News & Views: CHR in the News

New CHR Director sees land as biggest challenge

Scott Marcelais brings 25 years of community, housing development experience to Sanibel

By EMILIE ALFINO
ealfino@breezenewspapers.com

Most tenants in Sanibel's below-market-rate housing are working people, according to Marcelais. There is one facility just for senior citizens, and most of those are retirees. Also, a number of units were developed specifically for people with disabilities.

Sanibel's new Community Housing & Resources' Executive Director Scott Marcelais seems very impressed with his new community. After serving for 25 years in a variety of state and city governments, housing authorities and nonprofits primarily in the inner-city sections of large metropolitan areas - Sanibel, he said, is "a different breed of cat."

"One of the unique things that you see is the amount of community support," Marcelais said. "Often you get a group of people who want to start affordable housing, and there's a lot of pressure and it's confrontational. There's that "NIMBY-ism' -- "not in my backyard.'

"It's the exact reverse here, where you've got the city and the citizens back in the 1970s taking the first step, not waiting for the federal government or the state government, but taking the initiative themselves," he said.

"It's pretty forward thinking, and you see that a lot in our community."


Land is CHR's biggest challenge

With 64 existing units and a goal to build about 40 more within the next few years, Marcelais said CHR's big challenges are the cost and availability of land on Sanibel.

"There's a unique blend on this island, a sensitive balance between the ecology and conservation initiatives, and finding that happy medium," he said.

He explained that Sanibel will never see a scenario such as you might see in Ft. Myers where you build an apartment with 100 units to meet economies of scale - and get a high-density rate in return.

"That's not going to happen here," Marcelais said.

Marcelais said he is trying to put together tax credit applications; that is, bring in private investment to acquire land and build below-market-rate housing. Businesses get to write off their investment, and, according to Marcelais, the money doesn't come with a lot of strings attached - such as a requirement that someone has to make very little money to qualify for the housing.

"It's more for moderate-income people," he said.

Marcelais said Sanibel's below-market-rate housing is designed to fit into the community.
"One of the things I think is admirable is that if you're driving around and see one of our facilities, it's indistinguishable from any other single-family residence or condominium," Marcelais said. "You wouldn't say, "Oh, that's affordable housing.' You can't tell. They're at scattered sites, not lumped together. And that's the philosophy we should maintain."

Marcelais said that there has to be a balance between preserving open space, conservation and aesthetics and the ability to build something with relative affordability by taking advantage of some economies of scale.


What's ahead for CHR

Marcelais said he has some plans for CHR, but also noted that the organization is stable and well-funded with adequate reserves. He said Sanibel has done a wonderful job over the years.

One effort already underway is the building of a Web site, which should be up in about three weeks (the address will be www.sanibelhousing.org). The site is being designed as a volunteer effort by Marcelais' daughter, Jennifer, who designs Web sites for a living.

The next major campaign for CHR is employer-assisted housing, which is exactly what it sounds like: the employer takes an active role in the investment of housing for its workers. The City of Sanibel is going to take the lead.

"It's not a new thing," Marcelais said. "It happened years ago when General Motors and all those old industries were active in providing housing for their workers. Through the course of this century, it just sort of went away. Now, nationwide, it's becoming almost like a fringe-benefit opportunity. Particularly if there are two wage-earners and one of the people has insurance covered by the other employer.

Marcelais said some companies have found that offering housing assistance is beneficial to both the employee and the company.

"It's a new way to attract employees, and it's an investment in their company. It's an issue of housing and economic development," Marcelais explained.

Any employer-assisted housing units will be in addition to the 64 existing units and the goal is to have 100 to 105 units within the next few years, Marcelais said.

Employer-assisted housing can take many forms, according to Marcelais, and the city plans to start with a service component - whether it's helping people through the mortgage process, helping them find apartments, brokering, or acting as a clearinghouse. In the future, it may evolve into actually developing property, Marcelais said.

Other types of employer-assisted housing include down-payment assistance and renting employer-owned housing at affordable rates.

Marcelais said he wants to "raise the bar" so people living in such employer-assisted housing are not kicked out if their income goes above a certain level. Instead, they may just pay a flat rate. With current below-market-rate housing, depending on what funding sources are used, when tenants hit a certain income level, they no longer can be housed in one of CHR's units.

"But it doesn't necessarily mean that they can go out and afford market-rate housing, particularly on the island," he said. "So we're trying to develop the employer-assisted housing without an upper-end eligibility."

Most tenants in Sanibel's below-market-rate housing are working people, according to Marcelais. There is one facility just fo rsenior citizens, and most of those are retirees. Also, a number of units were developed specifically for people with disabilities.

Currently there are about 25 people on the waiting list for Sanibel's affordable housing, according to Marcelais. At the Dec. 7 Sanibel & Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce Job Fair, CHR gave out an additional 25 applications but Marcelais didn't know if they all had been returned. He said the turnover rate in below-market-rate housing is about 10 percent per year.

Securing affordable housing on Sanibel goes by a "weighted point system" approved by the Sanibel City Council, Marcelais explained. Once a person meets the income guidelines, then city workers get the most points; next in line are people who work on Sanibel; and then, tenure gets you points - that is, ÿ
÷how long you have lived or worked on the island. Time spent on the waiting list is used as a tie-breaker. For senior citizens, those points are weighted less heavily; likewise for people with disabilities.

Sanibel is different

Marcelais said Sanibel is a very different experience in a variety of ways.
He said on Sanibel he's dealing primarily with working people rather than with inner-city clients locked in a continuing cycle of poverty.

Does he find it less rewarding to help people who are not poverty-stricken? He said not at all.

"I think you ought to help people [who are] helping themselves," Marcelais said. "It's more rewarding to give a hand up to people who are really trying and meeting their responsibilities for themselves and their families. They're just working people caught in a high-cost area and they're essential to the local economy."

Marcelais said he also likes the fact that on Sanibel, everybody's comments at government meetings are welcomed and encouraged.

"I've been to a lot of city council meetings in my time where they really don't want to hear from the public," he said. "But here it's right on the agenda. They want you to speak; they want your input. That's encouraging. This is what open government is all about."

A Boston native who worked much of his career in the Northeast and most recently in Tallahassee, that's not the only difference he's enjoyed about Sanibel.

"It's warmer, nicer, beautiful - it's like paradise," he said. "I try to get here early so I cross the causeway when the sun is coming up. And as soon as I hit that water, a smile comes over my face. It's not like I'm saying, "Oh, no, I've got to go to work.' I look forward to it every day."

Copied with permission from the Island Reporter, a division of the Breeze Corporation.

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