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Lauderdale makes move toward affordable housing
By Brittany Wallman
FORT LAUDERDALE -- The city made the first move Saturday toward more affordable housing.
In a workshop at the African-American Research Library and Cultural Center, about 170 developers, bankers, lawyers, nonprofit employees, concerned citizens and government officials laid out the obstacles to building homes in this city that would be affordable to people earning low or moderate incomes.
Commissioner Carlton Moore, who represents the poorest part of Fort Lauderdale, is trying to lead the city to an affordable housing ordinance. Though no one's sure what that law should say, it could include an impact fee on developers that would accumulate in a housing fund, or it could require developers to include some affordable units in their projects.
High housing prices have been identified as a regional problem. But Moore said a city solution was a good place to start.
"We're the county seat. We're the leaders. We're going to go first," Moore said.
For now, Moore hopes the community will help him push city commissioners to reconsider paying for a study that would quantify the problem. That's a necessary precursor to an affordable housing law, Moore said.
The study, expected to cost between $100,000 and $300,000, was scratched from this year's budget. The Downtown Development Authority, however, has agreed to contribute $75,000, Moore announced Saturday. The commissioner is looking for private sponsors to share the rest of the cost with the city.
Potential homebuyers have seen prices in Broward County escalate at a rate far beyond the increases in wages. The median home price in Fort Lauderdale recently topped $300,000. A South Florida Sun-Sentinel analysis a year ago found that private developers had stopped offering houses for less than $150,000, and that the average family here doesn't make enough money to afford the average house.
A number of obstacles were identified at Saturday's workshop, including neighborhood politics that can sink projects, the lengthy, uncertain Fort Lauderdale permitting process, and the need for a consistent funding source. Some said higher density should be allowed to help developers make their profits, or that public hearings should be waived.
County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletionsaid he wants the state Legislature to allow Broward County to collect a 10-cent surtax on document stamps. The revenue would be used for affordable housing.
The workshop kicked off the city's first major effort to tackle a problem identified by agencies this year as one of Broward County's greatest challenges.
"Simply said, it's about time," said James Carras, of Carras Community Investment Inc., who grew up in a public housing project in Boston.
Developers attending the workshop said they'll help, but the idea of a new law has them on edge.
Courtney Crush, a land use attorney and Habitat for Humanity board member, said developers don't necessarily want lower-cost units mixed into their projects.
"I think the development community in general sort of winces when they hear the word `affordable,'" Crush said.
Nor do they want to be saddled with another impact fee as the sole solution, said Alan Hooper, developer of Avenue Lofts and a member of the Downtown Development Authority.
Carras said the issue was complicated and so are the solutions.
He said he started writing down every time someone said, "The key issue is ... ." He heard it so many times, he lost track.
Brittany Wallman can be reached at bwallman@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4541.