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Housing authority seeks CRA inclusion for Springfield Apartments redevelopment; board cautions on precedent and process
Summary
Tallahassee Housing Authority presented a community-developed Springfield Apartments master plan and asked the CRA to study adding the apartment buildings into the CRA boundary; board members said expansion requires interlocal steps and cautioned about precedent and legislative uncertainty.
Tawanna Thompson, representing the Tallahassee Housing Authority, presented a draft master plan on May 15 for Springfield Apartments that city and county funds supported through a planning process involving residents and stakeholders. Thompson said the authority seeks placement of the final draft on the June agendas of both the city and the county so architects and planners can present the plan. She told the CRA the redevelopment concept includes an additional eight acres of land the housing authority already owns; that parcel lies inside the CRA boundary, but the existing apartment buildings do not. "Doing housing development is going to be more difficult if the property is not included in the CRA," Thompson said, asking staff to study the feasibility of adding Springfield Apartments to the CRA boundary. She noted a website, springfieldforward.com, documents the public process and interactive materials. Board discussion noted that expanding CRA boundaries requires an interlocal agreement with Leon County and a formal boundary-expansion process that includes a finding of necessity by the commission. The city’s legal advisor confirmed the CRA could be expanded but described procedural and county-consent steps. The board’s chair and other members also cautioned against selectively expanding boundaries, citing prior requests (Griffin Heights) and a desire not to set a precedent without a policy framework. The board did not adopt a motion to expand boundaries. Members asked staff to continue to evaluate options and to consider other funding avenues the city and county have used on similar projects. The CRA chair said she was "big on not cherry picking" and asked staff to weigh alternatives before taking a boundary-expansion recommendation to the board. Why it matters: Incorporating the Springfield Apartments buildings into the CRA could make redevelopment tasks – including funding and coordinating improvements – easier, but boundary expansion is a cross-jurisdictional process and politically sensitive during a legislative year that may limit CRA activity. Next steps: Staff agreed to review feasibility and report back; the housing authority sought placement of the master-plan presentation on June agendas for city and county consideration.
