Brooksville council approves one-year deferment of local impact fees for proposed 192-unit affordable housing project

The Brooksville City Council on Monday approved a resolution allowing a developer to defer $22,000 in local impact fees for a proposed 192-unit affordable housing project while the developer seeks state financing, voting 4-1 to adopt the amended measure (Resolution No. 205-524).

The resolution, presented under provisions of the Live Local Act and tied to an application to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, permits a one-year deferral of the city’s local impact-fee requirement so the applicant can submit a competitive funding application. Ryan Rogers of Petcor Investments, the development representative, told council “we’ll pay that money within 1 year” if the project secures the funding needed to proceed.

Council amended the draft resolution at the meeting to remove conflicting language and to add a condition that "only local impact fees will be held" and that "no certificates of occupancy will be issued until impact fees are paid." Councilors discussed technical edits to the resolution on the record; staff confirmed the version voted on included those changes. Councilors voted to approve the amended resolution 4 to 1.

Why it matters: the deferral functions as the local contribution frequently required by state affordable-housing funding programs and can affect whether the developer earns points in a competitive application. Council members and members of the public raised questions about precedent, flood risk on the site and the definition of affordable housing.

What the developer said: Rogers described the submission as early in the permitting process and said the conceptual site plan reflects a preliminary layout for about 192 units. He said Petcor has done initial due diligence including a Phase I environmental review and a survey and has engaged Kimley‑Horn for further engineering if the project moves forward. Rogers told the council the application to the state sale…