Blight or Slum Findings Study: September 8th

[heather]

On Monday, September 8th, 2008 at 5:30, a public meeting will be held
at GTEC to discuss the initial results of the Blight or Slum Findings
Study conducted by WilsonMiller. For more information, visit
http://www.meaningfulpursuit.com/highlandcourtmanor/2008/08/eastside-blight-or-slum/.

[Pavel Gubanikhin]

It looks like they are trying to expand the Eastside Community Redevelopement Area to include additional parts of East Gainesville. The state law says there has to be a blight/slum finding before the area can be designated as a CRA. Pavel Gubanikhin --- On Thu, 8/28/08, heather <siel...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Rob Brinkman]

Pavel,
    Actually the they who are wanting to expand the CRA is Rob Symensky developer of Hatchett Creek.  I saw a report he submitted to the City which showed 1,000 square foot block homes in Carol Estates near Waldo Road as an example of blight.  I was offended by this because like many of us in this area live in similar houses, they are not blight they are affordable housing which represents a typical middle class home from the 1950's in this area.  Mr. Symensky is also trying to classify vacant and undeveloped land adjacent to the Ironwood Golf Course as blighted.  This is offensive too, natural land is not blight it is open green space, something communities want and need, not something to be gotten rid of. 

Rob

[Pavel Gubanikhin]

Hi Rob, I was aware of the study commissioned by Mr. Shimensky; my understanding is that the previous study did not meet the statutory requirements for CRA expansion. Note that the current expansion map does not appear to include Hatchet Creek area except for the thin strip on the west side of Waldo Road (Study Area 1). Having said that, the state law seems pretty inclusive in defining "blight" for the purposes of establishing a CRA. Here's the full list from FS Ch. 163: (8)  "Blighted area" means an area in which there are a substantial number of deteriorated, or deteriorating structures, in which conditions, as indicated by government-maintained statistics or other studies, are leading to economic distress or endanger life or property, and in which two or more of the following factors are present: (a)  Predominance of defective or inadequate street layout, parking facilities, roadways, bridges, or public transportation facilities; (b)  Aggregate assessed values of real property in the area for ad valorem tax purposes have failed to show any appreciable increase over the 5 years prior to the finding of such conditions; (c)  Faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness; (d)  Unsanitary or unsafe conditions; (e)  Deterioration of site or other improvements; (f)  Inadequate and outdated building density patterns; (g)  Falling lease rates per square foot of office, commercial, or industrial space compared to the remainder of the county or municipality; (h)  Tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land; (i)  Residential and commercial vacancy rates higher in the area than in the remainder of the county or municipality; (j)  Incidence of crime in the area higher than in the remainder of the county or municipality; (k)  Fire and emergency medical service calls to the area proportionately higher than in the remainder of the county or municipality; (l)  A greater number of violations of the Florida Building Code in the area than the number of violations recorded in the remainder of the county or municipality; (m)  Diversity of ownership or defective or unusual conditions of title which prevent the free alienability of land within the deteriorated or hazardous area; or (n)  Governmentally owned property with adverse environmental conditions caused by a public or private entity. Pavel --- On Thu, 8/28/08, Rob Brinkman <RobBr...@cox.net> wrote:

[Justin]

I'm trying to find out more information about CRAs, and the only
information I can find is the government-posted information about
various CRAs in the state. The only things they mention are the
improvements that the city is implementing in the areas. I can't seem
to find anything about how it actually seems to affect the communities
in which it is implemented. For example, is there any financial
burden on the CRA due to taxes or short-term loss of property value
due to this designation, does it provide genuine improvements to an
area or is it something that the city has to due simply because it is
mandated in the Florida statutes?

Justin