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Orange County, FL to Increase Flexibility of CDD Establishment
January 17th, 2006
On Jan. 10, Orange County Commissioners voted unanimously to transmit a Comprehensive Plan Amendment (“Amendment”) that will make establishing Community Development Districts (“CDD(s)”) within the County easier.
According to Orange County Planning staff, the current regulation prevents a CDD from funding any infrastructure other than schools, regional parks, or other infrastructure not typically funded by a developer. Therefore, Orange County CDDs currently cannot fund onsite water, sewer, landscaping and roadway improvements, or any other offsite improvements. County staff said these regulations make it nearly impossible to establish a CDD for residential development.
The County staff opinion submitted with the Amendment states, “The current policy as written is very limiting and restricts the County’s ability to provide alternative financing mechanisms. Therefore, staff is recommending that the policy be amended to provide the Board, on a case by case basis, the ability to approve alternative financing mechanisms, such as but not limited to CDDs, for specific infrastructure needs.”
However, the proposed Amendment does not only apply to CDDs. It includes “Educational Facilities Benefit Districts, special districts, special assessments, tax increment financing or other such financing mechanisms as deemed appropriate by the County.”
One commissioner expressed particular concern at the Jan. 10 meeting about including Educational Facilities Benefit Districts. “I am opposed to Educational Facilities Benefit Districts,” the commissioner said. “Homeowners expect to pay the same for school facilities as everyone else. With Educational Facilities Districts, some parents of students pay the assessments and some do not, which causes tension among parents.”
The commissioner moved to strike Educational Facilities Benefit Districts from the Amendment, but the motion died for lack of a second.
According to county staff, to be enacted, the proposed Amendment must first be approved by the Florida Department of Community Affairs. Then, the Amendment must receive a majority vote from the
One commissioner requested additional meetings before the public hearing date to address the issue of assessment disclosure and consider revising the language of the Amendment.
“I am concerned about the hidden costs to unsuspecting homebuyers,” the commissioner said. “Many homebuyers do not know about the additional assessments until closing. I think homebuyers need to be fully aware of these costs.”
Another commissioner expressed support for the Amendment but acknowledged there may be a need for County legislation requiring homeowner disclosure that goes above and beyond the state requirements.
“It is good to have additional flexibility because CDDs are better for the consumer,” the commissioner said. “The problem is making [the costs] abundantly transparent. I agree that people need to be informed early in the process.”
Development Planning and Financing Group is in the process of providing the County written comments on the Comprehensive Plan Amendment. Since our comments will be provided from the Land Developer and Homebuilder’s perspective, we would be glad to consider including any thoughts you may have on the Plan Amendment. Please call Maik Aagaard at (407) 529-8915 or e-mail maik.aagaard@dpfg.com with your thoughts.
