What’s the deal with all of the apartments?

Kirstien Paige Anglero has struggled finding an affordable place to live.

She and her family are looking for a three-bedroom, two-bath rental that allows pets, preferably in the Port Charlotte area.

Her search has been a nightmare.

“(It’s been) awful. People are so greedy,” she said. “That’s why rent will keep going up, but minimum wage will not. The younger generation is either stuck in Florida, or forced out.”

The market may be responding to the need.

More apartments are popping up in many areas, even as some residents question why so many complexes are being built as local governments approve even more.

From North Venice to south of Punta Gorda, apartments or condos are being built, bringing hundreds of what planners call “multi-family dwelling units” to an area in what appears to be an endless need of housing.

North Port has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. The city has seen its population double during the past two decades, tipping the total to around 90,000 residents — the most populated city in Sarasota County.

Alaina Ray, the city’s director of Development Services, said the apartments being built should be expected, considering the town’s stage of development.

“They’re growing pains,” she said. “What we’re seeing and going through is pretty typical. I will say it is painful. People in North Port got to enjoy the area when there wasn’t much going on. But North Port was never designed to be that.”

It was, instead, always destined for development, Ray said.

While a larger population can clog up high-density roads such as Toledo Blade and Price Boulevard, Ray believes the city is paying the price for a lack of proactive planning in the past, from the original developer General Development Corp. through previous city governments.

ECONOMIC ANSWER

But Ray believes the current explanation for more apartments is quite straightforward.

She said there has been a 95% increase in real estate prices over the past five years and that — along with those who rent by choice — creates a huge demand for more apartments.

Additionally, 23% of people in North Port are renters, according to Ray — exceeding the national average of 20% — but the number of apartments in the area is “minuscule,” compared to others across the nation.

And the city and county governments keep getting requests to build.

Many of them are approved, since they coincide with the property’s zoning. Others are approved after elected officials opt to change the zoning designation to allow apartments.

North Port Commissioner Debbie McDowell questions the residential rezoning that has been occurring as well as the prices of the new complexes springing up in the area.

“If I didn’t have my own house for all of these years, I wouldn’t even be able to afford to live here,” McDowell said.

She said she considers the situations of workers receiving lower wages.

“We have the need for people’s services, but do not have housing for them. Don’t they deserve somewhere to live?” McDowell asked. “It’s almost sinful.”

She also referenced a recent rezone which allowed for the construction of new apartments that could see up to 900 units built off of Toledo Blade Boulevard.

She expressed concern about a lack of planning, saying changing the rezoning of such valuable parcels to residential defies logic. She would prefer commercial development — and the jobs that kind of development would bring — rather than more apartments.

REGION IS GROWING

Although North Port is the most populated area between Tampa and Fort Myers, it is not the only one witnessing a surge in multi-family homes.

Englewood’s population of just around 40,000 people is also on the rise.

Upcoming projects include 200 Artists near Englewood Elementary School, Englewood Gardens, a 252-unit complex off River Road, Fairway Vistas at Myakka Pines, a 877-unit community, and apartments on Pine Street.

Port Charlotte is also seeing apartment development, including a parcel of land to be developed next to the Kia dealership, near the border of North Port.

Venice, too, can expect more cars on the road with apartments under construction off of Jacaranda Boulevard.

“It is disgusting. They are ruining this town,” Lisa Anne Hill stated in a social media comment about Englewood’s growth to The Daily Sun.

Real estate agent and long-time Englewood resident Brian Faro, on the other hand, believes outraged residents should temper some of their anger as many projects never wind up coming to fruition.

“All the years that I’ve been here in town I’ve seen a lot of things come and go. Business buy properties and then never come sometimes,” Faro said, citing a controversial development that was set to be built behind a Shell gas station in Englewood.

Despite pushback from some, though, not all residents in the region are averse to their building.

“I believe all the apartment complexes going up is a good thing because that does presumably mean our city is growing,” said Steve Harrison, a North Port resident who lives off of Price Boulevard.

He does have concern with traffic — especially with Price.

“The city intends to widen it, which will be welcome but I’m dreading the construction with the added influx of new residents,” he said.

Price Boulevard is one of several main roads in the area that are being modified to accommodate more traffic.

NEW BUSINESSESPopulation growth also leads to an increase in retail construction, as corporations are triggered by marketing numbers.

In recent months, for instance, new businesses have opened in new and fast-growing population centers, like Wellen Park, with several restaurants opening in Downtown Wellen and a Costco nearing completion on Tamiami Trail.

For Sophie Tomaszewski and others, living through the area’s “growing pains” is reality.

Tomaszewski has lived in the area for 27 years, and sits in school traffic frequently.

She is worried about traffic that could come with the new apartments coming to the Charlotte-North Port border, adding to the current bumper-to-bumper woes in the area.

“If there’s an accident on 75, they all get off at Price and 41. There’s only two roads going North and South — Price and 41. Not to mention, 75 is an accident waiting to happen almost every day,” she said.

Faro, however, implores those suffering to put themselves into another’s shoes.

He said more apartments coming to town will actually help locals, especially long-time ones.

“Apartment complexes are needed for rent control. It’s hard, but it can’t just be about yourself. You have to think about things from the perspective of others,” Faro said.

North Port’s Ray said apartments do not bring down property values, citing a Cambridge study that revealed the opposite is the case.

“People say ‘apartments will destroy the city and cost taxpayers,’ but the opposite is true. Apartments tend to use less than single-family homes do,” she said.