PALMETTO — Palmetto officials Monday voted unanimously to move an updated five-year community redevelopment agency plan to a public hearing on Nov. 16.
It is only the second update to the city’s CRA plan since 1993, but was completely overhauled in 2011 by incoming CRA Director Jeff Burton, who outlined an ambitious plan just two days shy of the CRA’s 30th birthday. Burton said the “meat and potatoes” of the plan highlights goals that he believes can be accomplished. The biggest change to the CRA’s direction is replacing slum and blight with affordable housing.
“We didn’t put housing in the last plan because we couldn’t build one cheap enough to compete with the market at the time” said Burton. “Now things are different. We want to aim at housing that are concerns to the police department and code enforcement and have fully depreciated on the tax rolls.”
Burton said his primary goal is to target rundown duplexes in the city’s CRA and to form a partnership with the Palmetto Housing Authority, an agency formed by the city and lacks the money to accomplish its goals.