Oakland Park CRA highlights new businesses, holiday events and downtown outreach; board adopts October minutes

Nessa Herrera, director of the Oakland Park Community Redevelopment Agency, delivered the CRANovember update, listing new downtown businesses, recent awards and several upcoming community events.

Herrera said the cityis drawing wider attention: "Cheers to Oakland Park," she said after noting that Chambers Distillery received national recognition in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice rankings. She welcomed new downtown businesses including Jove MIM Advanced Aesthetics, Tanira Lisette Barber Studio, Florida International Marketing, Native Art LLC and SSI Roofing and Construction LLC.

The update included business anniversaries and openings. Herrera said the Tenth Level Tavern marked 10 years and Rendezvous Bakery and Bistro marked 20 years in late October. She also announced a new Bondi Sushi location at the Oakland Building on Federal Highway and a grand opening for La Sundrissa de la Abuelo adult day care on Nov. 9 (the ribbon cutting was described as scheduled for noon).

Herrera outlined a series of public events intended to draw downtown visitors: a Halloween Bash Oct. 24 at Wimberley Field that the presentation said brought over 2,000 people; an Oakmont Park Art Walk on Main Street scheduled for Nov. 15; Small Business Saturday on Nov. 29 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Main Street (from NE 30th Street to NE 30th Court); and Holiday Village on Dec. 5and 6 with a tree-lighting ceremony and a community vote for a favorite tree. She also invited downtown businesses to a financial resources expo and to a downtown partners meeting on Nov. 12 from 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m., and said the regular Oakland Park business partners meeting was moved from Nov. 11 to Dec. 2, 8:00a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

During public comment, resident Owen Marr praised Herreraand CRA efforts on the Powerline corridor, saying the corridor "has changed, it looks nice" and offering to assist city staff in identifying problem properties. Marr told the board that Andrews Avenue "from Oakland Park to Sunrise Boulevard" is likely to be torn up next year and urged officials to prepare for renewed business activity once construction is complete; he also cited two properties in nearby Wilton Manors with court-initiated foreclosures he said had been prompted by citizen pressure.

The board then took formal action on the consent agenda. A motion to adopt the October minutes passed on roll call with the following recorded votes: Board member Newbold, Yes; Board member Budhu, Yes; Vice Chair Arndt, Yes; Board member Gordon, Yes; Chair Lonergan, Yes.

A board member asked staff to follow up on a previous Andrews Avenue tour and to relay resident concerns to the CRA director. The meeting adjourned after brief additional remarks.