Affordable Housing Advisory Committee

AGENDA AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE July 23, 2026 05:00 PM Conference Room 220A City Hall, 1015 Cultural Park Boulevard, Cape Coral, FL 33990 1. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER a. Chair Schwartz 2. ROLL CALL a. Greer, Harrigan, Lastra, McGrail, Schwartz, Senatore, Shaw, and Van Houten 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES a. Meeting Minutes – April 9, 2026 4. BUSINESS a. Regulatory Incentives Discussion – Incentives C, E, F, G, and H C. Flexibility of Density E. Accessory Dwelling Units F. Reduced Parking and Setback Requirements G. Flexible Lot Configuration H. The modification of street requirements 5. CITIZENS INPUT TIME A maximum of 3 minutes per individual is set for input of citizens. 6. TIME AND PLACE OF FUTURE MEETING a. Thursday, October, 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in Council Chambers 7. MOTION TO ADJOURN In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Florida Statutes 286.26, persons needing a special accommodation to participate in this proceeding should contact the Office of the City Clerk whose office is located at City Hall, 1015 Cultural Park Boulevard, Florida; telephone number is 1-239-574-0411, at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the meeting for assistance. If hearing impaired, telephone the Florida Relay Service Numbers, 1-800-955-8771 (TDD) or 1-800-955-8700 (v) for assistance. If a person decides to appeal any decision made by the Board/Commission/Committee with respect to any matter considered at such meeting or hearing, he will need a record of the proceedings, and for such purpose, he may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, which record includes the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is based.  Meeting Type Affordable Housing Advisory Committee Meeting Date July 23, 2026 Agenda Request Form City of Cape Coral Title: Meeting Minutes – April 9, 2026 Summary: Requested Action: Approve or Deny Additional Information: Meeting Minutes for review and approval are attached. Prepared By: Sheri Rhine, Recording Secretary, 1-239-574-0743  VOLUME I PAGE: 185 APRIL 9, 2026 MINUTES FROM THE AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE Thursday, April 9, 2026 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. Vice Chair Senatore called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. Roll Call: Committee Members Greer, Harrigan, McGrail, Senatore, Shaw, and Van Houten were present. Committee Member Schwartz was absent. Committee Member Lastra was excused. ALSO PRESENT: Amy Yearsley, City Planning Manager Millie Babic, Housing Coordinator APPROVAL OF MINUTES Approval of Meeting Minutes – February 26, 2026 Member McGrail moved, seconded by Member Greer, to approve the February 26, 2026, meeting minutes, as presented. Voice Poll: All “ayes.” Motion carried. BUSINESS Policy Based Incentives Presentation City Planning Manager Yearsley commented that the first three slides were covered at the last meeting, and she started with Policy Based Incentives. She reviewed the following slides: • Function of the AHAC • Required Incentives for Review • 2025 Recommended incentives • Policy Based Incentives (2 slides) • Review of Land – Elimination Strategy • Surplus Land – Habitat CDBG-DR Lot Donation Map • Fee Waiver/Modification of Impact and Building Fees • Policy Based Incentive • Recommendation • Remaining Schedule for 2026 Discussion held regarding: • Mandatory Incentives (Expedited Permitting, Ongoing Review Process, Triennial Review of Locally Owned Land Suitable for Development of Affordable Housing, Fee Waiver/Modification of Impact and Building Fees, Reservation of Infrastructure-Not Applicable, and to Support development near mixed use development, transportation corridors and employment centers)  VOLUME I PAGE: 186 APRIL 9, 2026 • Sixteen properties identified for affordable housing, with fourteen donated to Habitat for Humanity, and two pending title problems • Timeline for acquisition of properties • State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) funds used for homebuyer assistance, including impact fees • GAP assistance with CDBG or GAP dollars; they are receiving significant savings through the subsidy • Desire for more single-family houses as opposed to apartment rentals because owning a house is the American dream • Almost 11% of the Cape Coral population is below poverty level • Partner with Lee Tran or develop local transportation options to help residents access jobs and services, shift to multimodal transportation • Distributing affordable housing throughout the City instead of centralizing it in a single area promotes a sense of community • Impact fee program designed to reduce costs for developers to encourage more unit production, enabling more clients to be housed; the program’s purpose is to increase units rather than directly benefit individual buyers • Must diversify our housing stock to meet comprehensive plan goals • Identification of affordable housing multifamily housing at four City locations • Using large tracts of land for affordable housing can bring undesirable outcome • Strong Code Enforcement allows our City to stay viable • Avis Square is developer managed • Inject life into low-cost housing • Additional supply of housing is the primary factor behind affordability • Limited number of local jobs and poor transportation arteries to Fort Myers • Fourteen homesites given for affordable housing is disappointing as related to the size of the City; Federal and State budget funding cuts • Property managed onsite traditionally has higher standards and tends to look better than ones managed offsite • SE 24th Avenue “Duplex Row” not considered desirable • Florida Housing Finance Corporation, combined with the Live Local Act, is currently the major driver of investment in affordable multifamily housing • No single incentive will make developers want to build here • Utilities and the pre-platted nature of the City are constraints • Avis Square developer has experience in layering funding and managing income certification • Experience with Civitas and pre-leasing demand • Multi story housing projects should be put along the main corridors so as not to impact single family neighborhoods • Need to bring more business in – only at 9% commercial City Planning Manager Yearsley reminded the Committee it would be ideal if there was a desire to make a recommendation today on policy-based incentives.  