Clearwater Affordable Housing Advisory Committee Meeting - November 18, 2025
Clearwater Affordable Housing Advisory Committee Meeting - November 18, 2025
The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) held its fourth and final meeting of 2025 on November 18, 2025, at 9:00 AM in the City of Clearwater Main Library Council Chambers. The committee approved the 2025 Local Housing Incentive Strategies (LHIS) Update, which will be forwarded to the City Council on December 4, 2025, and subsequently to the state of Florida. The meeting included a review of modifications to six recommendations and discussions on regional housing trends.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the October 28, 2025, AHAC meeting were approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke on items not on the agenda. The public comment period was closed with no e-comments.
Discussion Items
- 2025 Local Housing Incentive Strategies Update: Amanda Warner of Wade Trim presented the final report. The committee reviewed the 11 required incentive areas and 5 optional areas, with 34 recommendations total. The committee continued 28 recommendations and modified six: 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 9.2, 13.1, and 16.1.
- Recommendation 1.2: Revised to include single-family as well as multifamily affordable housing projects, with updated staff roles.
- Recommendation 1.3: Timeline for preparing a list of potential mentors extended from 2025 to 2026.
- Recommendation 1.5: Added accessory dwelling units (ADUs) to the types of plans that can be submitted for pre-screening.
- Recommendation 9.2: Updated to reflect interdepartmental review between economic development/housing and planning, replacing the senior executive team.
- Recommendation 13.1: Added "provide accessibility features" as a future criterion for density bonus considerations, while noting other aspirational standards.
- Recommendation 16.1: Added a bullet point directing persons to the City of Clearwater's affordable housing web page.
- Regional Trends Discussion: A committee member (elected member) shared three topics discussed in other regions: YIGBY (Yes In God's Backyard) as a tool potentially opening 30,000+ parcels statewide, ADUs, and senior housing as a growing gap. Staff noted that properties used for religious purposes are being evaluated under Live Local Act changes for future City Council consideration.
- Land Use Inquiry: A committee member asked about the zoning classification of places of worship; staff responded that they are permitted in institutional districts, though many may predate current code.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Approve: Michelle Chenal moved to approve the 2025 LHIS report; Frank Cornier seconded. The motion passed unanimously with all in favor and none opposed.
- Next Steps: The report will be presented to the City Council on December 4, 2025, at 6:00 PM. If approved, it will be submitted to the state of Florida to support the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program grant funding. The LHIS will later be incorporated into the Local Housing Assistance Plan in spring 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Good morning, everyone. Today's meeting of the Afford We're not live yet. I thought you said we were. Okay. Take two. Good morning, everyone. Today's meeting of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee is called to order on this day, November 18th, 2025. Welcome everyone. Agendas of today's meeting are at the entrance to the meeting room. Please remember to turn off your cell phones. To ensure a complete record of the committee's actions, we ask that each individual wishing to speak clearly state your name and spell your name, your last name for the clerk. We ask that you limit your comments to three minutes. At this time, I would like to ask the board members to introduce themselves and state the fields you represent. I'm going to start from my right. Michelle Chenal, Community Development Board. Frank Cornier Construction. All in favor? Any opposed? Minutes are approved. The main item on today's agenda is to continue our discussion, led by Amanda Warner of Wade Trim. Ms. Warner, the floor is yours. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. All right, so welcome. So today is our fourth and final meeting of the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee for 2025. So just to review, uh, we have worked our way through the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee process, uh, beginning with selection of the AHAC in August, uh, and then through our meetings in September, October to workshop the recommendations of the local housing incentive strategy report. Today we're holding a public hearing to approve, hopefully approve the updated LHIS report. And then from this point forward, it will be taken to City Council on December 4th. Uh, if City Council approves the LHIS report on December 4th, then it will be transmitted to the state of Florida as a requirement of the uh SHET program for the city. Uh, after that, uh, if it's uh then accepted by the state, then it will be incorporated into the local housing assistance plan and will be uh again submitted in the spring of twenty twenty six as part of the local housing assistance plan. So again, this is our fourth meeting. We're holding this as a public hearing today. And during our meetings that we had proceeding in September and October, we reviewed the values, principles, and visions of the local housing incentive strategies report. During those meetings, the committee revised one of the affordable housing values. So there were four affordable housing values. You can see them there on the screen, A, B, and C. Affordable Housing Values C was revised to read aspires to have housing that fits the city's residents, and this was done to incorporate not only the workforce but retired residents and other citizens of the city of Clearwater as well to make that more open. With that, the affordable housing principles stayed the same. There are six of them. So those were kept as were originally approved in the LHIS report. And then the affordable housing vision was kept as well. So the affordable housing vision for 2025 was that the city of Clearwater will incentivize the development of a diverse supply of housing that is safe, accessible, affordable, sustainable, and energy and cost efficient that blends into the aesthetic character of all the city's neighborhoods, proximate to public amenities, employment opportunities, and which supports an inclusive community and the diverse needs of residents. So that was the final vision statement that was incorporated. Alright, so the local housing incentive strategies, just as a reminder, and for those listening today that this is their first time listening to the meeting, the local housing incentive strategies are required by Florida statute as something that the committee is required to review in support of the city ship program, which is the state initiatives partnership program. So for the incentive areas, there are 11 required by Florida statute. Those are listed on the left hand of the screen, and the affordable housing advisory committee is established to review those 11 incentive areas, look at the city's processes and procedures related to those incentive areas, and decide whether any recommend recommendations can be made for the city to utilize any of those incentives. On the right hand side of the screen are five additional incentive areas, and those are ones that have been added over the years by the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. Those are not required by Florida statute but are incentive areas that the city has chosen to pursue. So those are the five on the right hand there.
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