Stuart officials review downtown revitalization as preliminary plan exceeds budget

Town Manager Bryce Simmons reported to the Stuart Town Council on July 15 that the downtown revitalization project’s draft site improvement plan is approximately $500,000 above the funding allocated to the project. The project deliverables remain facade improvements to downtown buildings and upgrades to the bandshell at the Farmers Market. Mr. Simmons said sketches of the bandshell improvements are expected to be available soon.

Simmons said the funding mismatch stems in part from property owners requesting all desired improvements while the program typically covers about $15,000 per facade. “A facade is defined as any side of a building visible from public space,” he said, meaning some buildings could have up to three facades and therefore require prioritization. The Planning Commission will serve as the façade review committee, and West Piedmont Planning District Commission staff have contacted the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development to determine whether the agency has preferences among the improvements.

Council did not vote on the item. Simmons said the next step is to work with property owners to establish priorities and to convene the façade review committee. The council meeting packet included finalized drafts of deed and operation-and-maintenance agreements related to a deck structure behind affected businesses; a Project Management Team meeting was scheduled for the following day to seek agreement on those documents.