After more than a decade of work, Federal Highway in Delray Beach is back to its roots as a thoroughfare with two lanes in each direction. In the mid-1970s the road was widened to three lanes before the state Department of Transportation extended Interstate 95 from Fort Lauderdale north to West Palm Beach. But the…
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…
EAGLE LAKE — Ending blight and positioning the city to take advantage of opportunities for growth were major topics during the City Commission’s retreat Saturday. City Manager Luke Lewis began the discussion of the city’s future by talking about blight in the 3.2-square-mile city and ways to generate revenue. “There are areas in this city…
A vote on a $1.5-million investment in a Big Bend Cares expansion was delayed until next week over concerns about how it affects Bond Community Health Center. During a crowded meeting of a Community Redevelopment Agency citizen panel this week, members decided they need more clarification on how Bond and Big Bend Cares would work…
TREASURE ISLAND — As a city with an aging infrastructure and limited growth potential, officials are looking for every opportunity to generate more revenue. One possibility on the horizon that could expand the city’s tax base is redevelopment of residential areas, said City Manager Reid Silverboard. About 83 percent of the city’s property tax base…
ZEPHYRHILLS — A code enforcement crackdown is coming to Zephyrhills. City leaders sounded the alarm this week during a City Council workshop, warning that blight is spreading throughout the city as property owners are letting their properties fall into extreme disrepair. “Something needs to be done about this. It’s almost getting out of control,” City…
PANAMA CITY — One of the two administrative positions at the Panama City Downtown Improvement Board (DIB) is now vacant after the organization cut ties with Main Street Coordinator Valerie Woods, who held the position for less than a year. Main Street, a statewide program administered by the Florida Department of State, is overseen by…
SARASOTA COUNTY – Sarasota County commissioners will not renew a program that has seeded nearly $100 million into downtown and Newtown redevelopment during the past three decades. After months of signals that they were letting the program sunset — and a growing rift with the city that solidified the program’s demise — commissioners this week officially…
ANATEE — Local attorney Caleb Grimes has watched Manatee County’s existing Land Development Code and the project approval process turn people away from wanting to develop in the county. “We have to recognize that we may not get it right the first time but we’ve got to start and we’ve got to start letting the…
Scott Shimberg spreads an enormous map across a conference table, and sweeps his hand over the geographic picture of east Tampa. One roadway in particular gets his attention — 22nd Street. He sees a roadway that is noteworthy as a connector to neighborhoods — Ybor City and the Channel District among them — and a…
The Boynton Beach City Commission will meet Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Here are 3 topics the commissioners are expected to discuss, and here’s why each is important: – It’s budget time. The commission will have a final vote on approving the budget for 2015-16. The proposed general fund budget is $76,518,564 with…
There’s no doubting the achievements of the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency in lifting the city from the doldrums to a dynamo. But after 30 years, the agency’s success has turned it into something of a runaway train, an engine that rakes in lots of money and seems hellbent to spend it — often to…
