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…
DELAND — The Volusia County Council by a narrow 4-3 vote Thursday approved a new Community Redevelopment Area for New Smyrna Beach that aims to renovate an ailing stretch of U.S. 1 and the city’s struggling Historic Westside Neighborhood. Over 20 years the CRA plan is expected to generate about $15 million for road, drainage,…
If the median at the S-curve leading into Ocala’s downtown looks a little bare these days, that is because the Downtown Business Alliance and the city of Ocala are in the process of sprucing it up. “The DBA and city have a joint beautification project there,” said DBA President Ted Schatt. “It is plants going…
TEMPLE TERRACE — Following a two-and-a-half year standstill of the revitalization of a 29-acre site at the southeast corner of Bullard Parkway and North 56th Street, the city has severed all ties with Vlass Temple Terrace LLC (VTT), the developer residents hoped would see their decade-old vision of a new town center through to fruition.…
NEW PORT RICHEY — The city’s property maintenance codes are woefully inadequate to handle the blight that officials say is plaguing New Port Richey. That was the message from city leaders during a work session Tuesday night at which city staffers made a pitch to the City Council to tighten the city’s code ordinance. City…
Daytona Beach has several impressive commercial developments in the works that have the power to transform the local economy unlike anything it has seen in generations. But until the city eradicates the blight that has plagued the beachside area the effect will be like serving a roasted Thanksgiving turkey with Cheetos and Fritos. Thankfully, one…
NEW SMYRNA BEACH — Plans for a 146-room oceanfront hotel took a hit when the Planning and Zoning Board turned down three requests from developers needed to build the project. First, the board voted unanimously Monday to deny a request by developers of the SpringHill Suites by Marriott to move the city’s coastal construction setback…
NEW PORT RICHEY — The city is poised to cut the red tape for bars, restaurants and nonprofit groups looking to serve alcohol during downtown events. For months, the New Port Richey City Council has been debating changes to its ordinance regulating alcohol consumption on city property. During a work session last week, the council…
Once upon a distant time, the village center of old Coconut Grove was so anything-goes mellow that a blind man — folk-rock star Jose Feliciano, to be specific — could pedal a bicycle a short way down the street without fear of running into anything. That was long ago, during a near-mythical age when hippies,…
TAMPA — Many Hillsborough County neighborhoods continue to be victimized by illegal dumping, overgrown lots and dilapidated houses. When conditions like these persist, experts say, crime proliferates and a general sense of hopelessness overcomes a community. Hillsborough’s Code Enforcement Department is launching new initiatives aimed at attacking blighted conditions quickly before they worsen. Assistant County…
The city of Sanford plans to team with a developer with the hope of turning a stagnant pocket near the Lake Monroe waterfront into a vibrant area filled with homes, restaurants, shops and a hotel. The plan is part of a push to spark development along Sanford’s scenic waterfront and also to sell off a…
The job of reviving downtown Clearwater is so big that it’s hard to know where to start. It has now been five months since a panel of outside experts with the Urban Land Institute presented the city with a slew of far-reaching recommendations for its downtown. That time lag has downtown boosters champing at the…
