AVON PARK – Some look at it as a way to spruce up the streets, liven up the storefronts, bring beauty and vibrancy to neighborhoods and make town overall more appealing.
But others look at it as a vice to possibly decrease home values, even to the point big developers could come in and buy out an area.
However it’s viewed, Avon Park continues to work on a final resolution that would expand the city’s Main Street Community Redevelopment Agency boundaries. Although it is not a taxing authority itself, the Avon Park CRA works through Florida statutes to receive Tax Increment Revenues generated by properties in the Redevelopment Area. Revenues are used to fund the various projects and activities identified in the Redevelopment Plan or related to reaching the plan’s goals and objectives.
During Monday night’s City Council Regular Meeting, The City Council passed 3-2 — Mayor Sharon Schuler and Councilman Garrett Anderson voted against — Resolution 14-15 which provides for the expansion of the Main Street CRA limits. The vote gives the city the go-ahead to start amending the Main Street CRA plan, partly based on studies conducted by La Rue Planning and Management Services, Fort Myers.