Live Local Act: City of Ocoee to implement state's affordable housing law

The Ocoee City Commission voted unanimously after its second reading Tuesday, Aug. 6, to approve an ordinance that changes its Housing Development Code to implement Florida Senate Bill 102 — also known as the Live Local Act.

“The Live Local Act, basically what it does is it preempts cities and counties, to allow for opportunities for affordable housing,” said Mike Rumer, the city of Ocoee’s development services director, during a presentation on the new state law and the now-approved city ordinance. “It bypasses any need for rezoning (exception amendments), special exception variances, in order to get density. (It also) has some reduction in parking criteria and requirements on height.” 

Essentially, what this means for the city of Ocoee and other Florida municipalities is that housing developments, that meet the affordability and other Live Local Act benchmarks, can be built on parcels zoned for commercial, industrial or mixed use without the need of any extra-governmental review processes — other than the preliminary and final large- and small-scale site plans.

“(The developments) are afforded, by statute, our highest density — which is 16 dwelling units an acre,” Rumer said. “(And) again, they do not need a public hearing for the use, density or height. The height is based off the largest building within a mile.”

To comply with the act — which is aimed at increasing affordable housing availability and development in the state by loosening those restrictions on projects meeting specific benchmarks regarding affordability and more — the city’s code needed to be revised. 

“We are updating our land development code with this ordinance, to provide for (clarity) on the Live Local Act and to fill in some of those gray areas,” Rumer said. “One of the other main items in our ordinance is to make sure that the affordability of the affordable units are integrated into the site and have the same architectural cohesiveness, opportunities (and access) for amenities as a regular unit.”

New stop signs?

During a staff report from Ocoee City Manager Craig Shadrix at the Aug. 6 meeting, the commission was updated on a recent traffic study done by the city’s consultants, Kimley-Horn — specifically regarding the intersections of Adair Street and Wurst Road, and Montgomery Avenue and White Road.

“We recently received back the traffic study information from our consultants, Kimley-Horn, on the intersections at Adair (Street) and Wurst Road, as well as Montgomery (Avenue) and White Road,” Shadrix said. “Both (intersections) were warranted for stop appurtenances.”

The determinations from the traffic study mean decisions of whether or not to install stop signs at the two intersections will soon be in the hands of the commission. 

“We’ll be bringing this back on the agenda at the next commission meeting on Aug. 20 for your approval to make those intersections regulated by stop signs,” Shadrix said.

The news of the possible stop signs was music to the ears of Ocoee resident Brad Lomneck, who thanked the commission for the consideration during public comment.

“Talk about stealing my thunder … that’s what I came up here today, to ask what the next steps were from the last meeting,” Lomneck said. “Thank you very much city commissioners, City Manager Shadrix; (the stop signs are) great news.”

In other news

• The Ocoee City Commission approved unanimously and without discussion a 16-item consent agenda. Among the items approved were the allocation of $65,594.83 to the Ocoee Police Department for the purchase and upgrades of a 2024 Ford F-150 and the authorization for the city to apply for the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program, which makes $11,460 available to help police departments fund the purchase of tactical equipment.
• Lake Technical College  and Orange Technical College will both continue their partnerships with the Ocoee Fire Department after the commission approved the renewal of the two programs. The fire department again will be affording Lake Tech’s paramedic school students the ability to complete their ride on OFD’s rescue units for course credit. As for OFD’s facilities-use partnership with OTC — through the school’s operator, Valencia College — Ocoee firefighters will continue to use a portion of the campus facilities for fire-training purposes. This agreement requires the fire department to pay a yearlong fee of $119.10 to Valencia per firefighter employed, totaling $8,100.
• The commission approved the awarding of a $335,000 contract to Votun Construction LLC for the construction of a new stand-alone restroom building at Healthy West Orange Wellness Park — located directly adjacent to the Ocoee Police Station and Ocoee Commerce Parkway. The one-story, 408-square-foot facility will not only provide needed amenities to park-goers, but it also will match the park’s aesthetics by featuring brick walls, a metal roof, decorative wall tile accents, custom metal fabrication and signage. The remaining budget for the Community Redevelopment Agency’s Wellness Park Restroom project is $374,389.83.
• Forest Lake Golf Club, LLLP — the entity that operates Forest Lake Golf Club on city-owned land — has informed the city it has entered into an agreement to sell its rights as leaseholders with Ocoee — along with the other rights, permits and materials that make up the golf club — to JA Hospitality LLC for $7.5 million. Per the ground lease, Ocoee has a right of first refusal; meaning the city has 60 days after notice to match JA Hospitality’s offer and purchase the rights to operate the club. During the Aug. 6 meeting, the commission authorized and directed the city manager, along with the city’s attorneys and consultants, to evaluate and respond to the notice of this sale. City Attorney A. Kurt Ardaman suggested during discussion that their approach will be to seek more time to properly evaluate the situation.