DID approves $1.9 million project

After more than two years of workshops and formal meetings — and merchants’ last-minute threat of legal action in protest — the Downtown Improvement District Board of Directors has approved a $1.9 million project for Main Street that it intends to pay for itself.

Design work could begin as early as March, with construction finishing up by Thanksgiving, if the City Commission gives the DID its support.

During its Feb. 7 regular meeting, the DID officially approved the portion of the project that exists within its boundaries. The board will forward its recommendation to the City Commission, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, for review.

While some board members questioned whether the commission would support the project, DID Operations Manager John Moran reminded them the DID is going to pay for the improvements from Bayfront Avenue to Orange Avenue, along with approximately half of the upgrades proposed from Orange Avenue to Osprey Avenue.

“You are financing this yourselves with a 20-year bond,” Moran said.

The DID will use bond revenue that its stakeholders will pay back through the continuation of a 2 mill assessment over the next 20 years.

The DID sent out a letter last week to the stakeholders, to request their input, but board members said Tuesday they had received very little feedback.

However, Ron Soto, owner of Soto’s Optical at 1383 Main Street, brought to the meeting a petition with signatures of merchants on Main Street from Bayfront Avenue to the Five Points roundabout. He said the petition protested the DID decision to widen and brick the sidewalks along that portion of the road.

The DID also plans to replace angled parking with parallel parking on the north side of the road in the historic district.

“More than 75% of us just want you leave the sidewalks alone and the only ones that want it widened are the four restaurants in that area,” Soto said. “We don’t want it, and we know you’re going to railroad it through anyway, though, so our next step is that we are going to lawyer up.”

The comments didn’t deter the board members, because Moran told them two of the project’s goals are to create wider sidewalks and to add more definition to the historic district.

Earlier this year, the DID pared back plans to install wider sidewalks on more of Main Street and to brick that street in the historic district, from Bayfront Avenue to Orange Avenue.

However, major bulbout improvements and enhanced lighting are planned from the Five Points roundabout to Orange Avenue.

The improvements agreed upon include the retention of angled parking from the Five Points roundabout east.

The DID additionally will recommend the CRA approve funding for the following projects:
• $224,000 for North Palm Avenue streetscaping (The DID will pay $10,000 for this work, beyond its primary commitment to the Main Street project.)

• $1.3 million for First Street enhancements from Pineapple Avenue to U.S. 41

• $1 million for a roundabout at the intersection of Main Street and Orange Avenue

Altogether, the CRA will be asked to spend $4,434,000, with the DID paying 43% of the projects’ costs and the CRA spending 57% of its available dollars.

What remains unfunded are upgrades estimated at $1.3 million on the easterly half of Main Street from Orange Avenue to Osprey Avenue, plus all the improvements proposed from Osprey Avenue to U.S. 301.

It’s the DID’s hope that merchants east of Osprey Avenue that witness improvements will join the DID and receive improvements further east on Main Street.