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Seel details need for affordable housing
By HARLAN WEIKLE
Article published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 |
INDIAN ROCKS BEACH – What do cities like Indian Rocks Beach, Clearwater and Steamboat Springs have in common? Tourism and the dollars it brings to the community through direct spending and tax dollars.
What tourism can’t bring is affordable housing unless a way is found to tie the two together.
County Commissioner Karen Seel attended the IRB City Commission meeting Tuesday evening to suggest a solution; a proposed ordinance that would shift the burden of providing affordable housing onto developers and away from taxpayers, a simple requirement that 10 to 15 percent of all multiple housing projects or redesigns over 20 units be earmarked as affordable.
Communities that rely on workers in the tourism-related food service industry, gift shops, even patrolling the beaches and maintaining the landscape often can’t offer the chance for those employees to live in the same locale in which they work. These employees, although often paid well, still don’t earn enough to live on Indian Rocks Beach and similar locations throughout the county where average home prices have risen by double digits for nearly a decade.
The teacher, the fireman, or the woman that plays piano in the local lounge may have to commute from as far as St. Petersburg or Pasco County to get to the job and with gas prices approaching $4 a gallon and a limited public transportation infrastructure in which buses stop running after dark in most areas and cabs can be scarce or even non-existent, workers often find themselves marooned from their work place; forced to find lower paying jobs near their own homes.
Seel described the program as an “inclusionary” housing plan for a county that has lost 12,000 apartments and 5 percent of its mobile homes since 2001.
“This in a county where 70 percent of county workers earn $45,000 or less, which qualifies them for affordable housing,” Seel said. “The average salary for individuals in Pinellas County is $38,000, which means they can’t afford to live in the county much less Indian Rocks Beach.”
The ordinance, from which the municipalities may opt out, has the further option that developers, in lieu of providing actual housing may instead provide off-site housing construction or land outside the development area or a cash equivalent to provide affordable housing options for workers near their jobs.
“By involving your community in this proposal you will be ensuring that affordable housing is available throughout the county,” said Seel.
City to pursue boat dock grant
Interim City Manager Danny Taylor presented the commission with a proposal to submit a grant request to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission under the Boating Improvement Program for funds to design and engineer a public boat dock along the Intracoastal Waterway adjacent to Keegan-Clair Park.
The grant provides 90 percent of the nearly $88,000 cost of the design and engineering study, which would take place over the next year; a city cash match of 5 percent and a 5 percent in-kind contribution would complete the package. A second phase grant opportunity, Taylor told commissioners, would be available the following year for the cost of construction.
Commissioner Bert Valery proposed several questions regarding the project, particularly the need to ensure that the slips and boardwalk proposed would be a “Mariner’s Destination” serving not just the local community, but also encouraging outside boaters who in turn patronize local businesses such as restaurants, lodging and related travel services industries within the community.
The proposal to pursue the grant passed unanimously.
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Article published on Wednesday, May 14, 2008
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