Florida Construction News staff writer
Sarasota is holding another Attainable Housing Town Hall to present strategies to encourage and boost the city’s affordable housing inventory.
The town hall session will be held Mar. 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at city hall, 1565 First St. will be livestreamed and available on demand at https://www.sarasotafl.gov/government/planning/attainable-housing-initiative.
It’s a follow up to a session in January, when City of Sarasota staff outlined how attainable housing could be included in future developments within downtown Sarasota zone districts. The January Attainable Housing Town Hall can be viewed on demand via www.SarasotaFL.gov.
A comprehensive plan amendment recently adopted by the city commission creates the opportunity to increase the attainable housing inventory in four downtown zone districts:
- Downtown Bayfront (DTB)
- Downtown Core (DTC)
- Downtown Edge (DTE)
- Downtown Neighborhood Edge (DTNE)
In exchange for attainable housing on-site in the downtown, there would be an option for a density bonus up to four times the base density.
Strategies include:
- Incentivizing an environment that provides a diversity in housing types and affordability levels through land use policies, typically targeting low and moderate-income households and attainable housing.
- Supporting local non-profits in developing affordable and attainable housing for the elderly, individuals with special needs, those with incomes ranging from moderate to extremely low, as well as workforce housing.
- Forming a cooperative effort with Sarasota County.
- Supporting the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) in the regular review and recommendation of local policies and actions to further the development of affordable housing. The 2022 AHAC recommendations can be found by clicking here.
An overview of proposed incentives will be presented at the meeting.
Additional information about the attainable housing initiatives is available here: https://www.sarasotafl.gov/government/planning/attainable-housing-initiative
