Is affordable housing really affordable to those who need it?
During its deliberations over a proposed apartment complex on a portion of the property owned by Temple Beth Sholom, members of the Sarasota Planning Board deviated into a debate over the true cost of renting the planned affordable and attainable units to be included in the project.
The board unanimously voted to recommend denial of the project to the City Commission, in part because even though the plan provided three times the number of required affordable units per city code, they said it wasn’t enough for the density benefit Gilbane Development would gain as a tradeoff for a Comprehensive Plan amendment and rezoning…