Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties has been building affordable homes in the Harlem Heights neighborhood since the organization began in 1982. Habitat built their first single-family homes there, and has since partnered with 130 families to build their home in that neighborhood.
Today there are more than 1,500 Habitat homes across Lee and Hendry Counties, but Harlem Heights is where Habitat’s biggest impact can be seen.
Given the sorrowful lack of—or painful need for— affordable housing in Lee County, Habitat for Humanity finds itself challenged to increase the affordable housing stock in Harlem Heights.
On May 2, Habitat will be before the Lee County Board of Commissioners to seek approval of a request to allow 42 additional homes on our planned 23.8-acre neighborhood in Harlem Heights. This “bonus density” is allowed by county rules specifically as an incentive to build affordable housing, and this addition would allow the organization to provide homes for 150 families who make less than 80% of Lee County’s area median income. That’s 150 opportunities for families to stabilize their home base, their financial situation and their children’s education. That’s 150 times the chance for lifting rent-burdened local families out of poverty.
The Lee County Hearing Examiner has recommended the board refuse the bonus density for two reasons: because of an incorrect understanding of the risk of storm surge and because of concerns of increased traffic. The current FEMA regulations, building codes and water management district rules address the storm surge issue. The traffic concern relates to patrons visiting the adjacent soccer park and school buses using a nearby roadway as a parking lot. Neither of these issues are caused by the bonus density units.
The issue today is beyond whether hard-working people can buy an affordable home in Lee County. National studies report that rents have increased 70 percent nationwide since 1995, and that renters are now paying upwards of half their income to simply rent a place they will never own. The result: more people surviving on razor-thin margins, living paycheck to paycheck, with little hope of building financial reserves, and more people facing eviction from rentals and facing homelessness. Clearly, this is not sustainable. In Lee County, the rental crisis has been well-documented, but there has been little traction to ameliorate the problem. Habitat is trying to be part of the solution.
I hope the frustrations expressed by the residents of the adjacent homes (many of whom live in homes they bought through Habitat) can be addressed. They are concerned about the current traffic situation, which includes a long line of buses parked along Hagie Drive because there is no room for them at Heights Elementary, and periodic heavy traffic on Concourse Drive caused by games at Kelly Soccer Fields. With those episodic exceptions, there is no capacity issue on the local roads. With or without the new Habitat homes, the County and the School District should work together on solutions, and Habitat would be glad to be a partner in that effort.
I would encourage the County to be realistic: This isn’t an exclusive high-rise for the privileged or a gated community seeking to push the limits of zoning and land-use rules. Harlem Heights is centrally located in Lee County with proximity to the service jobs that are key to residents’ financial security and the County’s continued economic prosperity. The residences will be close to public transportation and schools, and to services offered at United Way and the Heights Foundation. This is an excellent location for the affordable housing bonus density called out in the county regulations.
Habitat for Humanity is often the last resort for hard-working people trying to stabilize their lives and financial well-being. If not Habitat, then who?
Carl Joseph (Joe) Coleman has been a member of the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties since 2011. He is a shareholder with Buchanan, Ingersoll, Rooney, heading their Fort Myers’ office.