Sarasota city officials, who struggled for months to find some way to persuade the County Commission to extend the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, got their response suddenly last Tuesday. With little attention, the commission voted unanimously to stop funding the 30-year-old agency by September 2016. The CRA takes the part of tax revenues resulting from…
Casselberry commissioners tonight approved major parts of a plan to transform a vacant strip of land into a city center complete with luxury apartments and a lakeside promenade. The village plan, which calls for building four apartment buildings alongside walking trails and restaurants, has been in the works for more than a decade. The project…
At a time when a growing number of Winter Park homes are being purchased and torn down, the city is exploring the possibility of asking the homeowners to take a cooling- off period in an effort to save more homes. The idea was proposed by a citizens committee that helped draft a new ordinance on…
The frustration experienced by Blackwater Resources in working with the city of Tallahassee over the redevelopment of the former Tallahassee Mall site is, unfortunately, an old song for many local businesses, and the lack of a noise ordinance is just a symptom of a much bigger problem. Discretion in the local regulatory process has delayed…
LYNN HAVEN — The organization charged with reviving the downtown area may soon be a thing of the past, as Lynn Haven commissioners are set to consider dissolving the nonprofit at a special meeting. At a meeting Thursday, the volunteer Lynn Haven Main Street corporation moved to recommend the commission nix the organization and instead…
BRADENTON — The proposal to develop a community policing plan for downtown Bradenton is garnering a wider audience. Tightening downtown security has the attention of Manatee County officials, the Bradenton Downtown Development Authority, the Manatee Chamber of Commerce, downtown businesses and other agencies. While Old Main Street has its nightlife issues, the predominant point of…
The car dealer planning to buy Homestead’s decrepit, city-owned bowling alley and turn it into a state-of-the-art Hyundai outlet was grilled by angry members of the City Council late Thursday, who said he was changing the plan he had agreed to just five months earlier. Jay Rivchin, the operator of Dadeland Dodge, wanted the council…
A stretch of the Miami River that for years has been home to stacks of crab traps and a commercial fishing operation could be redeveloped into a complex of restaurants and a fish market if Miami officials and voters embrace a developer’s proposal to build on public land. Alex Mantecon unveiled the design and concept…
Lake Worth, FL, October 5, 2015 – Last month, the Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) nominated historic downtown Lake Worth as a great place in Florida through the American Planning Association – Florida Chapter’s (APA-FL) Great Places in Florida Award Program. This is the second year that APA-FL has offered this award to communities…
Hollywood City Commissioner Peter Hernandez says the Beach Community Redevelopment Agency should be abolished because it has had increasing property tax funds for its use — at times exceeding its needs — while the “rest of the city is starving” to pay for operations and needed improvements. While his proposal has yet to gain support…
SARASOTA Fla. — Over the past several years major redevelopment projects have taken place along the MLK corridor. But now the effort to revitalize the area is getting another push. “It was dilapidated, it was something that we knew we needed to change,” said Lorna Alston, the city of Sarasota’s Redevelopment Manager, who has been…
After months of deliberation and behind-the-scenes maneuvering, Big Bend Cares was approved for a $1.5 million investment from the Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency on Thursday. The nonprofit agency that serves people with AIDS and HIV will use the money to build a two-story, 25,000-square-foot medical center on South Monroe Street. According to Big Bend Cares…
