Business owners fear the affordable housing crisis will affect the workforce

NAPLES, Florida. On Wednesday, people living in Collier County said their community is headed for a housing crisis, prompting a public forum hosted by the nonprofit Greater Naples Leadership.

Joe Trachtenberg, a member of the Collier County Affordable Housing Advisory Committee, told Fox 4 that this is a widespread problem among workers.

“We have 48,000 people working in Collier County who cannot live here,” Trachtenberg said.

Habitat for Humanity CEO Lisa Lefkow knows all too well the challenge of affordable housing for the Collier County workforce.

“This conversation, unfortunately, has been going on for several decades,” Lefkov said.

Trachtenberg said that this is a conversation that affects all areas of life.

“There are trials here from doctors and nurses to waiters, people who clean your pool,” Trachtenberg said.

Trachtenberg told Fox 4 that rent growth in Collier County was already among the highest in the country.

Statistics seen up close by people like Dan Lavender, who spoke on the forum about his daughter, who he says is part of the workforce who can’t live in Collier County.

“My own daughter, 25, works in Southwest Florida, works on the Naples campus. Where she lives? Lee County,” Lavender said.

As more luxury housing projects pop up in Naples, Trachtenberg said, it’s causing people to resist county leaders to stop housing development altogether.

“Many of the screams we hear are from people who say they don’t want further development in Collier County, the purpose of this forum is really to open their eyes to the fact that there is another point of view,” said Trachtenberg.

The point of view that was discussed on Wednesday.

“Finally, the conversation flared up and became more like a discussion in the community,” said Lisa Lefkow.

It’s a conversation that some say could lead to real change in Collier County’s housing sector.

“We need more density, we need to change zoning rules, we need to consider exposure fee rules… there is a way,” Trachtenberg said.