West City steering committee votes 6-1 to recommend CRA plan as state bills threaten new projects

The West City Community Redevelopment Area steering committee voted 6-1 Thursday to recommend the committee’s latest community redevelopment plan to the Community Redevelopment Agency, moving the plan closer to a sequence of hearings that city staff said could result in commission adoption in June.

The vote was the committee’s formal endorsement of the draft plan after Jamie Perkins, the city’s neighborhood services director and CRA manager, presented the latest revisions and scheduling. Perkins said the plan — draft 15 in the meeting packet — retains a six-point strategic action plan and will be posted to the city’s CRA website.

Perkins said the draft removes the term “marketing” from business-development language because of current legislative scrutiny: “marketing is not something that CRA dollars should be paying for,” she said. She listed the remaining priorities as mobility and connectivity, stormwater improvements, historic signage and branding tied to the special district, and locally focused business development.

Why it matters: the plan creates a framework to use tax increment financing (TIF) for mobility, housing rehabilitation and other projects in West City. City staff warned that two companion bills moving through the Florida Legislature would prevent CRAs from authorizing new projects in the next fiscal year, potentially blocking the use of TIF for new work if the bills become law before the CRA adopts a budget.

City Attorney Lopez described the proposed state legislation as a severe constraint on new CRAs and on new project lines for existing CRAs. “This bill essentially just pulls the rug out from under you because you don’t have any budget, so you have no pending projects,” she said, adding the city’s legislative consultant believes opposition from the Florida League of Cities and other groups could prevent the bills from fully advancing this year.

Public comment at the meeting included new resident Karina Joyner, who said she bikes and walks in West City and urged more bike lanes (particularly on Palmer Street) and better traffic control downtown. Joyner also asked whether the plan supports a community garden; Perkins said the plan addresses food access and mentions establishing a community garden or farmers market.

The committee also heard clarifications about funding and process. Perkins said the initial consultant fees for preparing the finding-of-necessity and the plan were covered from the city general fund for consulting, and that those payments were not a loan to the CRA. The steering committee asked staff to request that the City Commission waive repayment when TIF dollars accrue; Perkins said senior administration advised waiting to present any repayment-waiver proposal until after plan adoption.

Perkins outlined the near-term schedule if the committee’s recommendation is approved: the Community Redevelopment Agency meeting on April 28; Planning and Zoning (the local planning agency) on May 6; a special agency meeting May 12; first-reading and public hearing at the city commission meeting the evening of May 12; and a second-reading and potential adoption at the commission meeting in June.

Steering committee members also were told the steering committee’s advisory body sunsets with this meeting, so members are no longer bound by sunshine-law restrictions after adjournment and may engage in advocacy on behalf of the plan and CRA-related matters.

Votes at a glance - Motion: Recommend approval of the West City Community Redevelopment Plan to the Community Redevelopment Agency (text: “I would make a motion to approve the plan as written.”). Mover/second: not specified on the public record. Vote tally: 6 yes, 1 no. Outcome: approved (recommendation to agency). Note: the lone no vote was recorded as the committee member identified in roll call as BJ Colady.

Other items: Perkins announced a city outreach schedule tied to the CRA’s 25th anniversary, starting April 16 at the West King Market, and said the plan received a Plans and Studies award from the Florida Redevelopment Association for the city’s establishment of the West City CRA.

What remains open: the Steering Committee recommended the plan to the agency; the plan must still clear the Community Redevelopment Agency, the Planning and Zoning Board and the City Commission for adoption and any budget discussions. City staff and the city attorney urged residents to monitor Tallahassee legislation and to contact local legislators and commissioners if they wish to oppose bills that would limit CRAs.