Panama City CRA readies consolidated comprehensive plan; public hearing set for Sept. 30

The Panama City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) staff told the CRA board that it has received a consolidated comprehensive plan covering all four CRA districts and scheduled a public meeting for Sept. 30 at 5:30 p.m. in the City Hall rotunda to review the plan with the community.

The CRA’s comprehensive plan, required by Florida statute, serves as the legal basis for what projects a CRA may fund. CRA staff explained the plan outlines vision, goals, sample projects and programs for each district and must align with the city’s comprehensive plan. The staff said the consolidated document replaces separate district plans and is intended to make future amendments simpler.

“Anytime you expand the CRA, like we recently expanded St. Andrews, you’re required to update your plans,” CRA staff noted during the workshop, explaining the consolidated plan merges prior district documents and neighborhood plans to provide a single guiding document.

Staff described the planning timeline: the CRA board will conduct an initial review at its Oct. 7 meeting, then the plan will go to the planning board (a review that can take up to 60 days), followed by any final revisions, a second CRA hearing in November, and two governing-body public hearings on the ordinance amending the plan (a first public hearing at commission meeting and a second hearing in December). Staff said the final plan received from consultant GAI is ready for adoption pending the public meeting and statutory notices.

Staff also summarized consultant costs for the recent update: the original task order was approximately $95,000 and the final contract to consultant GAI ran about $109,000; staff said that figure did not include legal fees and that best practice is to review and update the CRA comprehensive plan every four to five years.

The public meeting on Sept. 30 will be the community’s opportunity to request revisions before the plan returns to the CRA board for adoption and then to the city commission for ordinance hearings.

CRA staff said the related annual work plan for fiscal year 2025–26 will be posted by Oct. 1 and can be amended as specific project decisions are finalized.