VOLUME I PAGE: 187 APRIL 9, 2026 Member McGrail moved, seconded by Member Van Houten, to accept the six recommendations. Committee polled as follows: Greer, McGrail, Senatore, Shaw, and Van Houten voted “aye.” Harrigan voted “nay.” Five “ayes.” One “nay.” Motion carried 5-1. CITIZENS INPUT TIME No speakers. TIME AND PLACE OF FUTURE MEETING A Regular Meeting was scheduled for Thursday, July 23, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. in Council Chambers. MOTION TO ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 5:47 p.m. Submitted by, Stacey Pasek Recording Secretary  Meeting Type Affordable Housing Advisory Committee Meeting Date July 23, 2026 Agenda Request Form City of Cape Coral Title: Regulatory Incentives Discussion – Incentives C, E, F, G, and H Summary: C. Flexibility of Density E. Accessory Dwelling Units F. Reduced Parking and Setback Requirements G. Flexible Lot Configuration H. The modification of street requirements Requested Action: Approve or Deny Additional Information: Millie Babic, Housing Coordinator Prepared By: Sheri Rhine, Recording Secretary AFFORDABLE HOUSING ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING JULY 23, 2026 1 Required Incentives for Review 11 Incentives required to be reviewed A. Expedited Permitting - REQUIRED B. Fee Waivers C. Flexibility of Density D. Reservation of Infrastructure Capacity E. Accessory Dwelling Units F. Reduced Parking and Setback Requirements G. Flexible Lot Configurations H. Modification of Street Requirements for Affordable Housing I. Review of Policies, Procedures, Ordinances Resolutions for impact on housing - REQUIRED J. Triennial Review of Public Land - REQUIRED K. Support development near mixed use development, transportation corridors and employment centers 2 7/23/2026 TOPICS - LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE RELATED INCENTIVES • FLEXIBILITY IN DENSITY (Incentive C) • ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS (Incentive E) • REDUCED PARKING AND SETBACK REQUIREMENTS (Incentive F) • FLEXIBLE LOT CONFIGURATIONS (Incentive G) • MODIFICATION OF STREET REQUIREMENTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING (Incentive H) • This Plan must be adopted by December 31, 2026. • The Affordable Housing Incentive Plan serves as the Committee’s final recommendations to City Council. 3 Flexibility in Density • Cape Coral – Density • Majority of Cape Coral is subdivided into 10,000 square foot lots • Underlying density 4.4 dwelling units per acre • RML zoning district has a density of 16 du/acre • RMM zoning district has a density of 25 du/acre • CC zoning district ahs a density of 25 du/acre • MXB zoning district has a density of 125 du/acre • SC zoning district has a density of 125 du/acre • History of Density Incentives In Cape Coral • RIP – Redevelopment Incentive Program • SCRIP- South Cape Redevelopment Incentive Program • Land Development Code Current status – no density incentive for affordable housing  Madison Square Units 82 Site Acres 1.05 Units/Acre 78.1  Aspire Units 319 Site Acres 19.99 Units/Acre 16.0 Accessory Dwelling Units • What are accessory dwelling units? • History of accessory dwelling units in Cape Coral • Land Development Code (LDC) • In the past, AHAC has recommended against this • In 2025 AHAC recommended: Revisit the topic of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) in the future. Reduced Parking and Setback Requirements • Parking - Typically utilized on multi-family and commercial properties • Setbacks • Current Status: Previous recommendation of AHAC was to maintain the administrative parking deviation based on the ITE parking generation book or parking study and did not recommend changes to set backs Flexible Lot Configurations • The uniqueness of Cape Coral • Developers of new subdivisions have the ability to configure lots as they see fit through a PUD • Current status: • Traditionally, this has not been a recommended strategy in the LHIP but acknowledged that the ability exists. MODIFICATION OF STREET REQUIREMENTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING • The City of Cape Coral currently does not have an incentive program for the modification of street requirements. • The City of Cape Coral was developed as a pre-platted subdivision with streets completed by the developer. Therefore, most all of the residential streets are already constructed. • Current status: Because of the pre-platted nature of the community this is rarely an issue. 2025 Recommended Incentives 1. The 2025 report recommended maintaining following incentives: A. Expedited Permitting (required); B. Ongoing Review Process (required); C. Triennial Review of Locally Owned Land Suitable for Affordable Housing (Required Section 166.0451 Florida Statutes); D. Reduction in Parking Requirements (through administrative deviation); E. Reduction in Street Width Requirements (through administrative deviation); F. Allowance of Flexible Lot Configuration (through PUD); G. Fee Waiver/Modification of Impact Fees – single family impact fee program has been adopted in August 2024 (Ord. 58-24); multi-family impact fee program for projects funded by the State of Florida/City/County has been adopted in May 2025 (Ord. 17-25). 2. The 2025 report recommended modifying the existing incentive: A. Revisit the topic of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) 3. The 2025 report recommended to exclude the following incentives: A. Flexible Density for Provision of Affordable Housing; B. Reservation of Infrastructure Capacity; and C. Support development near mixed use development, transportation corridors and employment centers (support not mandate) 16 Remaining Schedule for 2026 October 1st Review Incentive Plan and Provide Recommendation to City Council 17  Thank you! Questions and Discussion