In accordance with Florida Statute 420.9076, each county or eligible municipality participating in the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program, including a municipality receiving program funds through the county, or an eligible municipality must, within 12 months after the original adoption of the local housing assistance plan (LHAP), amend the plan to include local housing incentive strategies as defined in s. 420.9071(18). In 2019, the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) presented the Affordable Housing Incentive Report which included the strategies addressed in the LHAP and voted to take additional time to research and discuss other affordable housing incentives and recommend staff to submit a LHAP amendment to include additional affordable housing incentives in the future.
In April 2019, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) adopted the following incentive strategy as part of the LHAP.
1. Expedited Permitting (Required Incentive)
2. Ongoing Review of Policies, Procedures, Ordinances, and Regulations (Required)
3. Impact Fee Waivers or modifications
Prior to October 1, 2020, the Florida Statutes required the AHAC to review affordable housing specified incentives and provide the Florida Housing Finance Corporation with a triennial update in the Affordable Housing Incentives Report. As of October 1, 2020, the committee is now required to annually review the established policies and procedures, ordinances, land development regulations, and adopt a local government comprehensive plan of the appointing local government and recommend specific actions or initiatives to encourage or facilitate affordable housing while protecting the ability of the property to appreciate in value.
During a regularly scheduled meeting on November 18, 2021, the AHAC reviewed and discussed a report which evaluated the County’s progress with implementing the current incentives strategies. During the discussion, it was determined since the BoCC’s adoption of the Attainable Housing Strategic Plan in November 2020, Seminole County staff and the BoCC have aggressively moved to implement strategies that encourage or facilitate the creation of affordable housing. Specific actions identified in the report were the land development code amendments allowing for use of Accessory Dwelling Units and the associated regulations (Ordinance No. 2021-13), the creation of Community Land Trust procedures (Ordinance No. 2021-15), and the ordinance creating a General Housing Trust Fund (Ordinance No. 2021-14) to fund affordable housing development throughout Seminole County. The AHAC voted to approve the report as presented and to submit the report to the BoCC for adoption, as well as to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation as required by Florida Statute