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Staff recommend staying course on Largo’s affordable‑housing parkland fee waiver; program has waived roughly $1.1M so far
Summary
Housing staff told the commission the city’s parkland impact‑fee waiver for affordable housing (instituted 2023) has approved four applications totaling about $1.1 million in waived fees, has leveraged large outside investment, and staff recommended reevaluating the program in 2027 before its 2028 sunset.
Housing staff presented an update on Largo’s affordable‑housing parkland impact‑fee waiver program during the Jan. 13, 2026 work session and recommended the city remain on course with the program while formally re‑evaluating it in 2027 ahead of its 2028 decision point.
Housing Manager Erol Woodard summarized how the parkland and recreation impact fee is charged once per new residential unit and gave unit charges used in staff analysis: $2,726 per multifamily unit and $4,089 per single‑family unit. Woodard said the waiver program (initiated in 2023 for units reserved at 80% of area median income or below) has had four approved applications so far, totaling about $1.1 million in waived parkland fees. The presentation stated that the waived units equated to roughly 374 homes (transcript phrasing was unclear on that count). Staff said the waiver also helped leverage about $100 million in non‑city funding for projects.
Why it matters: Parkland impact fees are one of the largest per‑unit charges the city collects for new residential development. Waiving those fees for qualifying affordable projects reduces upfront costs for developers and can improve the competitiveness of projects seeking other public or private funding.
Staff also described the parkland fund balance and uses: approximately $4.0 million is currently held in the parkland impact fee fund; recent uses listed by staff included the Largo Central Railroad train shed, part of the Pinecrest land purchase and smaller park amenities. Staff said the CIP does not currently identify a major parkland expansion project for 2026–2030 but that the fund could be used as local match for larger projects.
Commission discussion noted that the fund is somewhat variable (dependent on multifamily development) and not a steady, guaranteed source of revenue. Commissioners asked for more data on average annual collections and future CIP uses; staff said they would return with further analysis and that the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee will re‑evaluate the waiver in 2027 before the 2028 sunset.
Quote: Erol Woodard summarized the program’s purpose: “This impact fee waiver program has been an acceptable source to show that we are supportive of the project and providing funding towards the project as well.”
Uncertainties and transcript note: the presentation text included an ambiguous phrase about the number of homes covered (rendered in the transcript as “3 74”); the article therefore reports the waived‑units figure as approximately 374, and notes that the transcript language was unclear on this specific count.
Next steps: staff will return with any additional applications that arrive, provide requested average‑collection figures to commissioners, and bring the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee recommendation forward for a 2027 re‑evaluation prior to the 2028 decision point.
