Latest news with #CommunityRedevelopmentArea
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
St. Petersburg explores program to make downtown cleaner, safer
The St. Petersburg City Council discussed ways to make downtown cleaner and safer Thursday after residents, business owners and employees pleaded last week for help following the fatal stabbing by a restaurant owner of a man who police said attacked him. City and downtown officials pitched a program to clean sidewalks and remove graffiti, pay safety ambassadors to collaborate with local police and build relationships with people living on the street to better connect them with mental health and housing resources. 'I know there's a speculation that somehow this is an anti-homeless initiative, but it absolutely is not,' said Jason Mathis, CEO of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership, a private nonprofit company that supports urban redevelopment projects. 'Your housing status doesn't make it that you want a less clean or more clean downtown.' The so-called Clean & Safe Program is not intended to discourage homeless people from being downtown, but instead help them find resources and housing options, Mathis said. Mathis proposed a pilot project focused on high traffic areas such as downtown, Beach Drive, Central Avenue and Williams Park. It would include creating a commercial improvement district, in which businesses would pay a franchise fee to the city that would be passed along to a nonprofit to run the program. Mathis said the downtown partnership would not compete for the job. If businesses aren't on board with how to pay for the effort, Mathis said the program could also be funded through parking revenue, private donations or using Community Redevelopment Area funds if the county agrees. City Administrator Rob Gerdes said parking meters could be expanded to the Edge District. Multiple residents, business owners and employees described problems with cleanliness and safety in the downtown area at last week's council meeting. Some residents said they were harassed or threatened while working or walking around downtown. 'We see it everyday — individuals living on the streets or in temporary hotel housing exhibiting behaviors that represent deep, unmet needs," Karen Carmichael, the Downtown Neighborhood Association's president, said at the June 5 meeting. 'This is no longer a housing issue, it's a public safety issue.' The address of the man who was stabbed and killed last month is listed as a room in the Williams Park Hotel on First Avenue North, according to a police report from a separate incident on the same day. In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a ban on homeless people sleeping in public spaces. This includes park benches, sidewalks and streets. The law also lets business owners and residents sue counties or municipalities for failing to comply. Residents at the June 5 meeting expressed concern with the city's enforcement the new law, as well as concerns with the city's compliance. Residents also circulated a petition, now with more than 400 signatures, in support of the Clean & Safe proposal. Other residents at Thursday's general City Council meeting at 1 p.m. expressed concerns that the Clean & Safe program would exclude or criminalize people who are homeless from the St. Petersburg community. At a Thursday morning committee meeting, council member Brandi Gabbard said the proposed program should primarily focus on connecting homeless populations with available resources. 'The cry for us to do more is really to help individuals who need help and cannot get those services,' Gabbard said. 'If we're not actually helping individuals and creating this in a way that it has [an] outspread to the entire city and a benefit, then I don't even want to continue this conversion.' Council members also discussed how the program would work with the existing CALL program, where social workers respond to mental health crises or homelessness complaints. The St. Petersburg Police Department also has a unit to assist the homeless in its patrol response division. Council member Richie Floyd said there's still 'a lot to shore up' with the Clean & Safe proposal. 'So many times I see what the issue with homeless people and transient populations are is that they just get shuffled around the city,' he said. 'We can't make this an effort to do that regardless of who's in charge of the outreach and we have to think at a higher level.' The council agreed Thursday to hold another meeting to further discuss the topic.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Panama City officials expand St. Andrews CRA boundary
PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB) – Tuesday morning, Panama City commissioners voted to expand the boundaries of the St. Andrews Community Redevelopment Area. The CRA boundary is currently along Beck Ave. and part of 15th St., but will soon extend west from Beck Ave. on 15th St. to the Hathaway Bridge, and east along 15th St. over to Lisenby Ave. A study found conditions of 'slum' and 'blight' in both areas that qualify them to be included in the CRA. Officials say the purpose is to clear blight and enhance the area coming into the city and near downtown. The county will retain 26% of the incremental revenue generated by the parcels in the expanded area. 'Some of us remember when there was this wonderful fishing village down in the heart of Beck Avenue, and it went into a state of decline. There were some unwanted businesses, there was blight and, and over the years as the, the taxes built up into a fund that could be reinvested by property owners, we saw then upgrades to property, new businesses come into the area and we're looking to see the same thing east and west along the business 98 corridor,' Panama City commissioner Janice Lucas said. The city will decide how the new CRA funds will be dispersed at a later date. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
