§ 30-632. Findings.

The Village Council of Islamorada, Village of Islands, finds that:

(1)

Need resident workforce to ensure sustainable local economy. One of the overarching goals of the village and its comprehensive plan is to maintain a balanced and sustainable local economy that supports the village as a destination resort and sport fishing capital of the world. Maintenance of a balanced and sustainable local economy requires the availability of a stable and qualified workforce.

(2)

Ensuring workforce and their families live in the village is important for maintaining community character. A second important goal of the village and its comprehensive plan is to maintain and enhance the village's community character, including the social, economic, and political fabric, and general sense of community that occurs when persons and families who work in the community, live in the community, attend schools in the community, participate in civic organizations in the community, worship in the community, and vote in the community. One of the primary factors that has allowed this special sense of community, and the maintenance of the village's community character is that for years, the costs of housing was affordable to those persons living and working within the village.

(3)

Provide adequate affordable housing. Another goal of the comprehensive plan is to ensure there is an adequate supply of affordable housing. In addition, the "principles for guiding development" set forth in F.S. § 380.0552(7), requires the village to undertake programs which make adequate affordable housing available for all sectors of its population.

(4)

Housing costs have outpaced ability of workforce to afford housing. Beginning in 2000, a significant second home and tourist market emerged for vacationers and other persons with substantially higher incomes than local workers within the village. This seasonal home and tourist market only spend a portion of the year in the village. The housing demand for persons with substantially higher incomes has contributed to a dramatic increase in land and construction costs, and a substantial increase in the price of all housing within the community. It is this increase in housing prices that has made private housing unaffordable to most all working residents of the village, and forced a number of residents to move elsewhere.

(5)

Unaffordable housing has been documented. Review of state and national census and other wage and labor data, in conjunction with Monroe County and village real estate sales data, demonstrate the amount of housing within the price ranges that are affordable to the village workforce has been declining since 2000, to a point where only a very limited number of market rate residential dwelling units are available today at prices the workforce in the village can afford.

(6)

Forced out migration of workers and their families. This phenomenon has resulted in a number of persons employed in the village and their families being forced to move from the village and outside the county, onto the Florida mainland. Data outlined in the affordable housing study also demonstrates that from 2000—2005, the gap between median household incomes and median housing costs in the village increased to the point that housing is not affordable to workforce households in Islamorada earning the area median income as evidenced by the following:

a.

In 2000, the cost of a median priced home in the village amounted to 318 percent of the annual income of a family, which had a median family income.

b.

By 2003, a family with a median annual income had to spend 582 percent of its annual income for a median priced home.

c.

In 2005, that same family had to spend 1,219 percent of its income for that same home.

d.

Sales of homes under $200,000.00 went from 246 in the year 2000, to 12 in the year 2005.

(7)

Deterioration of local workforce and local economy. This out-migration of the village workforce and their families has placed increasing stress on the capacity of the local community to maintain a viable workforce. Estimates indicate this problem will continue to worsen in the future, potentially affecting the long-term sustainability of the local economy, unless additional housing is provided within price ranges that are affordable to the workforce.

(8)

Deterioration of community character. If these present trends continue, an essential component of the village's community character will be damaged since most of the workforce and their families will no longer reside in the community, attend schools in the community, participate in local civic organizations, worship in the community, act as emergency services volunteers, or express their ideas at the ballot box.

(9)

Affordable housing goal. To address this serious community problem and to maintain the long-term sustainability of the village's and county's economy, as well as the character of the community, the village council has established the goal of providing housing in the village to 30 percent of the generated local workforce and their families, at prices they can afford, except the nonresidential in-lieu fees shall be temporarily reduced for the next two years beginning on October 1, 2012 as shown in Table 30-639(e)(1)c. The temporary reduction is intended to provide economic relief to property owners and developers to help stimulate the local economy during the current nationwide economic downturn.

(10)

Affordable housing standards. In part to accomplish this affordable housing goal and implement the comprehensive plan and the "principles for guiding development," the affordable housing standards in section 30-639 are hereby adopted by the village council.

(Ord. No. 07-23, § 2, 9-27-2007; Ord. No. 12-06, § 2, 6-28-2012)