The Live Local Act, established to provide more affordable housing options for the workforce, was signed in Naples on Wednesday by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after the bill was created by Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, a Naples resident.

The legislation allows multifamily and mixed-use residential development in commercial or mixed-use zones if at least 40% of the residential units are below 120% of the average median income and the commitment is made for at least 30 years. Additional zoning or land-use changes and the associated public hearings by developers will no longer be required.

“It eliminates the requirement and the ability for a public hearing. It takes the NIMBYism out of it,” Collier County Planning and Zoning Director Mike Bosi said. “What it means, if these projects meet these criteria, if they have 40% established stored towards affordable housing, and it’s provided for a 30-year period, then it goes straight to site development plan.”

From a planning and zoning perspective, Bosi said there are some aspects of the bill that are a cause for concern. A major aspect of the Live Local Act is that the county is now prohibited from restricting the density of the development under the maximum allowed density on the county’s unincorporated land, which is 92 units per acre in Collier County. Additionally, height of the proposed development cannot be restricted to below the currently allowed height of commercial or residential developments within one mile of the project or three stories, whichever is higher.

The passing of the Live Local Act came one day after the Collier County Board of Commissioners held a preliminary hearing regarding four affordable housing recommendations that would incentivize developers to provide more workforce housing in Southwest Florida. The four recommendations are derived from the county’s 2017 Urban Land Institute study and have been on the action list since 2018. The four initiatives have been discussed by the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for more than a year and were unanimously approved by the county’s planning board in May 2022.

Although the commissioners and county staff were aware of the potential signing of the Live Local Act, Bosi recommended that they treat the local amendments with just as much weight as if the Live Local Act wasn’t in the picture.

“What the state has done is they’ve created a much more enticing route for development to go for compared to these [growth management plan] amendments that I’m going to describe,” Bosi said. “Now these GMP amendments that we’re proposing for transmittal, I believe that they still have some value. I believe that they signify that the county has been working on a plan to finalize that the [Urban Land Institute] plan of 2017 with the last of the recommendations.”

The four initiatives include: streamlining commercial to residential conversions, incentivizing mixed income housing in activity centers, creating strategic opportunity sites and increasing density along the county’s transit corridor.

The first two initiatives create affordable housing development by right. The county’s existing zoning regulations allow for up to 11 units per acre to be built on a commercial property with the need for a public hearing. What is being proposed is to allow 15 units per acre on C-1, C-2 and C-3 properties and 16 units per acre on C-4 and C-5 if 100% of the units are affordable without a public hearing.

The second initiative, increasing density within activity centers, will allow for the current 16-units-per-acre density to increase up to 25 units when the 16 units are in the low range of the county’s average median income. What the county is proposing would require a public hearing; however, under the Live Local Act, a hearing will not be required.

“The beautiful part of the proposal is the residential development actually creates less traffic than the commercial attracts, so it’s a downzoning in terms of the intensification of that intersection,” Bosi said. “We believe that this is a program that the marketplace will want to take advantage of.”

Creating more strategic opportunity sites is the third initiative and involves promoting higher density residential areas in proximity to where there are high employment opportunities.

Arthrex, with its headquarters in Collier County, is known for having provided housing for its new employees moving to the area for decades. The company pays 100% of the new employee’s rent for the first six months until the worker has to pay a fee covering the basic requirements of the property.

“I often think to myself, as important as that is for us to continue to grow and blossom and be the company that we are and support the community in the way that we certainly do, that’s roughly 70, 80 apartments that someone else could be using, someone else could be renting,” Arthrex Vice President of Operations David Bumpous said. “So, we’re hoping to continue to push forward on those, but the reality is, we all know supply is limited. It truly is.”

Bumpous hopes that the county continues to push for incentivization of strategic opportunity sites for other businesses in Southwest Florida to be able to provide their employees with affordable housing.

The fourth initiative involves increasing density on transit lines. Currently, 13 market-rate units per acre are allowed along the lines, but what is proposed is an increase of up to 25 units, if affordable housing is provided. For a transit-oriented development, 50% of the units have to be located within a quarter-mile of an existing or future planned bus stop.

“What that means is the project has to concentrate its development towards the transit station and the number of units and design of it is going to be oriented around transit use,” Bosi said. “And the wisdom behind is those units will be priced at a more moderate level because of the unique design requirements.”

If these four initiatives were to be implemented, it could create a maximum of more than 6,000 more affordable housing units in the county.

Joe Trachtenberg, former chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, asked the commissioners to not let the Live Local Act halt the progress that is being made locally.

“I think it’s appropriate for you to consider [the incentives] favorably and not allow what the state is doing, really to interfere in how you view what may be their new authority,” Trachtenberg said. “If for no other reason, I think it’s important as momentum has grown in Collier County, favoring the need for workforce and affordable housing, senior housing, and so forth. I think it’s important that the [board] demonstrate that you care about these things, that these are important issues to you all and that you’re going to do what you need to do to support them.”

Commissioner William McDaniel had multiple concerns with the proposed amendments, including the by-right language for C-4 and C-5 zoning. C-4 commercial provides opportunity for the most diverse types of commercial activities at a larger scale and C-5 is the heavy commercial district generally for businesses that use outdoor spaces and are engaged in construction. McDaniel was also against the increased density by transit routes.

“Those are sweeping changes by right that are allowing for increased density with little to no input from the community, so my suggestions here today are segregate these four things into four individual votes, because some of which can be supported, or take out the by-right language so that we’re not boxing ourselves in without having public input,” McDaniel said.

Commissioner Chris Hall, who sits on the Affordable Housing Advisory Board, motioned to push the amendments to a first hearing with the exclusion of by-right development on C-4 and C-5 properties. The commissioners passed the transmittal hearing in a 4-1 vote with McDaniel opposing.

It is unclear at this time how the board will move forward with these items with the Live Local Act now in place.