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Chamber of Commerce dives deep into housing crisis in St. Johns County

Business owners say housing prices are hurting their ability to recruit and maintain employees.

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla — The housing crisis in St. Johns County has an unexpected interested party.  And that’s the Chamber of Commerce.

"It’s challenging. Very challenging." That’s how the Isabella Renault, the president of the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce. described the housing situation in the county right now.

Business owners and managers told the Chamber of Commerce that housing prices were so high, it was affecting how owners operate their businesses. Basically, companies were losing employees.

"It is a problem for running their business," Renault said. 

So the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce chose to dive into the issue, paying for a study that breaks down the economic challenges for people who work for some of the county’s top employers such as Northrop Grumman, the sheriff’s office, the school district, UF Health Flagler Hospital and businesses in the hospitality industry. 

According to the Chamber of Commerce’s report, it would take a Northrop Grumman Employee or a UF Health nurse, two times what they make in order to afford a house at the median price of $510,000 in St. Johns County. For a St. Johns County deputy, it would take a little more than two times that deputy’s income to afford a house at the median price. For a St. Johns County school teacher it would take almost three (2.7) times more.  For someone working in the tourism industry such as at a hotel, it would take five times more than their income in order to afford a house.

The study concluded that buying – or even renting – an average home in St. Johns County is out of reach for most essential workers. That include is if some of them have roommates.

The Chamber has also developed solutions to the housing problem.

Renault said, "One is to implement a solution into a comprehensive plan and land use map."

The county government is in the process of updating its comprehensive plan. The county government has also created a workforce housing designation if developers want to build a certain amount of less-pricy homes. Renault said that’ a start, but it needs to be more than individual projects here or there.

"For this to be sustainable, you need to have a program for the entire community," she explained. 

The Chamber of Commerce plans to take these finding to the county’s elected officials.

It has also started something called the Attainable Housing Coalition to "support the workers that make our economy thrive."

For more intonation about the study, report, and the coalition, click here.

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