SEBASTIAN, Fla. — Housing affordability is one of the biggest concerns that WPTV hears about from you. But getting workforce housing built is no easy feat.
At a recent "Let's Hear It" event, WPTV reporter Jon Shainman heard from residents in Sebastian who said while they like the concept, they felt blindsided over a new housing proposal for their neighborhood.
Carol Klebba and her husband Jack have lived across from a wooded parcel on Concha Drive in Sebastian for more than a quarter century.
"We love this place so much," Carol Klebba said. "This is where we wanted to build our bigger permanent home."
So they were surprised when surveyors were recently on their property.
"Why are you surveying it?" Jack Klebba asked them.
"'Well, something's going in across the street,'" he said he was told.
It turns out that the wooded lot was donated by the city to Habitat For Humanity to build single-family homes.
"You hear about affordable housing, workforce housing. Everybody talks about it but nobody does anything," Sebastian mayor Bob McPartland said.
The plan is to give city employees the first crack at eligibility followed by city residents and then Indian River County residents.
"It's hard to get teachers because rents here are so out of control," McPartland said.
Neighbors said there were never any signs placed on the property alerting them to what was coming.
"Where was the transparency? There wasn't any," Jack Klebba said.
"It was supposed to be sanctuary property, and maybe they would build a park," resident Louise Colli said.
"People thought this was supposed to be a park. It was never supposed to be a park," McPartland said.
The plan was formally approved in October after several meetings.
At a city council meeting last week, residents expressed their concerns and the council listened, but the plan for the Habitat For Humanity homes is moving forward.
How many homes would depend on things like stormwater retention and environmental habitat.
McPartland said anything built on the Concha Drive site is still a few years off.
