The Stuart City Commission will have a workshop devoted to the topic of housing next week.

I hope the Commission does not meander down a predictable path. Will that old chestnut of what to do about affordable housing be brought up? If it is then the entire workshop will be for naught.

For some very basic reasons, the City has little it can do to provide more of that type of housing. The physical size of the City is limited. The amount of property available to erect new buildings is minuscule. Florida’s building code, which is a very good one, results in a more expensive product than 20 years ago. The City itself does not have the funds to subsidize rents. While the City’s impact fees can be lessened a bit, those of the County and School Board can add thousands of dollars to the cost of new development.

What the City can do is change its zoning and LDRs especially in the urban downtown area and, more broadly, within most of the CRA. One change could be to eliminate new individual townhouses and single-family homes in those areas. That may seem radical to some, but more and more municipalities and states are taking that approach. In the rest of Stuart, all new construction (including for single-family homes) would be required to have an ancillary apartment. There would be no requirement that it be rented. Over time, small units would be available even if only for resident’s children to occupy while starting out.

Another change could be to stop basing decisions on the outmoded concept of density. Stuart has setback and height restrictions which guide the overall building measurement within the parcel’s envelope. Counting the number of units that a project can have is senseless. If the code allows a property owner to build 15 units per acre, it currently does not dictate whether those units are studios, one bedroom, or three bedrooms. The density calculation, then, is meaningless. Common sense dictates there will be more people occupying a three-bedroom unit than a one bedroom.

Within the downtown area, and the CRA in general, we should stop requiring so many parking spaces per unit. This artificially limits the number of housing units than can be built. The market will determine what amenities are needed to sell or rent a unit. Parking is an amenity. If a buyer or tenant considers it important, then the developer will have that cost and use in his determination of price just as he does granite counter tops or a powder room.

There is a misconception in Stuart that there is no affordable housing. If that were true, then why do more than 60% of dwellings within the City pay no real estate tax and only a small fire fee? If an owner pays no tax, then the cost of his property is quite low.

Presently, much of the City’s housing stock is considered obsolete. It is old and has lived its useful life. You can buy units for $100,000. This is about as affordable as it gets. It is true those units need work. But mortgages and carrying charges can be $1000.00 a month.

Stuart needs to encourage housing period. Supply will quell demand. New units make older units cheaper.

There will still be people who will never find units they can afford. This is an American societal problem rather than a Martin County or Stuart problem. The national and state governments need to address this. Localities will never have the funds to build enough units to satisfy this demand.

And lastly, the Commission should not be influenced by people who do not live within Stuart’s boundaries. They may have the best intentions, but their input is secondary to that of the people paying taxes, and I do mean paying taxes to the City. There will always be those who will say I can’t find anything to buy or rent within the City. What they really mean to say is that they can’t find a single-family home or apartment with four bedrooms, a pool, new baths, and new kitchen appliances on an acre of property for $275,000 or $1000 per month rent.