NEW SMYRNA BEACH — City leaders have acquiesced to the wishes of the Volusia County Council, shortening their request for a new Community Redevelopment Area that would run along a slumping section of U.S. 1 from a 40-year to a 20-year plan.
County Council members have made it clear that 20 years is the limit they are willing to accept for new CRAs, already approving new districts for that length for both Orange City and Edgewater. The redevelopment district for Edgewater — the city’s first — was also originally proposed for 40 years.
The County Council on Thursday will consider New Smyrna Beach’s CRA plan, which will stretch from just north of the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport to the Edgewater city limits and would also take in sections of the Historic Westside Neighborhood, the North Causeway and Canal Street as well as a section of State Road 44. The County Council will consider the city’s request just after 9 a.m. at the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center in DeLand, 123 W. Indiana Ave.