Council Approves Changes to City Code to Encourage More Affordable Housing Development in the City of Melbourne
Post Date: 01/31/2022 3:10 PM
On January 25, the Melbourne City Council approved on second reading changes to city code that will help reduce costs and provide developers additional incentives to develop affordable housing projects in the City of Melbourne. These include:
- Allow a carport in lieu of an enclosed garage for single-family units.
- Reduce required parking for studios and one-bedroom multifamily units to one parking space.
- Allow all multifamily residential parking spaces to be 10 feet in width.
- Allow a decrease in the minimum living area for single-family units from 1,000 square feet to:
- 550 square feet for a one-bedroom unit,
- 650 square feet for a two-bedroom unit,
- 800 square feet for a three-bedroom unit, and
- an additional 100 square feet for any additional bedrooms.
- Allow accessory dwelling units on lots greater than 14,520 square feet instead of the current one-acre (43,560 square feet) requirement.
- Reduce building setbacks for multifamily structures over one story in height.
- Reduce the buffer area requirement for multifamily development from 50 feet to 30 feet and allow an opaque fence instead of a masonry wall when abutting single-family units.
- Allow single-family infill lots to utilize the affordable housing development standards.
- Allow residential development within a C-1 zoning district without requiring a conditional use.
- Remove required thresholds for a minimum number of units in each income level to allow a development to be directed at one or multiple income level thresholds. (City Code currently requires 30% to 40% of the units from all three income categories.)
- Allow a streamlined occupancy timeline for affordable units: 50% completion of affordable units when the overall development is 50% complete and then 100% completion of affordable units when the development is 100% complete.
- Provide a minimum affordability timeframe of 20 years for the use of the development standards and to be incorporated into the Land Use Restriction Agreement.
The adoption of this ordinance enhances existing affordable housing incentives in the City of Melbourne and is part of a greater plan to address homelessness.
Please call our Community Development Department at 321-608-7500 if you have questions about developing affordable housing in the City of Melbourne.