Incentives for Infill Development

Outline of Potential Incentives for Reducing Barriers
to Re-Development of Low Income Neighborhoods

Source: FIU/FAU Joint Center for Urban Studies (1999)

• Public Entrepreneurship: involves public sector's activities in assembly and conveyance of land along with possible fiscal incentives for private investment.


• Land Banking: the purchase of land by a governmental entity with the intent of controlling its future use.


• Overlay Zoning: zoning which applies a common set of regulations and standards to a designated area that may cut across several different preexisting conventional zoning districts.

• Performance Zoning: a zone defined by a list of permitted impacts as opposed to a list of permitted uses.


• Incentive Zoning: under incentive zoning, a developer may be encouraged to erect a building in a way that is not usually permitted in that district under the community's zoning ordinance in exchange for providing certain amenities.


• Inclusionary Zoning: to ensure the inclusion of very low, low, and moderate income housing within a given political jurisdiction.


• Mixed-use Zoning: combination of different land uses on the same or adjacent lots or within the same building or complex.


• Planned Unit Development: a device that allows a development to be planned and built as a unit.


• Form District (potential): determine the "form" or "pattern" of development within a community and to design districts which conform to those patterns or to create new forms within a community.


• Joint Development: real estate development that is closely linked to public transportation services and stations and relies to a considerable extent on the market and locational advantages provided by the transit facility.


• Capital Improvement Program: a program for the multi-year budgeting of capital improvement expenditures, typically for a five year period.


• Commuter Rail Service on FEC Corridor (potential): the FEC corridor is closer to many downtown areas but without commuter service.


• Streamline Development Review and Permit Processes


• Intensified Code Enforcement: a tool to help prevent the further deterioration of an area.


• Transit Oriented Development: an approach that emphasizes securing a high density level, combining a mix of uses, utilizing a hierarchy of streets and designing at a human scale to maximize the potential for transit use within a community.


• Traditional Neighborhood Development : similar to TOD and gives additional emphases on integrating civic uses (e.g. community center, church) and open space into the development.


• Unified Development Code (potential): a land use ordinance that combines the provisions of ordinarily separate zoning and subdivision ordinances.


• Chapter 380 Regional Activity Center:: a compact, high density multi-use area designated as appropriate for intensive growth by the local government of jurisdiction.


• Regional Development District: a geographic area specifically designated as highly suitable for increased threshold intensity in the approved local comprehensive plan and the applicable strategic regional policy plan.


• Transportation Concurrency Exception Area: an area within which local government grants an exception from the concurrency requirement for transportation facilities.


• Areawide or Downtown Development of Regional Impacts: two alternative forms to the standard DRI process in addressing generally large areas or the downtown areas.


• Incentives to Lending Institutions: the need for incentives to lending institutions have been mentioned throughout the Eastward Ho! discussions.


• Enterprise Zone: a specific geographical area with a set of policies designed to encourage local businesses to take advantage of tax incentives and other public assistance with the hope of generating investment that leads to employment growth.
  


• Enterprise Communities and Empowerment Zones: encourage investment in designated distressed areas by providing a combination of direct grants, tax incentives and priority consideration for flexibility in the use of funds.


• Tax Increment Financing: a method of funding public investment in an area slated for redevelopment by recapturing, for a set time, all or a portion of the increased tax revenue that may result if the redevelopment stimulates private investment.


• Below-market-rate Financing: offering construction or permanent financing at below-market-interest rates can be effective in attracting developers and home purchasers.


• Tax Base Sharing (potential): a mechanism through which fiscal benefits of growth within a metropolitan area can be shared by all residents regardless of where the actual development occurs.


• Preferential Taxation: the use of tax credits or deductions as incentives for preserving or creating socially desired land uses.


• Fee Reduction or Waivers: reductions of permit or impact fees for infill/redevelopment projects.


• Community Development Block Program (CDBG): financing programs for both commercial and residential rehabilitation, construction of infill-housing and infrastructure improvements in areas predominantly with low and moderate income residents.


• State Housing Initiative Program (SHIP): provision of financial and technical assistance for the creation and preservation of affordable housing.


• HOME Investment Partnership Program : offers similar types of assistance as SHIP to both for-profit and nonprofit developers, as well as individual homeowners.
  


• Community Redevelopment Agency: an entity created by a county or municipality to carry out redevelopment function (Sec 163.356, F.S.).


• Land Assembly Entities (potential): entities which can acquire land through foreclosure or donation, purchase sites needed to aggregate larger tracts, and dispose of land to developers and community groups.


• Community Financing Consortium: an entity which is made up of a number of financing institutions working together.


• Neighborhood Improvement District: an area defined in Sec 163.503, F.S. where there is a plan to reduce crime through the implementation of environmental design, environmental security, or defensible space techniques for crime prevention.


• Special Assessment District: a geographical area within which the special levy against property to finance specific capital improvements is spread.


• Transportation Management Association: an entity which is formed by organizations within a specific area to address primarily transportation issues for their employees.


• Regional Transit Authority (potential): an authority which could have any combination of the authority regarding funding, planning, or operation of the regional transit systems.


• Expanded University Small Business Assistance Programs: providing expanded university small business assistance programs will help to nurture and retain small business within the Corridor.


• Community Policing: includes community activities to assist the delivery of policing programs.
  


• Community Leadership Training: an important part of the overall community capacity building effort.