government; and you're learning now about this catalyst program; this training and technical assistance is available to you free of charge." Ms. Ross continued, "We actually have paid staff - people who will come and work with your staff people - for free. " Tape 2/Side A Mayor Bush said, "Can you get into a Workforce Housing situation where we would restrict ownership to being members of our City, employees?" Ms. Ross stated, "Yes. You can do that. Generally, you don't do that unless there's been some money that comes - like say, you're going to restrict it if you are a hospital and the hospital has put money in it - for hospital employees." Ms. Ross added, "Yes, you can do that. The only issue, potentially, is a 'Fair Housing' issue; and it is not something that you would really need to be concerned about." With further discussion, Mayor Bush suggested a scenario as "A new housing development is coming before the Commission. It is going to have 350 units - the Commission could in fact say, 'x' number of those units need to be affordable housing for municipal employees - and in return, we will give you a little higher density or whatever. We could do that?" Ms. Ross commented, "Yes you could..." Mayor Bush added, ".. .And it wouldn't be violating any laws - on discrimination..." Ms. Ross noted, "...That's right, you would do that in an Ordinance though. You wouldn't want to do it like on an ad-hoc basis where someone could say it was arbitrarily applied to them, it wasn't applied fairly across the board." Ms. Ross remarked, "You would want to have a Land Development Regulation adopted." City Manager Ronald W. McLemore stated, "Florida Statutes allows you to enter into a Development Agreement for developers to do all kinds of things. So, why can't you enter into a Development Agreement, on a project by project basis, to do this without an underlying Ordinance?" Ms. Ross stated, "You could do that." Next discussed was a "Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot" (CWHIP) Program. Ms. Ross explained, "It is a program that is meant for the higher cost areas of the state and allows you to go up to one hundred forty percent (140%) of AMI (Area Median Income)." Discussion. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21, 2006 PAGE60F8 Manager McLemore asked about "The CWHIP (Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program) program, the one hundred forty percent (140%) of the median SHIP. I am assuming that the SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) buy down is still what number?" Ms. Ross said, "You may or may not use SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) money along with a CWHIP (Community Workforce Housing Innovation Pilot Program) proposal; but if you did use SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) money, you couldn't go up to one hundred forty percent (140%), because SHIP (State Housing Initiatives Partnership) is limited to one hundred twenty percent (120%)." With further discussion, Ms. Ross remarked, "If you want to learn about it, go to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation's website; the one that is 'Florida Housing' spelled out. They have it all laid out there neatly, about what they're going to be looking for in the proposals and what the statutory parameters are." Discussion. Commissioner Miller stated, "Point of Clarification" and commented on a survey that had been done of Seminole County cities. Mayor Bush asked, "What direction would the Commission, if any, want to give to the Manager and Staff on what you have learned?" Commissioner Sally McGinnis stated, "I think a commitment. That is an important element of our City, would be a place to start." Commissioner Miller said, "I think, as new projects come before us, a lot of this information that was brought up tonight ought to be reviewed as a possibility." Continuing, Commissioner Miller added, "As people come into this City, and develop, make proposals for, like this area over on [US Highway] 17-92 - the Dittmer property, might be a good case in point where we could look at alternatives that would make it attractive for the developer to consider some of these things." Manager McLemore said, "I think there is something out there, a tool we have and we talked about it - at the Mayors and Managers Meeting, the other day with the County, based on the work they are doing with the [US Highway] 17-92, CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). That is the ideal place for affordable housing. It truly is. They want to - allow density there. Density is fine in that environment. Secondly, it is going to be a transportation corridor for bus lines, the rail system is going to be very close to that. There's already a CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency) in place." Additionally, Manager McLemore noted, "We're talking about real housing units. And, there are - places there, where really attractive, good quality workforce housing could be developed. CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21, 2006 PAGE 7 OF 8 Commissioner Miller said, "As you know, I am on the - [US Highway] 17-92 CRA (Community Redevelopment Agency). The point that he just brought up, if you remember the presentation we had here about four (4) or five (5) months ago, all of the buildings in the year 2050 on [US Highway] 17-92, at the major intersections are all going to be eight (8), nine (9), some ten (10) floor buildings; and then they kind of graduate down away from that - it really is a logical place to do a lot of this work, but if it is going to go that way, all of us, up here, need to start talking to our County Commissioners and pushing that idea on the [US Highway] 17-92 corridor. It probably will take care of the majority of the low income workforce housing requirements that we have in Seminole County." Mayor Bush said, "I agree with you Commissioner, but - I think as Jamie (Ross) has pointed out here, part of the job is educating the public on what this really is." Mayor Bush added, "That is the main thing, is this education process." With further discussion, Commissioner Gilmore remarked, "Weare building hundreds of homes in the Town Center." Commissioner Gilmore added, "Is there a possibility of incorporating some of this for our city employees in the Town Center?" Manager McLemore stated, "Two alternatives. One (1), you pass an Ordinance that says you 'Must'." Manager McLemore added, "Or, you're going to do it on a development by development basis, on the basis of a negotiated deal. That you can do, but when you do that, you must be willing to open your wallet." Tape 2/Side B With discussion on density, Ms. Ross said, "Density is the key." Manager McLemore stated, "You would hope a combination of density and other things would make these units affordable. And, it would be wonderful if density alone would do it. But, I'm not sure that it will because the gap is so wide." Ms. Ross said, "Okay, then what we would do as far as technical assistance is show you that it does; is shows you the proforma; have someone from staff here - come and show you the numbers; and what the difference density makes to the developers, bottom line. It is the number one (1) profit center." Discussion. Manager McLemore said, "If the City wanted to make places for its employees and we're willing to set aside three-four million dollars ($3-4,000,000.00) in a trust fund to do mortgages with, on these properties - second mortgages; to buy them down or guarantee them or even grants." Commissioner Joanne M. Krebs said, "But, what Jamie (Ross) just said was that the number one (1) instrument is density." Manager McLemore added, "I believe that she is absolutely correct." CITY OF WINTER SPRINGS, FLORIDA MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP - AUGUST 21,2006 PAGE80F8 Discussion. Mayor Bush said, "1 think we have an opportunity to help our employees..." Commissioner McGinnis added, "... Absolutely. .. " Mayor Bush continued, "... And it would be foolish for us not to explore it to the fullest extent - it is not going to cost the residents of the City any more money. It is not coming out on their tax dollars to do this." Furthermore, Mayor Bush said, "I would just like to recommend that we ask the Staff and the Manager to look into this and based on really what we have learned today and do we have some kind of a Consensus that we need to look into this for the benefit of our employees..." Commissioner McGinnis stated, "...Yes..." Mayor Bush added, {{...And the public employees of the County." Mayor Bush said, "The Consensus, I think and correct me if I am mistaken, is to ask the Manager and Staff to look into taking what we learned today; if there is any way that we can do anything to assist the employees of the City to take advantage of Workforce Housing within the City of Winter Springs; and that would include our school teachers who teach in the County School System as well." Commissioner Gilmore said, "Yes." Commissioner Krebs said, {{Yes." Commissioner McGinnis said, "Yes." Commissioner Miller noted, "If it won't cost the citizens of Winter Springs a dime, why not. " ADJOURNMENT Mayor Bush adjourned the Workshop at 9:04 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED: \:: }. ,r-- / /' / . :L~_ ~A LORENZO-LUACES, CMC CLERK