The 2011 groundbreaking for Vilano’s Publix was an especially joyous event for the 5,000 residents living east of the Intercostal. No longer would the need for a few groceries require a trip to the mainland. The Publix was also celebrated as the start of a planned commercial center of shops, sidewalk cafes, upper-level residences and…
In hopes of gaining the City Council’s support during its Wednesday, February 15, meeting, the Apopka Community Task Force on Violence presented a document that the group called a community biopsy, urging for a five-pronged approach to solving violence in the area, especially in South Apopka. First unveiled in December 2016 at a press conference, the…
Why does the legislature want to kill CRA’s Way back in 1969, the Florida Legislature passed the Community Redevelopment Act. The new law was designed to prevent and eliminate slum and blighted areas by designating tax dollars from the neediest communities to go back into those areas. In 1993, Apopka created its own Community Redevelopment…
The Florida Economic Consortium on Violence and Crime (FEC) hosted a lunch forum to discuss the role of community redevelopment agencies (CRAs) and how they can be leveraged to address blighted areas and slums in Apopka. Attended by city and county officials and community members, the lunch forum took place at the Fran Carlton Recreation…
