Osceola edict could clear a path to affordable housing
The Osceola County Commission is looking at a key vote to control growth on Monday. The idea of putting brakes on development isn’t new. But the time is right for Osceola County — one of the fastest-growing counties in the state — to consider such a move.
This will appease the many citizens I meet in daily life who tell me they want growth slowed. They want an end to impacts that aren’t sustainable and affect the quality of life in Osceola County.
There is another reason why a moratorium makes sense: affordable housing.
We need more of it, and right now, in spite of all our efforts, many developers are creating types of housing that are not beneficial to our overall growth.
Part of the answer is the county’s mixed-use districts, which are exempt under the proposed ordinance. These areas are key to creating the type of diversity that would spur affordable-housing opportunities. With the abundance of low-density residential land in the county, development of the mixed-use districts is just beginning to happen.
The ordinance might speed up development in those districts, which would provide greater housing diversity, as these districts include 27,450 multifamily units, along with single-family units and millions of square feet of nonresidential uses.
Tohoqua Development Group is a great example of a developer who, while not focused on “affordable housing,” is bringing some new and exciting housing products to the table that will have flexible price points.
A mix of housing types and price is key. In addition, the ordinance exempts affordable housing for households earning no more than $35,000 annually.
The $35,000 income threshold is based on recent analysis of costburdened households in the county (households spending more than 30 percent of their income for housing). More than eight in 10 households at this income level are cost-burdened, with more than half paying 50 percent or more of their income for housing. This represents the most immediate need for housing in Osceola — more than 27,000 households fall into this category.
Housing diversity is an important affordable-housing strategy in Osceola, because single-family detached housing, which represents a high percentage of the stock being built in Osceola, is not likely to be affordable to households earning less than $35,000 per year.
All this aligns with the county’s “Strategies for a Sustainable Future” report adopted in September, which outlines a new approach to managing growth to ensure fiscally sustainable development so the county can provide government services in an efficient manner.
While we are looking to pause growth for a short period, we are also trying to encourage our development community to work with us and create a variety of housing types that meet the needs of our diverse population.