City staff considers applying for brownfields assessment grant

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The city of Apopka staff explored the possibility of applying for a brownfields assessment grant for a few properties located within the targeted downtown redevelopment area at their Tuesday, November 29, meeting about brownfields and economic development areas. The meeting took place at the UCF Incubator on South McGee Avenue.

State statute defines a brownfield site as a place that may see complications in redevelopment or expansion because of a possible or actual environmental contamination. A brownfield area consists of adjacent brownfield sites, some of which may not be contaminated, and which have been designated by a local government by resolution.

At up to $200,000 per property, the city could qualify for a maximum of $600,000 worth of an assessment grant for the Station Street area. With this assessment grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), they would assess the area for pollutants. The actual removal would require a different grant application.

“Most likely along the railroad tracks (on Station Street) there would be pollutants,” said city economic development director Jim Hitt.

Usually for an assessment grant, up to four sites can be applied. However, due to the state’s budgetary constraints, the grant application process is now being limited to three properties, said city grant writer Shakenya Harris-Jackson. Apopka would apply for the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

The city is focusing on getting the city center developed at the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and State Road. 436, where Martin’s Pond property is located. The city is also seeking to get a promenade constructed on Sixth Street, connecting the redeveloped downtown and the Station Street area, as well as transform Station Street into a mixed-use district for the city’s downtown area.

Station Street lies within the Apopka Community Redevelopment Area. In 1993, the city approved a resolution that established the CRA, which is designated as a brownfield area under the state Brownfields Redevelopment Act.