Osceola County school members consider educational impact fee to affordable housing project

News 13 | By Dylan Lyons | November 2, 2022

OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — Developers of the affordable housing community, “Pinnacle at the Wesleyan,” are pushing to try and waive development impact fees before the Osceola County School Board.

While board members are still discussing the potential of waving the educational impact fee for this community, District 2 member Julius Melendez said he would like to see county and city entities work with the school board to each lower fees.

He believes this would allow each organization to help the developer without the school district losing all of its funding.

“We don’t want to be the only provider of that assistance to a specific community. So if the county commission says they want to waive, say, 10% of the impact fee, we are willing to match those and do that as well,” explained Melendez. “I don’t support completely waiving the fee, completely because we do need those funds to build a school.”

Timothy Wheat, the regional vice president of Pinnacle Housing (the company working on this project), was at Tuesday’s appeal hearing. He said they are talking with the city and county.

Wheat told board members his company would market and target educators and those that work for the school district.

“Early and aggressively to those targeted marketed groups, so that way we are effectively following the law with regard to fair housing, but also trying to meet a community need,” added Wheat. “Threading that needle has generally been deemed acceptable.”

The school board was considering a deferral of the fees. They ultimately adjourned the hearing without making a decision.

In the past, they have not approved this request to waive impact fees.