Staff outlines possible East Gateway TIRZ expansion to spur development

Drew Brasfield, assistant director of planning, told the council staff is researching a potential expansion of the East Gateway Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2 to capture incremental tax growth and reinvest it in infrastructure. "This map is a representation of the area that we have started researching," Brasfield said, describing an analysis of roughly 2,100 acres and more than 200 parcels; he said the zone’s 2025 tax base is about $117 million and that about three‑quarters of the area is vacant or undeveloped.

Brasfield said developers who recently expressed interest in the corridor indicated that lack of water, sewer and drainage infrastructure is the primary barrier and that many proposals would require incentives to be viable. Council members pushed staff on whether expansion would lengthen the zone’s life (staff said it would not) and whether incentives are property‑tax rebates only (staff said yes). Mayor Stanley and council discussed the long‑term nature of TIRZ tools and cautioned that the mechanism only captures property‑tax increments, not sales tax, and therefore must be aligned with infrastructure planning if it is to prompt private investment.