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Commissioners clash over McNabb Botanical Gardens and equity of TIF spending
Summary
Commissioners split over the McNabb Botanical Gardens, downtown priorities and whether TIF revenue disproportionately benefits the East CRA versus Northwest community projects; multiple commissioners asked for amendments, local benefits and added community amenities.
The McNabb Botanical Gardens project and downtown master plan emerged as the central political fault line in the meeting, with several Northwest commissioners arguing the CRA has not delivered commensurate benefits to their districts.
Vice Mayor Fournier and Commissioner Perkins traded sharp remarks over whether long-standing projects in the East have appropriated much of the CRA’s resources and whether smaller, local developers should be included in downtown assemblages. Commissioner Perkins said she would support the budget if specific educational and vocational components — including a college resource center and sports hall of fame — were added to the downtown plan. "I want all of that added into the downtown project," she said, pushing staff to propose funding sources and an amendment to the master development agreement.
Staff and the developer team committed to meet with commissioners, and counsel and staff said amendments to the master development agreement could be drafted and brought back for consideration once funding sources are identified. Commissioners agreed to additional workshops to increase community input and transparency on design and programmatic elements.
