CRA rolls out new incentive programs
As seen in NWF Daily News
KARI C. BARLOW / Daily News
FORT WALTON BEACH — The Community Redevelopment Agency is looking for business owners who need help expanding or sprucing up their properties.
In the past, the CRA has funded large-scale capital projects such as underground utilities, water and sewer lines and the downtown streetscape. Now the agency will concentrate its efforts on assisting individual business owners in making improvements.
Brochure explains how to get a grant. »
See a map of the CRA’s boundaries. »
Read an overview of the program. »
“With the economy the way it is, we’ve kind of shifted focus to more of an incentive program to stimulate development and redevelopment,” Acting City Manager Michael Beedie said Monday. “These kinds of programs have been very successful throughout the state.”
The new programs will provide financial assistance for businesses that need help with development fees, improvements to facades and streetscapes and nuisance abatement. The program is open to all businesses located within the CRA boundaries.
The purpose of the program is to remove financial barriers that keep business owners from expanding. For example, when a restaurant adds seats, it must pay higher impact fees.
“(The new program) provides a mechanism to offset those impact fees,” Development Services Manager Tim Bolduc said. “The CRA actually pays those fees for them.”
Other assistance includes a 50-50 matching grant for a business looking to improve its faade.
“It’s hard to invest in what your building looks like when the economy is tough,” Bolduc said. “We understand that not everyone can do that. What we’re trying to say is … for every dollar you put out, we’ll put out a dollar.”
Bolduc said assistance also is available for abandoned and neglected properties, which have been on the rise in the economic downturn.
“The city doesn’t have the money in its general fund to remove the nuisance and neither does the property owner, so they sit and fines continue to accrue.”
Through the CRA’s new program, property owners can get help paying the fines or even get the fines waived.
Bolduc said an eligible business could take advantage of more than one type of program at the same time.
“What we’re hoping these programs will do is get more and more people to participate,” he said.
Beedie said the city is eager to get the programs up and running.
“We’re anxious to get them out there in the public,” he said. “We’ve already had a couple of meetings with the merchant groups. They’re all excited, and we’ve had a few of them fill out applications.”