2025 Affordable Housing Workshop

The County Commission held an Affordable Housing Workshop on October 7, 2025 with many community stakeholders in attendance.  Below is a link to the presentation from the workshop.

• October 7, 2025 - Affordable Housing Workshop Presentation

Affordable Housing Priority

Sarasota County recognizes affordable housing as a priority in our community and employs various approaches to serve different populations in our community. These strategies include:

• Encouraging the market to provide diversity in housing types and affordability levels through land use policies, typically targeting low and moderate-income households and workforce housing. Explore the “Tools in Our Toolbox” and Density Bonuses below to learn more.
• Supporting local non-profits in developing affordable housing for the aged, individuals with special needs and those with incomes ranging from moderate to extremely low, as well as workforce housing.
• Supporting the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) in the regular review and recommendation of local policies and actions to further the development of affordable housing.

Tools in Our Toolbox

Current strategies in expanding affordable housing in Sarasota County include:

County Surplus Properties

Current county initiatives to advance affordable housing on county-owned properties that are declared surplus:

• 2501 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Way - Residential and commercial mixed-use community on 114.13 acres named Gracewater Midtown.
  • 370 affordable housing units, with 25% of the units being affordable for 10 years.
  • Includes a minimum of 5,000 square feet of grocery and pharmacy.
  • On Feb. 21, 2024, the commission approved a rezone for this property as well as authorized the transmittal of a Comprehensive Plan Amendment for the property to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
  • As of September 2024, the county sold the property with a land use restriction agreement for the affordable housing units and grocery/pharmacy.
• 4644 N. Tamiami Trail - Residential development on 6.2 acres, named New Trail Plaza.
  • At least 96 units serving families at 80% area median income or less for no less than 50 years.
  • As of March 2024, the county sold the property with a 50 year Land Use Restriction Agreement (LURA) for the 96 units of affordable housing.
• North McCall Road - Community Housing Trust (CHT) development on 18.14 acres in Englewood.
  • Cluster subdivision of at least 39 single-family attached units.
  • Operating under the CHT’s land trust model and remaining affordable in perpetuity.
  • As of August 2024, the commission approved a purchase and sale agreement, now advancing toward closing.

Commercial Redevelopment

Ordinance No. 2021-075 (adopted December 2021) allows upper-story residential dwelling units less than 750 square feet to count as one-half unit for density purposes.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Ordinance No. 2019-024 (adopted September 2019) allows ADUs in certain residential districts.

• RSF – Residential, Single Family
• RSF/PUD – Residential, Single-Family/Planned Unit Development (when adopted as part of a binding development concept plan)
• RE – Residential, Estate

Half Dwelling Units

Ordinance No. 2019-004 (adopted March 2019) allows dwelling units less than 750 square feet to count as one-half unit for density purposes for multi-family development.

Impact Fee Rate Provisions

Ordinance No. 2018-011 (adopted April 2018) amended the Mobility Fee Ordinance to include reduced rates for smaller housing units (e.g., multi-units less than 750 square feet, micro-apartments, and tiny homes). 

Ordinance No. 2022-071 (adopted February 2023) allows for a 100% exception for Mobility, Library, and Park impact fees for multi-family developments meeting 60% or less of the AMI, and a 50% reduction in fees for developments providing units up to 80% AMI. Library and Park impact fees may be reduced 25% for units up to 120% AMI.

Parking Requirements

Ordinance No. 2017-069 (adopted January 2018) reduces parking requirements for multi- and single-family developments.

Utility Fee Rates

Resolution No. 2018-163 (amended August 2018 - Utilities Water and Wastewater Equivalent Dwelling Units Table) creates a new residential, master-metered category for a single-family dwelling of less than 750 square feet being established at 0.5 EDU (equivalent dwelling unit).

Expedited Permitting Procedures

Resolution 2017-178 (adopted October 2017) streamlines review processes for affordable housing by expediting the processing and permitting of developments and structures that would increase or enhance Affordable Housing.

Expedited processing is available for developments when a minimum of 15% of housing units are affordable for rent or ownership to households earning less than 100% area median income as adjusted annually. Development projects which are required to provide minimum amounts of affordable housing associated with their approvals shall provide, at a minimum, an additional 5% above the required units in order to be eligible for incentives identified herein. Note that expedited processing is not available when affordable housing is required by county code or comprehensive plan policy.

Density Bonuses

Density bonuses may be offered within specific development types to incentivize the creation of affordable housing. These include:

• Sarasota 2050 Villages
• Mixed-use Developments
• The Affordable Housing Overlay

Policies governing these incentives are in the Land Use Element of the Comprehensive Plan (starting on page V1-197) and the Unified Development Code available online via Municode (external). An information table and map of these approved developments can be found in the Projects folder below.

Florida Statute 125.379

Florida Statute 125.379 requires that every three years, counties prepare a list of government-owned property that is appropriate for use as affordable housing.   On September 26, 2023, the County Commission held a discussion on this topic and identified no properties to be included on the inventory.

Live Local Act

The Live Local Act (“LLA”), as amended and codified in Florida Statute § 125.01055, is a statewide attainable-housing strategy designed to increase the availability of affordable housing across Florida.

For more information, visit the Live Local Act webpage. 

Federal and State Funding

Sarasota County is utilizing federal and state funding (one-time appropriations and recurring appropriations) to support and advance affordable housing initiatives. These include, but are not limited to ARPA/SLFRF and CDBG-DR. For more information, please visit the Financial Management webpage.

Affordable Housing Reports

Sarasota County has produced several reports including background information and demographics, strategies, best practices, and community input related to affordable housing. Additionally, the Florida Housing Coalition (FHC) developed a report with background and recommendations for our community. This research can be found in the Reports folder of the Document Library below.