Pasco County’s Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) was recently told the county has a very evident need for more affordable housing.
One of the reasons for this is its expectation that approximately 100,000 people will move to Pasco in the next few years so they can work on projects the county has already approved, Pasco County’s Economic Growth Director David Engel said during a May 21 workshop on affordable housing. Engel makes recommendations to the BOCC about projects that should be approved.
One of his recently approved recommendations was for a development agreement to be approved between the county and two companies that are in the process of developing a large employment center on a 785-acre site north of State Road 52 and west of Interstate 75. When it’s completed, the employment center is anticipated to result in the creation of 2,770 new jobs.
However, Pasco County’s population is estimated to increase by 200,000 people between now and 2045, said Elizabeth Strom, who is an associate professor at the University of South Florida. This would require 80,000 more housing units to be constructed to house those people, Strom said.
Most of the new homes being built in Pasco County cost $300,000, $400,000 or $500,000, said Ron Oakley, BOCC chairman who represents District 1 in east Pasco County. A lot of the people who move to Pasco for jobs won’t be able to afford that type of housing, he said.
In order for housing to be considered affordable it shouldn’t cost more than 30% of an individual’s monthly income, Strom said. The Average Median Income (AMI) for Pasco County is $63,187. A person with that AMI would have to pay $1,579 or less in rent a month for their housing to be considered affordable, and people whose income is 80% of Pasco’s AMI would have to pay $1,263 or less a month.
Some of the individuals identified as likely to be earning 80% or less of Pasco’s AMI included starting teachers, medical assistants and bank tellers, Strom said.
Pasco County should try to have housing options for doctors and home health aides, and CEOs and receptionists, Strom said.
It costs approximately $1,337 to rent a one-bedroom apartment in New Port Richey, said Marcy Esbjerg, the county’s director of community development. Approximately 43% of the county’s staff could only afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment there.
Commissioners were presented with several options on how the amount of affordable housing could be increased in Pasco County. They included:
- Making it legal for accessory dwelling units to be built on residential lots. These units are generally known as granny flats or backyard homes. The county could consider allowing that to occur on property people already own provided that the accessory unit is smaller than the primary unit, according to Chief Assistant County Attorney David Goldstein. Normally this is only permitted in master-planned unit development districts. It would likely take about six months for commissioners to make changes in how other neighborhoods could be developed, according to Goldstein.
- Adding duplexes, triplexes and quadruplexes to increase the density in existing single-family neighborhoods.
- Requiring developers to provide or pay for affordable housing as part of the process of applying for the approval of new developments. Pasco County had required this in the past, according to Goldstein, but the plan expired and commissioners hadn’t applied it countywide.
- Making some parts of West Pasco targets for development. Some communities in that area were developed 50 years ago for retirees and have since fallen into disrepair, according to Engel.
Commissioners requested additional information to be provided to them on affordable housing in the future.
Published June 05, 2024
