This amendment is intended to aid in the provision of affordable housing, to increase housing diversity, and to encourage the redevelopment of nonconforming uses, nuisance properties, and blighted areas through the establishment of a Tiny Home Development (THD) Program.  The attached ordinance provides definitions and establishes eligibility, density, and rental requirements for THD developments.

Nassau County, with a population of 95,809, has a median income of $93,300, ranking in the top ten counties with the highest median income, and the third highest median income for counties with a population of less than 100,000. 

There are 32,983 workers living in Nassau County; 11,468 who also work within the county.  Of those, 73.5% work in the service industry.  A search of available service industry jobs in Nassau County resulted in rates of pay between $13/hour and $17/hour, yielding an annual full-time salary of $27,040 to $35,360 (29% to 38% of the county’s median income). According to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation’s 2022 Income Limits and Rent Limits for Nassau County, these workers would qualify for Extremely Low or Very Low income housing at the rental rates.

Nassau County’s Local Housing Assistance Plan (LHAP) includes a number of strategies to aid in the provision of affordable housing.  They include:

• down payment, closing costs, and rehabilitation for the purchase of a newly constructed and/or existing single-family home or condo. 
• purchase assistance for new and existing manufactured home/land packages;
• funding for owner-occupied repairs for general renovation;
• gap financing for the construction or rehabilitation of affordable rental units.
  
With regard to homeownership, assistance can only be provided when the home price does not exceed $359,263.  However, the average sales price of a single-family home in Nassau County is $574,338; $575,000 for a condominium.  While the County’s Comprehensive Plan Future Land Use Policy FL.01.03 also provides an incentive for the construction of affordable housing through a density bonus program, this incentive is rarely utilized. 

Mobile home and recreational vehicle (RV) parks have been routinely utilized to help meet the demands of affordable and workforce housing. Within the unincorporated limits of Nassau County there are 25 mobile home and/or RV parks with the capacity to accommodate 356 spaces.  Many of these parks are aging and the mobile homes are dilapidated, creating pockets of blight throughout the community.  These parks have historically provided an affordable option to house the County’s workforce but with housing prices on the rise and lands increasing in value, investors are looking to mobile home parks as opportunities for redevelopment leaving a gaping hole in the affordable housing market.  

The Tiny Home Development program will allow existing mobile home parks, travel trailer parks, and RV parks to redevelop as affordable communities and will allow lands owned or managed by local government entities to provide diversified housing options as well.

This amendment will create an incentive for developers to redevelop blighted areas while continuing to provide for long-term affordability and will allow local governments to help bridge the missing middle gap.

At their meeting on June 20, 2023, the Planning and Zoning Board recommended approval of this ordinance. The motion to recommend approval passed with a vote of 7-1.

This document was transmitted to state agencies for review, comments have been attached.