Enjoy all this seasonal traffic? Lack of workforce housing affects Sebastian, Vero Beach
Pleased with the increase in traffic the past few weeks?
I’m not, either.
The annual snowbird influx is good for the economy. Our visitors help to fund our schools and other local services. Many of them do not benefit from a homestead exemption or its 3% cap on property valuation increases.
But, as I quoted Dan Richey, a longtime local businessman and former Indian River County planning commissioner a few weeks ago, traffic now should become the base off-season traffic in 5 or 10 years if the county grows the way it’s projected.
If we can’t stop the 19% growth projected countywide over the next 10 years (24% within a 25-mile radius), what can we do to mitigate effects of traffic besides only widening roads and improving mass transit?
How about shorter commuter trips?
Let's try to make it easier for people who serve us ― restaurant, health, day and lawn care employees, for starters — to live closer to work. Perhaps close enough to walk.
How affordable is Vero Beach and Sebastian area?
Relief in sight? Homeowners insurance got you down? Paying attention to the rest of your bill?
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Can we control this? Enjoy snowbird traffic on Sebastian, Vero Beach roads? Could be standard in 5 to 10 years
South Vero Beach area blessing? No more 400-student school across from Citrus Elementary?
As of 2019, only 56.1% of employed Indian River County residents worked in the county, with the county actually exporting more commuters (which shows there is a need for better-paying jobs, here, too) than were imported.
Daily, about 20,400 workers commute into and out of Indian River to and from St. Lucie (which sends more workers here than we export) and Brevard counties, according to U.S. Census reports generated by the Indian River County Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The other day at the year’s first meeting of Indian River County’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, I was reminded of how desperate local advocates are to help solve an issue that has put us on the national map. They hear complaints from employers who can't find workers because of the high cost of local housing.
Why? Indian River County has become one of the “least affordable communities in the country,” according to the National Association of Home Builders’ “Housing Opportunity Index.”
“The Sebastian-Vero Beach MSA (metropolitan statistical area) fell a staggering 76 places, moving from being a relatively affordable place to among the least affordable,” the Florida Housing Coalition wrote in its 2022 Home Matters Report.
(Meantime, U-Haul, the do-it-yourself moving company, just reported Palm Bay-Melbourne was the top destination for movers. U-Haul officials, in part, cited the area's cost of living. My inference: Maybe more commuters will head south.)
Poster project of delays
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Committee members discussed a hodgepodge of efforts they’ve made in recent years to help folks — younger and older ― find places to live.
But they’ve barely moved the needle. And nothing huge will happen overnight. It's a slog.
The poster project for delays is Gifford Gardens. It’s been more than 12 years since 55 1960s-era apartments were demolished at 4730 40th Ave.
In 2020, the county bought the vacant Gifford Gardens land for $10,000. In April 2022, officials were sticker-shocked after offering incentives — impact fee credits, $350,000 in American Rescue Plan money and more — then getting only one proposal to build 22 homes on the former apartment site that would cost residents $350,000 each.
Budget issues real, even for couples
Later that year, the commission found Indian River Habitat for Humanity to build 14 homes on the property for what was projected to be an average selling price of $206,000. It took until this past Tuesday for the county to sign the land over to Habitat.
Similar homes are appraised by banks at about $275,000 now, Jeff Francisco, the agency’s director of outreach & impact, said the other day. Unfortunately, based on potential development delays, it’s possible none will be ready by the end of this year, according to Trevor Loomis, Habitat president and CEO.
Finding homes valued at $275,000 is like locating a dime in a haystack. Sales prices continue to increase, Realtor Chip Landers told the committee, adding there were only four houses on the market for $250,000 or less on Jan. 3, and 15 for $300,000 or less.
Even if a property owner could save $25,000 for a down payment on a $275,000 home, the monthly mortgage could be more than $1,700 a month ― plus taxes and, with a new roof, at least $300 more a month in homeowners insurance.
That might be affordable for two people making at least $40,000 a year (more than $19 an hour) each. But with other unusual expenses ― Florida has the most expensive automobile insurance in the nation — it's questionable.
Various other projects could reach fruition
The good news is Habitat plans to work concurrently on a 32-home subdivision at Fourth Street and 27th Avenue, where a church and school otherwise had been slated across from Citrus Elementary. Eventually, Habitat hopes to build more than 25 homes on 45th Street, west of 43rd Avenue, near another recently OK’d subdivision for 52 manufactured homes.
Other than that, the county and various agencies have limited funds to help homeowners temporarily stave off foreclosure, make emergency repairs or buy and fix homes.
As part of its downtown “revitalization” efforts, Vero Beach Mayor John Cotugno said the city has solicited interest from developers who might want to partner with the city on 14 acres of railroad-front land it owns across from Crestlawn Cemetery.
Landers said he’s met with someone interested in building a subdivision of tiny homes.
Julianne Price, president of a local nonprofit, Coalition for Attainable Homes, said the agency hopes to create a trust to acquire land for affordable homes in the next few months. It is interested in potentially partnering with the Indian River County Hospital District, which has dozens of acres west of Vero Beach.
Which got me thinking: Wouldn’t it be better for the district, working with Cleveland Clinic or another provider, to build more facilities out west, where so many seniors live, next to housing for lower-income employees on the same parcel?
Opportunities for Cleveland Clinic, Indian River County?
Or, why wouldn’t affordable housing advocates speak with Bill Mallon, the eye doctor and entrepreneur who owns land east of U.S. 1 behind his office and Top Golf, near the hospital?
Last February, Mallon told me he had plans drawn for the area, for when a new road is built connecting U.S. 1 and 37th Street, that could include affordable housing. It would be within walking distance of the hospital and near medical facilities.
Speaking of walking distance and efforts to boost Vero Beach’s downtown: In November, numerous younger folks — presumably employees of Indian River County government — attended lunchtime comprehensive plan visioning sessions in the commission chambers. One of their major requests was for more affordable housing.
As far as I know, the county has no plans for the land south of its complex that's been vacant since the county bulldozed the former Indian River Memorial Hospital, later offices for the county and school board.
What if the county worked with neighbors and developers to add some housing in a pretty, park-like setting open to the public so folks could walk to work (and downtown)?
Commission Chairwoman Susan Adams, who has been working statewide, regionally and locally, even with United Way, on the issue, was realistic at the housing meeting.
“It’s not the fastest process,” she admitted. “But we are a lot further along than we were a couple of years ago. We’re having much higher-level conversations.”
If only those conversations would yield cement slabs for those in need, not just more asphalt for workers who clog our roads even more because they can’t afford to live close to work.
This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at larry.reisman@tcpalm.com, phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.
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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Vero Beach, Sebastian: 'Least affordable' bad omen when seeking workers
