by SC Reporter Emilie Alfino
At their October 13, 2026, meeting, the Sanibel Planning Commissioners had a lengthy discussion of the provisions of the Below Market Rate Housing program and recommended changes to send to Sanibel City Council.
At the City’s request, outside counsel Klein Hornig LLP reviewed the City’s existing Below Market Rate Housing regulations. It proposed amendments best suited to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state housing laws.
The BMRH rental program provides affordable annual rental housing opportunities for residents with very low, low, or moderate incomes and for city workforce housing.
All applicants for BMRH units must meet the tenant selection criteria, including:
• One or more household members are employed full-time on Sanibel or have received a full-time employment offer to work on Sanibel, and the household member has accepted such offer. Full-time employment shall be considered employment of at least 35 hours per week.
Applicants shall be further prioritized, in order, as follows:
a. One or more household members are employed full-time by or have received a full-time employment offer from an entity that maintains a business on Sanibel that has transferred land or housing to the housing foundation for use as below-market-rate housing. Employees of the donating business shall receive preference in the housing that results from the donation.
b. One or more household members are employed full-time by or have received a full-time employment offer from the city for a role that is essential to public health, welfare, or safety functions. The city identifies essential roles in its annual operating budget.
To the extent there is a tie in the evaluation of an applicant under these tenant selection criteria, a household that includes a minor child shall have priority over a household that does not include a minor child.
If the number of applicants that meet the tenant selection criteria is fewer than the number needed to fill vacancies, and if a habitable unit has remained vacant for more than 90 calendar days, the housing foundation shall offer the available housing unit to an applicant in accordance with the same tenant selection criteria and priority but replacing the full-time employment requirement with a part-time employment requirement of at least 20 hours per week.
In the unlikely event any habitable unit remains vacant for more than 180 calendar days after considering applicants who meet the part-time employment requirement, the housing foundation shall offer the available housing unit to an applicant who does not meet the tenant selection criteria but is otherwise qualified, with the requirement that the applicant is ready, willing, and able to make application for work on Sanibel or for volunteer opportunities.
Reasonable accommodations will be made for persons with a disability or handicap, which will be considered on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the law.
Applications will be considered on a first-come, first-served basis. However, any waitlist will be prioritized.
While the Commissioners seemed very concerned about the third group of applicants – the ones after 180 days of a unit’s vacancy because it could potentially result in a non-Sanibel person getting a BMRH unit – City Attorney John Agnew said, “It is unfathomable to me that we would ever get to 180 days” without a Sanibel employee being placed in a unit. The chances are so remote, he said, that it shouldn’t be a concern.
“We are spending a lot of time worrying about one person sneaking into affordable housing,” said Vice Chair Erika Steiner, who is on the board of Community Housing & Resources.
Residents of Casa Mariposa will be grandfathered without an employment requirement. Going forward, there will be no “senior housing” designation; seniors will apply for units the same way non-seniors do. From this point forward, retirees (who do not work) will not be eligible for affordable housing.
The Planning Commission unanimously (6-0, Chair Nichols excused) voted to send this resolution to City Council.
Comment here