Pressure to build not helping housing crisis
Last week, Administrative
Law Judge Carolyn S. Holifield struck down a challenge to an agreement
between the county and the state that allows more development in the
Florida Keys. Local officials in Marathon and county government praised
the action as a victory for workforce housing.
We're not so sure. A
great deal of lot of talk is directed toward workforce housing in the
Keys, yet affordable housing continues to disappear — via condo
conversion and redevelopment — faster than it is created. In fact, the
housing crisis sometimes appears to be a huge red flag waved as a
distraction while development rules are relaxed for the far more
profitable construction of upscale homes for the wealthy.
The agreement upheld by
Holifield, and crafted largely by County Commissioner Murray Nelson,
allows for the reinstatement of 230 building permits in Marathon and
unincorporated areas. The permits previously were withheld because the
county did not adhere to — or meet deadlines for — various land-use
rules and environmental goals.
The agreement also allows
for a 25-percent increase (to 227) in the number of new homes built in
those areas each year.
In the past, the governor
and state Cabinet met annually to assess the county's progress toward
meeting conservation, environmental and growth-management goals included
in the county's land-use plan. When the county fell short, the state
withheld building permits — it even threatened to withhold sales tax
revenue a few years back if the county didn't adopt an ordinance calling
for the elimination of chess pits.
As recently as December
of '03, the county faced state penalties for failing to create laws to
protect natural lands, and then failing to pass a temporary building ban
that would give it more time to do so. The state Department of Community
Affairs recommended the state further decrease building allocations.
But the governor and
Cabinet took a different philosophical tack. The county agreed to spend
$200 million over the next three years to build sewage treatment
systems, and to pass laws to protect natural lands. In exchange, the
state promised to speed up the purchase of $93 million in
environmentally sensitive lands, secure up to $30 million in funding to
improve sewage treatment and increase the number of homes that can be
built each year in the Florida Keys.
Monroe County now
requires that 20 percent of new construction meets guidelines for
workforce housing. That may seem significant until you consider that
existing workforce housing is being redeveloped as upscale housing at a
far greater rate than new construction — and the same elected officials
who are giving so much lip service to affordable housing are approving
the zoning changes necessary for this to happen.
Key West requires that 30
percent of new construction be "affordable," though most construction in
Key West these days is redevelopment, which has no affordable
requirements.
If the County Commission
and municipal governments were sincere about solving the housing crisis,
they would require that the vast majority of new housing meet affordable
criteria. And they would pass ordinances requiring that a significant
percentage of "redeveloped" housing be affordable — perhaps 100 percent
for trailer parks.
Unfortunately, we've seen
little cause for optimism. Recent changes in how the county's hurricane
evacuation times are calculated are expected to open the door to even
more development, which is supposed to be limited to workforce housing.
We anticipate local governments will use any housing gains there to
defend increased market-rate development.
The pressure to develop
in Florida has fueled a runaway train. We already see plans for a
6,000-home development in Florida City. In the Keys, soaring land values
have created an irresistible profit incentive for developers who, with a
little help from elected officials, can transform rundown trailer parks
into million-dollar condominiums. Why build affordable housing at a
modest profit when there is so much to be made in high-end housing?
Unless local governments
develop some backbone soon, the housing crisis is sure to escalate to
catastrophic levels. Lip service, no matter how eloquent or passionate,
is just not getting the job done.
— The Citizen |
