Affordable housing ideas get nay/yea

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Key West City Commissioners took one step forward and one step back on the issue of affordable housing Jan. 21 when they rejected a proposed workforce housing development at Poinciana Plaza but approved moving ahead with increasing height and density limits for similar developments in town.

 

Commissioner Teri Johnston had proposed directing City Manager Jim Scholl to work with the Key West Housing Authority to see if there is enough land available at Poinciana Plaza to build a 30-unit building for affordable and workforce housing. Housing Authority Executive Director Manuel Castillo confirmed to commissioners at their meeting that there is enough room on the site – which has also been designated as the location for a new assisted living senior citizen housing facility – for another building. But the measure failed by a 2-4 vote because three of the commissioners wanted Johnston to amend her resolution to include at least three other potential locations for affordable housing. When she did not agree to the amendment, so as not to “water down” the proposal, Commissioners Tony Yaniz, Billy Wardlow and Clayton Lopez joined Commissioner Mark Rossi in rejecting the idea.

 

Johnston was clearly frustrated at the vote.

 

“This is indicative of us. We can’t even move forward with 30 units of affordable housing on this dais,” she complained.

 

But Wardlow and Yaniz wanted to designate the former Easter Seals building on College Road as a site for affordable housing. Lopez wanted to include a portion of the planned Truman Waterfront Park for similar housing, as well. Johnston pointed out that a recent white paper report by the city planning department estimated that the city needs an estimated 3,000 units of affordable housing to retain its workforce, which is having difficulty staying in Key West because of soaring housing costs.

 

“This is one location of a number we are going to have to approve. Could we please just move forward with 30 units,” she implored her colleagues right before the vote.

 

But the next proposal won a unanimous vote, directing the city manager to investigate and present options to commissioners to increase affordable and workforce housing units by changing current law restricting building height and the number of units that can be built on a parcel. Commissioner Rossi said that the area of 14th Street and Northside Drive in his district would be a prime location for buildings higher than the current allowable 30 feet. And Yaniz repeated his mantra of, “If we can’t go out, we have to go up.”

 

“We’re not talking about the historic district. No one is talking about 20 stories. We’re talking six stories, five stories,” he said. “This is a broad shot. What’s out there? What can we do? We have to look at all the facets of it.”

 

“We’ve got to move forward. There are certain areas in the community that can take additional height,” Johnston said.

 

But Mark Songer, of the local environmental group Last Stand, urged commissioners to utilize all resources available before making permanent changes in height and density ordinances. He recommended including local bar and restaurant owners in the debate, since it is their workers who need the affordable housing. He also asked commissioners to create new tax or other incentives to encourage builders to develop workforce housing projects. Commissioner Wardlow agreed, saying there were multiple municipal buildings, such as the police station, that could create housing units above the workspace.

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