Learn about the proposed Lincolnville CRA

Those Historic City News readers wishing to know more about the proposed Lincolnville Community Redevelopment Agency can review the $75,000 blight study prepared by Prosser Hallock, Inc. — including boundary maps, applicable portions of state law and data about the area.

Three meetings have been scheduled by the City of St Augustine to provide information and receive input from the public regarding the Lincolnville Community Redevelopment Agency; the first will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 22, followed by one meeting on Wednesday and one on Thursday, January 23 and 24 at 6:00 p.m.

All meetings will be held at the Willie Galimore Center located at 399 Ribera Street in St Augustine, and are part of the process of conducting the “Finding of Necessity” analysis for the Lincolnville neighborhood.

The purpose of the analysis is to determine if the criteria that define “blight” are present in sufficient amount to provide a basis for City Commission adoption of a Resolution for Finding of Necessity.

If the study area meets the criteria and the Commission decides to proceed, then a Redevelopment Plan will be structured to address the area’s inadequacies and provide strategies and mechanisms on which to build positive improvements in Lincolnville.

A very important element in creating the Redevelopment Plan is public input, so the community is encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by these meetings.

New financial resources derived from new community redevelopment are a result of the creation of an increment financing district and its increasing property value following a base year.

For instance, if a property generates property taxes of $100 at the base year, but a year later real estate values increased the property taxes to $101, the additional income of $1 will be dedicated to improvements within the boundaries of the redevelopment area.

If created, this will be the city’s second community redevelopment area after the Historic Area Transportation and Parking Community Redevelopment Area created to support the parking facility at the Visitors Information Center.

One or more members of the St. Augustine City Commission may be attendance at the public meetings. For more information about the meetings, contact the Planning and Building Department at 904.825.1065.