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Naples outlines administrative path for Live Local affordable housing projects
Summary
After a time‑certain workshop on Florida's Live Local Act, Naples staff told council they will publish development standards and use the site‑plan administrative review to process eligible affordable housing projects; council signaled consensus to move forward while considering a separate local alternative that could offer different incentives.
Naples city staff told council on Jan. 13 they will publish a set of development standards and use the city's site‑plan administrative review process as the local procedure for projects using the state'mandated Live Local Act.
The acting discussion centered on what local rules the city will post to comply with the 2023 amendments to the Live Local Act, which require municipalities to maintain written procedures for administrative approval of qualifying affordable housing developments. Planning director Bridal Martin and outside subject matter expert Dan Gorski briefed council on how the statute applies to local zoning and incentives, including height and density preemptions, parking reductions near transit stops and tax exemptions for deeply affordable units.
The city's analysis found Naples already has a Code section addressing affordable housing (R‑3‑12), but the statute's amendments and judicial uncertainty about what counts as the 'highest currently allowed height' near a proposed project mean council must set and publish predictable development standards and a review process so prospective developers know how Live Local projects will be processed.
City staff proposed using the existing site‑plan administrative review so building, fire, utilities and planning staff all evaluate proposals without a public hearing step. Staff also described an "alternative method" the city could adopt by ordinance: a local affordable housing option that would offer different density, parking and income mixes (for example allowing higher units per acre if projects capped height at 42 feet and reserved a larger share of units as affordable). That alternative would be a local code change and would not prevent developers from instead choosing Live Local's statutory path.
Council members said they want something posted quickly so prospective applicants have clarity; several members also asked staff to return with a prioritized implementation plan and examples of alternative zoning and parking ratios used by other jurisdictions. City attorney Daniel McConnell advised the city's charter and comp plan remain controlling law and said staff will research legal issues such as whether planned developments (PDs) are included in a statute's reference to the 'highest currently allowed height.
No formal vote was required. Staff will draft the development standards and administrative procedures for council approval and return with an ordinance option that would create the city's alternative local method; councilmembers indicated they expect a formal resolution on those required Live Local items within the next few weeks.
