Supporting Documents (Data and Analysis) - Satellite Beach

HOUSING ELEMENT
General Housing Conditions
This Housing Element addresses the provision of adequate and affordable housing. Housing is
primarily a function of the private sector. But, the City assumes an active role through
developmental regulations and supportive measures for a mix of housing types that meet the
market demands. Satellite Beach is a city with a development pattern characterized primarily by
well-constructed single-family, detached homes on platted lots ranging in size from 7,500 square
feet to over 10,000 square feet. Within Satellite Beach, there is a harmony in land use patterns,
with complementary architectural character and consistency in building height and density. This
quality results from the fact that 86 percent of the buildings were constructed during a thirty (30)
year period of relatively strict building codes, as can be seen in Table 3-6. Therefore, the City
has avoided problems commonly found in older communities developed without the benefit of
modern land use regulations.
Through-traffic in Satellite Beach is accommodated by SR A1A and South Patrick Drive (SR
513). These provide corridors for retail, commercial, service, and institutional functions serving
the year-round and seasonal population of Satellite Beach and nearby communities. These
roadway corridors also provide direct access to higher-density residential areas located at the
edge of neighborhoods and along the oceanfront. This appropriate relationship between
residential areas and high traffic-volume thoroughfares makes it relatively easy for the City to
retain attractive and viable residential neighborhoods.
Housing Trends and Projections
The housing data contained in this element is derived from the 2000 U.S. Census and the 2000
Shimberg Center’s Affordable Housing Needs Assessment. The City of Satellite Beach has little
vacant land area available for new residential development. This has been the case since the
1980s as evidenced by the number dwelling units issued building permits between 2003 and
2008 displayed in Table 3-17. Including single family, duplex and multi-family dwelling units,
the City has permitted a total of only 393 dwelling units in the 2003-2008 period and 156 of
those units were issued for the Patrick Air Force Base Pelican Coast PUD, which was the only
redevelopment of existing housing.
Substandard Housing
The reason for making a distinction between standard housing and substandard housing is to
determine the potential threat of structural or functional obsolescence to the health and safety of
the general public. For community planning purposes, it is important to establish a definition of
"substandard" which expresses the community’s minimum acceptable housing quality threshold.
The only readily-available source of housing quality data, other than a dwelling-by-dwelling
inspection, is the U.S. Census Bureau’s Decennial Census of Housing. The following housing
quality indicators are reported at ten-year intervals:
Housing Element
Data and Analysis 3-1