Homestead holds community forum as consultants gather public input for five‑year strategic plan

City of Homestead officials and consultants held a community forum on the city’s strategic plan to collect public input and present an environmental scan ahead of a draft plan the council will review.

The meeting brought consultants from the BerryDunn firm and city leaders together with residents for a presentation of demographic and economic data and a breakout-discussion session to identify priorities. The city manager and Mayor Lozner joined the session, and participants heard findings on population growth, housing costs, employment and community strengths and weaknesses.

The consulting team said Homestead has seen significant growth in the last decade and presented data the consultants said would guide the strategic plan and later budget decisions. Bailey Dickinson, staff consultant with BerryDunn, summarized the scan with several data points: the city has grown “from a little over 60,000 to 80,000 plus now,” the median household income is $61,975 (compared with a cited national figure of $80,610), the median gross mortgage is $2,186 (national average cited at $2,617), the city’s unemployment rate was given as 2.6% versus a national 4%, and 25 charter public schools serve more than 14,000 students. The AARP livability index score presented for Homestead was 49 (the consultant said the national average is 48).

The consulting team framed the plan as a “living document” to guide the city’s vision, mission, strategic priorities and the budget. Charlene, project manager with BerryDunn, told the room “tonight’s all about you,” urging residents to discuss priorities in small groups and contribute via the city’s Social Pinpoint engagement site.

Public feedback, collected on the Social Pinpoint site and in interviews, showed consistent priorities. Road maintenance and transportation infrastructure emerged as the most frequently cited area for improvement and was the top priority for residents; parks and trails ranked second and economic development third. The consultants said emergency response, community engagement and active recreation facilities were areas residents said the city already does well.

Residents who spoke during the forum raised several recurring themes. Several participants urged preserving Homestead’s agricultural character and opposed high‑density residential projects; one resident urged a moratorium on large townhouse developments that, in their view, change neighborhood character. A city speaker said the city enacted a moratorium about a year earlier on new residential construction exceeding six units per acre.

Concerns about schools, and whether younger families are leaving or choosing not to move into the city, were raised in public comment. The consultants noted national trends toward lower birth rates as one possible factor and also flagged local school capacity and perceptions of school quality as items residents raised.

Downtown revitalization and permitting were central topics in multiple group reports. Jose Casanova, an architect and city planner who said he has worked in Homestead for 20 years, urged the city to attract artists and create a calendar of downtown events, saying, “Art can generate a lot of activities, which we need it badly.” Multiple speakers called for faster and clearer permitting and design‑review processes to make it easier for small businesses and restaurants to open or expand.

Mayor Lozner addressed housing and economic development in closing remarks and cautioned about terminology around “affordable housing,” asking the audience to distinguish between making housing prices more affordable and the narrow technical meaning of “Affordable Housing” that implies high‑density, subsidized projects. He also told residents the city plans to use an $8,000,000 federal transit grant to reimagine the streetscape on Crome and Washington avenues; the mayor said infrastructure work (water and wastewater) will be completed before paving.

Consultants and officials outlined next steps: the consultants will incorporate feedback into an environmental scan and SWOT analysis, then develop draft plan elements to present to the city council. The firm said a draft will be returned for public review before a planned final adoption (presented at the forum as July 16). The consultants also reminded residents of another forum the next evening and of online engagement opportunities.

The session closed with city announcements about programs and events including an Elevate Florida application deadline (April 11), an April/May events calendar, a May 2 reopening of the JD Red tennis/pickleball courts, and a new photo‑enforcement school‑zone program. Residents were encouraged to remain engaged as the strategic plan is developed and refined.

Votes or formal motions were not recorded at the forum; the session was an engagement and input meeting for the planning process.