The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board held a two-hour workshop on Thursday, April 13, at Apopka City Hall to review a preliminary draft of the city’s revised downtown redevelopment plan.
After including comments and revisions from the board and the public into the document, the City Council would eventually adopt the finalized plan at a tentative May date.
The redevelopment plan includes programs for residential, commercial and other properties located in the CRA District including Station Street, Sixth Street and the Fifth Street parking lot. The draft also outlines streetscape plans on some of the major roadways such as Michael Gladden Boulevard.
The CRA is comprised of the City Council, an Orange County Board of County Commissioners representative and other individuals appointed by the local government. The agency oversees the activities and programs given within the CRA District.
The Apopka CRA adopted its first redevelopment plan in June 1993. Under state law, local governments can identify CRA Districts if that region has needs such as more affordable housing, improved infrastructure and buildings, and increased roadways and parking space.
The city tried to update the redevelopment plan in 2006, but City Council didn’t adopt the changes. Therefore the document has retained its original version for nearly 25 years.
During the workshop’s first hour, city attorney Cliff Shepard gave the CRA Board a procedural review on redevelopment including benefits of it and what state statute says about it.
John Jones, project manager with S&ME, Inc. (LittleJohn), presented the preliminary draft of the updated community redevelopment plan. He covered the CRA’s existing conditions, market observation, recommendations, the conceptual master plan for the CRA district, and more.
Over a dozen downtown businesses and the city of Apopka co-own the Fifth Street parking lot. The city cannot move forward with the parking lot’s renovation unless the city fully owns the property.
“We never did finish off that parking lot on Fifth Street, but it is an integral part of our downtown,” said City Community Development Director Jim Hitt. “… That is actually very close to what’s considered a form-based code, where you bring the commercial buildings up to the front and the parking behind. That’s exactly what we have, but unless the CRA actually owns it, we cannot invest into that.”
Hitt said the document gives the city plenty of flexibility, and that if a project is not outlined in the plan, the city can’t do it.
“This plan is simple, but it’s detailed enough, and it’s a fairly easy read in terms of what we can do in guidance for the next few years,” Hitt said about the current preliminary plan. “Whether we update it after five years, we may. We may even have to do it in three to four years depending on what we accomplish in the next few years.”
