City’s Affordable Housing Committee to address accessory dwelling units
Cape Coral’s Affordable Housing Committee on Thursday will consider recommending that the city allow homeowners to add a secondary living unit to their property.
Accessory Dwelling Units — defined by Florida Statute as an ancillary unit that has a separate kitchen, bathroom and sleeping area either within the same structure or on the same lot as a home — is not a new topic for the Cape Coral City Council.
The city of Cape Coral included ADUs when developing its new Land Development Code, but they were removed in 2019 by council prior to approval of other affordable housing options and incentives.
During a July 31, 2024, workshop, the city council directed staff not to move forward with ADUs on standard residential lots though the structures are allowed on certain over-sized lots.
According to the Affordable Housing Committee’s recommendation report, the city allows “guest/staff” quarters within the residential estate zoning designation, which has a minimum lot size of 40,000 square feet.
With the shortage of affordable rentals in Florida, the Legislature has encouraged local governments to adopt ordinances authorizing the construction of ADUs in the same single-family residential use zoning districts, the report states. Such an ordinance would require that the unit be accompanied by an affidavit from the building permit application that the unit would be rented at an affordable rate to the targeted population.
Other items on the committee’s agenda for recommendation include maintaining an expedited permitting process and maintaining both a Single-Family Impact Fee Deferral Program and Multi-Family Impact Fee Deferral Program.
The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee meeting will be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, in city Council Chambers, at 1015 Cultural Park Blvd., Cape Coral.
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email mbradbury@breezenewspapers.com