City gives tentative approval to 5.6% property tax rate hike By Christopher Curry, The Gainsville Sun Staff Writer The City Commission gave tentative approval Tuesday to an approximately $105 million general government budget that increased the property tax rate by about 5.6 percent. Following the vote, the city will advertise a property tax rate of…
Downtown Bonita Springs moves up on priority list Written by: Christina Cepero, News-Press Bonita Springs leaders are focused on beautifying downtown while promoting what’s there in hopes of attracting visitors and businesses and igniting more interest in redevelopment. At a workshop Tuesday, the City Council agreed the city needs to create brochures about the area.…
Groups Work Together to Revive Roots Cultural Festival in Delray Beach
Zephyrhills City Council rejects brownfield proposal By Lorie Jewell, Tampa Bay Times Correspondent ZEPHYRHILLS — A divided City Council shot down plans to seek brownfield status for about 1,100 acres near the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, siding with landowners who worried about the stigma such a designation could bring. The aim of the designation is to…
CRA Board Selects Interim Director By Suzie Schottelkotte THE LEDGER BARTOW | Bartow’s Community Redevelopment Agency board agreed Monday to hire Andy Laurent of Bartow Consulting Inc. as interim director while board members and the City Commission continue discussing the agency’s future structure. Laurent, a former Bartow city commissioner, said he and Brian Hinton, another…
Historic Floridan to re-open By Justin George, Tampa Bay Times Staff Writer TAMPA — Shuttered since 1987, the Floridan Hotel, once Tampa’s grandest and tallest building that catered to the likes of Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart and Elvis Presley, became a home to vultures and vermin for decades. So when a development group led by…
Detours Studied for Downtown Train Traffic By Tom Palmer, THE LEDGER LAKELAND | If there’s a better way to route freight rail traffic through Polk County, a consultant hired by the Florida Department of Transportation is supposed to find it. Preliminary work is under way on an 18-month study to look for alternative routes for…
Fifth Avenue not a Main Street community, despite sign saying it is By KRISTINE GILL, Naples News A pink sign at the east end of Fifth Avenue South identifies the strip of restaurants and shops as a Florida Main Street Community. The program offers resources to cities looking to revitalize downtown areas. But Naples lost…
BayWalk owner mum on details for new complex, but construction is under way For the original article visit The Tampa Bay Times The identity of one of the city’s crown jewels is being transformed, and residents will finally get a glimpse next month of millionaire Bill Edward’s vision for BayWalk. Already, construction crews have razed a…
New Naples coalition seeks unified vision for downtown For the original article visit NaplesNews.com When talk of rerouting U.S. 41 began last August, downtown business and property owners from all corners of the city converged on Naples City Hall, fearing a decrease in traffic and customers. The idea was shot down. A year later,…
Re-imagining Leesburg For the original article visit The Daily Commercial Several downtown Leesburg merchants and residents say an inviting streetscape and gateway entrance into Main Street off U.S. Highway 27/441 is what the city needs for economic success and future survival. “There are still people in Leesburg that do not know that there is…
Best Urban Block in South Florida? It’s out there. For the original article visit The Miami Herald We used to know how to do this in America — how to build a convivial, walkable, prosperous city neighborhood of shops, workplaces and homes that drew people to it like the proverbial bee to honey. Then came…
