City Creates Teacher Village As Part Of Affordable Housing Ordinance

Broward County, Florida, which has land use power over its cities, set a deadline for the adoption of affordable housing plans for all its cities earlier this year.

Coral Springs is the first city to enact an ordinance. The city's new law requires developers to contribute money to a trust fund based on a square footage formula, or provide affordable housing as part of their plans. It also calls for the creation of a teacher village on 10 acres of city land to provide an incentive to attract teachers to the city-owned Coral Springs Charter School.

In June, Fort Lauderdale rejected a similar measure when Major Jim Naugle compared the effort to communism.

The County has given cities till the year's end to develop housing plans. If the deadline is not reached, cities face rejection of major residential developments requiring land use amendments.