Commissioners move ahead with affordable housing on 5-acre county property, reject plan for second site

Collier County commissioners on Tuesday moved ahead with a plan to seek developers to build affordable housing on one county-owned property but rejected doing so with another, larger county-owned property slated for a park.

Commissioners unanimously voted to allow staff to solicit proposals from developers to build affordable housing — an issue the county has long grappled with — on a 5-acre property, called the Bembridge site, on Santa Barbara Boulevard between Radio Road and Davis Boulevard.

County staff will bring developer proposals back to the board, potentially by March, said Cormac Giblin, the county's housing development manager. The site could fit between 29 and 78 units, according to the county.

On another county-owned property south of U.S. 41 in East Naples, considered the future site of Manatee Park, county staff had proposed to split affordable housing with a park on 59 acres. 

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But commissioners voted 3-2 against moving forward with that proposal amid concerns from nearby residents about more affordable housing in the area and diminishing the size of a future park. Commissioners Andy Solis and Penny Taylor voted in favor of the project.

Solis lamented not allowing staff to continue exploring options on the Manatee property. 

“Having a discussion and looking into the possibilities could lead to alternatives that we didn’t even think about,” he said before the vote. “ ... Maybe there’s some ideas out there for the Manatee site that we haven’t thought about that would make sense.”

Commissioner Burt Saunders said the recent passage of a sales tax increase, which has some of the revenue allocated for a workforce housing land trust fund, would give the county more flexibility to acquire land for affordable housing. 

“I kind of envision workforce housing more as an infill than as a, just kind of a standalone type of a project on a big parcel like the Manatee Park parcel,” he said. “The Bembridge parcel I think fits that category perfectly. That it would be infill. It’s in a good location. It’s not going to have a negative impact on any existing neighborhoods.”

He also cautioned against giving up any of the county’s potential park property and said he had concerns about moving forward with the Manatee site, considering that some members of the county's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and Affordable Housing Advisory Committee opposed the plan.

“It’s probably good for us to listen to our advisory board,” Saunders said.

The site along Santa Barbara Boulevard was bought by the county in 2002 for $406,697. The so-called Manatee site, which sits just south of Manatee Elementary School, was donated to the county in 1973. 

Both were identified by the county as some of its top options for affordable housing.  Commissioners passed a resolution in February to use county-owned properties to address the county’s need for more affordable housing or co-locate public facilities and housing on those sites.

The county defines housing as affordable if the occupant spends less than 30 percent of his or her monthly income on the rent or mortgage payment — including property tax, insurance and fees — each month.

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Although housing is being built in Collier, the rents at those developments often exceed what is considered affordable, said Giblin, the county's housing development manager.

“So they are coming online, they’re not hitting the target that the county has shown the greatest needs for,” he said.

During a lengthy discussion about the proposals Tuesday, commissioners heard both from opponents to the Manatee site plan, arguing that it would deprive residents of a promised park there, and from young professionals advocating for more affordable housing in Collier.

Elliot Miller, who spoke on behalf of a number of opponents to the Manatee proposal and is the chairman of the board of supervisors of a Fiddler’s Creek Community Development District, said nearby residents are concerned about overcrowded schools in the area and East Naples bearing a “largely disproportionate” share of low-cost housing in the county. 

He said residents near the Manatee site were promised a park at the property a decade ago. County staff say funding for a park won’t be available for the next 10 years. 

“Now they’re told that it’s going to be another 10 years before money can be raised to develop their park, so why not make it housing,” Miller said, adding that wouldn't be fair to residents.

Many others told commissioners about the dire need for affordable housing in Collier. 

Valerie Wenrich, executive director of human resources for the Collier County School District, said the county’s lack of affordable housing forces between 16 percent and 20 percent of the district’s employees to commute from surrounding counties and thus spend less money in Collier.

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It also makes retaining and recruiting employees more difficult, she said. 

“Despite all the benefits of living in Collier County and working for the school district, the availability of affordable housing for our workforce is still a grave concern,” Wenrich said.

Amanda Beights, vice president of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Collier Foundation, implored commissioners to continue to work on creating more affordable housing in Collier.

“I know that the items up for your approval aren’t the only solution for affordable housing, but it’s a step,” she said. “I know it’s not just up to our county to fix this issue, but it’s a step. And if we’re not taking any steps, then what are we doing?”