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Margate CRA brings update to public
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Tuesday,
April 28, 2009
On Thursday, April 30 from 6 to 8 p.m. the Margate Community Redevelopment Agency (MCRA) will hold a workshop at City Hall to update residents on development activities and the revised goals and objectives of the MCRA. The public is asked to attend.
Current market and economic conditions will be discussed, along with City Center and TOC (Transit Oriented Corridor) projects, programs and implementation plans. The city has contracted with consultants, Place Planning and Design Inc. to evaluate CRA plans last updated in 2001 and to take a fresh look at the project moving forward.
Margate City Commissioner, Frank Talerico, urges Margate residents to attend, as rallying public input and support for CRA plans in the past has not come swiftly. Talerico recalls poor public turnout for past CRA workshops, emphasizing that the participation by Margate residents and businesses during the process is vital to CRA long-term success.
“It’s difficult to move forward on a project like this if we don’t know what the people want,” he said.
Officially formed in 1996, Margate’s Community Redevelopment Agency has been a source of debate among Margate politicians and at times has divided the dais.
In 2003, when the CRA accumulated roughly $3 million in incremental tax revenue, Mayor at the time, Arthur Bross, was in favor of the CRA purchasing large parcels of land. Conversely, Commissioner Pam Donovan questioned whether the CRA should be able to spend large sums of money to buy land, since its board members were appointed, not elected. Vice Mayor, Joe Varsallone, expressed concern over land purchases, saying that the CRA should connect buyers to sellers rather than acquire properties itself.
“I do not want the city to become a middle-of-the-road real estate agency,” said Varsallone in a Sun-sentinel report dated January 2003.
Come 2004, Margate’s CRA board was disbanded and replaced by Margate City Commissioners. In a 2-1 vote at a special meeting called by Donovan, Joe Varsallone was the only one in dissent against Commissioners David McClean and Donovan who agreed that, as a civilian board, the CRA wielded too much power and was not accountable to taxpayers. Although Mayor Bross and Commissioner Talerico both objected to the commission take over, they didn’t attend the special meeting. Had they, a 3-2 victory in favor of the keeping the CRA board would have been the result. Despite an opportunity to flip CRA disbandment following the special meeting, Margate City Commissioners handed full control of the CRA board over to themselves on April 5, 2004.
Since, the MCRA has taken on a positive image in revitalizing the downtown streetscape and in purchasing land formerly known as the Swap Shop, along with various parcels between Coconut Creek Parkway and Atlantic Boulevard. Despite the recent slowdown in the economy, MCRA land value is holding its own and plans to move forward and development MCRA lands continue.
Staying abreast of MCRA developments can result in business opportunities, improved quality of life and a general knowledge and involvement in the workings of Margate. CRA workshops are typically informative and MCRA officials amicable in fielding questions from the audience.
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Copyright Cassius Group 2009
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