Planning board finds Myrtle Grove redevelopment plan in conformance, urges commissioners to review TIF capture rate

The Escambia County Planning Board on Aug. 5 voted 5-1 to recommend that the Board of County Commissioners adopt the Myrtle Grove Redevelopment Plan, a 30-year plan covering 1,529.73 acres and 3,746 parcels identified by county staff as a blighted area in need of targeted investment.

Max Rogers, development program manager with the Escambia County Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), presented the plan and supporting data. Rogers said Myrtle Grove is 82.3% residential and that a windshield housing condition survey found 19.1% of homes in "poor or worse" condition. He also said median household and per-capita incomes in Myrtle Grove are substantially lower than the county average, with a high share of "ALICE" (asset-limited, income-constrained, employed) households.

Rogers told the board the plan is the result of public workshops and includes objectives and area strategies that respond to identified needs: stormwater and drainage improvements, sewer expansion, sidewalks and street lighting, code enforcement and blight removal, housing repair programs, park and recreation improvements, and business corridor beautification. The plan lists capital projects, potential financing mechanisms including Community Development Block Grants and tax increment financing (TIF), and implementation partners.

During discussion a board member summarized a property-appraiser estimate received by staff: the taxable base for a proposed Myrtle Grove CRA would be about $329 million (the base year assessment used to compute increments). At the county's standard 75% TIF capture rate, the board member said the first-year increment would amount to roughly $136,000 available to the CRA, with the remaining local property-tax revenue continuing to the general fund; higher capture rates would increase CRA revenues.

Board members and public commenters supported the plan's emphasis on infrastructure and neighborhood investments. Flood advocate Chris Curb spoke in favor, noting past CRA-funded basin studies and downstream capital projects as examples of successful uses of CRA seed funding.

In the motion, the planning board found the Myrtle Grove Redevelopment Plan to be in conformity with the Escambia County comprehensive plan and forwarded the plan to the Board of County Commissioners with a contemporaneous request that the commission consider reviewing the TIF capture percentage to maximize funds for CRA projects. The plan and related TIF ordinance are scheduled for the BCC public hearing on Sept. 4.

The plan includes a neighborhood impact analysis (required under state law) that found no planned relocations, a list of priority capital projects (sidewalks, stormwater, sewer expansions), and an implementation section identifying potential funding sources, partners and performance steps.