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Board approves $86,100 to help Family Promise raise Venice site above floodplain so it can be used for affordable housing
Summary
Family Promise of South Sarasota County asked the board for $86,100 to pay engineering costs to seek a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) from FEMA after a parcel the group bought was newly placed in the floodplain; commissioners approved the request after the applicant presented during a pulled consent item.
The Sarasota County Board of County Commissioners on March 11 voted unanimously to approve $86,100 requested by Family Promise of South Sarasota County to cover engineering work needed to raise a Venice property and obtain a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) from FEMA, a necessary step to develop affordable housing on the parcel.
Family Promise Executive Director Jennifer Faganbaum told the board the nonprofit purchased roughly 2.5 acres in Venice to build affordable units but in March 2024 FEMA revised flood maps to include the property in the floodplain. She said the nonprofit must hire an engineering firm to prepare a conditional Letter of Map Revision and elevation work that will allow the Office of Housing and Community Development to proceed with funding and permit requirements. “We are asking for $86,100 … to go through this process, which is why we were requesting those funds so that we could move forward,” Faganbaum said.
Commissioner Knight moved approval and Commissioner Mast seconded. Commissioners said they were comfortable approving the request; the motion passed by unanimous voice vote. Commissioners who spoke during the consent-pull discussion noted the board intends to refine procedures for consistent handling of similar community funding requests in the future.
The board scheduled a future discussion item to create clearer, more consistent criteria and process for requests to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and similar community-grant requests. The Family Promise award will be scheduled for payment under the county’s community-housing trust funding rules.
