The May 2 Board of County Commissioners Agenda is short with only 5 items on the Agenda. As always, meetings are at the County Auditorium at 9:00 AM, 500 San Sebastian View, St. Augustine.
Agenda items 1 & 2 are the Adoption Hearing and Second reading of the Workforce Housing Comprehensive Plan Amendment and Land Development Ordinance updates that were proposed by the Northeast Florida Builder’s Association in 2022.
These changes would raise the price of affordable housing under the ordinance to $260,000 from the previous starting price of $240,000 and lower the percentage of homes required to be built from 40% to 30%.
Other modifications in the ordinance include:
- Adding rental regulations for Workforce Housing including establishing a maximum rental rate and specifying a related time-limit for such rate
- Increasing site development standard incentives for Workforce Housing such as decreased lot size
- Increasing the timeline for Workforce Housing construction commencement by an additional year
- Updating LDC Table 6.01 Schedule of Area, Height, Bulk and Placement Standards to reflect related changes
- Amending the definition of Workforce Housing
The full ordinance can be read at this link: Agenda Items 1 & 2
What is not known at this time is how the recently signed Florida Senate Bill 102, known as the “Live Local Act,” will impact this ordinance.
Read on to understand more about the Workforce Housing Ordinance.
Two important elements to understand about the ordinance are the intended demographic and the pricing structure.
Definitions of Workforce Housing
The definitions of workforce housing included this ordinance are:
Sec. 5.11.03 Definitions
Workforce Housing is the missing Workforce housing in St. Johns County capable of being purchased or rented by a household within the upper “low” to lower “moderate” income categories (as defined by the Federal Housing Authority).
What does this mean?
What is the upper “low” to lower “moderate” income categories for St. Johns County? For the purposes of the Federal Housing Authority, St. Johns County is considered part of the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Moderate Income in the Jacksonville MSA is at or below 120% of the Median Income for the MSA. The Median Income for a family of 4 in the Jacksonville MSA is $86,500. 120% of that would be $103,800. So Workforce Housing is intended for those households making $103,800 or less.
Pricing
The Initial Sales Price for Workforce Housing is $260,000. Included in the definitions section of the ordinance being presented are price adjustments. The wording is included here (highlights for emphasis):
Maximum Initial Sales Price for Workforce Housing offered for sale is $260,000. The base maximum sales price shall be adjusted by the Annual Average Construction Cost Index as published by the Engineering News-Record in June of each calendar year, not to exceed a three (3) percent increase/decrease. Beginning in 2022, any adjustments to the Maximum Initial Sales Price for Workforce Housing shall be effective on July 1 of each calendar year thereafter.
Adjustments to the Maximum Initial Sales Price will always be calculated using the base price of $260,000. The Maximum Initial Sales Price, as calculated above, will be increased by the amount of any credits, contributions or costs paid by seller on behalf of the initial buyer for qualified costs. Qualified costs include interest rate buydowns, mortgage origination charges or fees, processing fees, appraisal fees, survey charges, recording fees, Florida deed stamps, Florida intangible taxes, Florida mortgage stamps, prepayments for buyer’s escrow account items including homeowner’s insurance, mortgage insurance, and property taxes, prepaid solid waste fees, title insurance including endorsements, costs or contributions associated with down payment assistance programs, closing settlement charges, homeowners association charges or contributions, upfront mortgage insurance and discount points but not including real estate commissions. The resulting price will be the Adjusted Maximum Initial Sales Price. The Maximum Rental Rate shall be no more than 10% higher than the rent limits, not inclusive of utilities, established annually by the State of Florida SHIP program for the 80% of Average Median Income category. The Maximum Rental Rate shall be adjusted annually when the new limits are established by the State.
What does this mean?
This means the $260,000 starting price is just that, a starting price, and will be adjusted every year. And, if the seller provides any buyer assistance, that can be added to the price of the house. Translation, the mortgage is not going to be a $260,000 mortgage but potentially much higher.
Agenda Item 3 is the 2nd reading of the Ordinance for Pedestrian and Vehicle Safety within Public Roads and Rights of Way.
The full presentation can be found here: Safety Ordinance
Agenda Item 4 is the presentation of the St. Johns County Brand Development Project. Many of us participated in a survey many months ago about the rebranding project. Tera Meeks, Director of Tourism and Cultural Development will present the county logo and branding elements that were developed as a result of the project.
The last item on the agenda Tuesday is a time certain meeting at 1:00 to announce a private Attorney Client related to settlement negotiations with an on-going lawsuit.
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Beth Tate 