Citizens for the Revitalization of Temple Terrace
Latest News April 26, 2003
Latest
News (April 26, 2003):
The City
Manager and staff is wrapping up the creation of the Town Planner Selection Committee. The Town Planner Selection Committee will consist
of seven
categories of individuals from the community that will provide a broad range of expertise
and knowledge. Since the categories are now
defined, individuals will be selected for each slot with final approval by the City
Council. It is the desire of the City to
create a completely apolitical Town Planner Selection Committee and it is our hope that in
pursuing this goal, the City will not go overboard and select individuals who are totally
unfamiliar with our city's Revitalization direction.
On March 19th,
City of Temple Terrace Community Redevelopment Director R. Matthew Shannon (Downtown
Revitalization Project Manager) presented to the Greater Temple Terrace Chamber of
Commerce on the current status of our Downtown Revitalization. There were about 100 people in attendance. Matt mentioned that one of the reasons it is
imperative that we Revitalize our Downtown concerns the stagnation of assessed property
values in Temple Terrace. Here are those
values, which compare 2002/2003 to 2001/2002 assessed property values (as provided
by City of Temple Terrace Finance Director Lee Huffstutler):
9% increase
in Hillsborough County
8% increase
in Tampa
7%
increase in Plant City
1.6%
increase in Temple Terrace--This is the lowest increase in property values in the past 6
years
It is our
hope that the Downtown Revitalization, if done to the highest quality, will kindle a
positive Revitalization energy. The
Revitalization will be accomplished to the highest quality only if our City selects the
best Town Planner from our list of fourteen. The
best Town Planners will then attract the best Development Teams. Optimistically, the Revitalization energy from our
downtown will spread outward from the Downtown Revitalization area (called a “halo
effect”) to the three neighboring downtown areas as well as the adjacent
residential—effectively pushing the blighted areas that border our city further away
from the city core.
The
updated Revitalization area property appraisals are expected at any time. The current real estate appraisals are
taking longer than expected, as they are more complex than the previous appraisal of
several years ago. The latest appraisal
involves a variety of sub-consultants including a “furniture, fixture and
equipment” (F.F.& E) appraiser, surveyor and land planner. In addition, the consultants have had difficulty
gaining access to some of the property parcels and some of the appraisals have been
disputed. The updated real estate appraisal
cannot be completed until work by the sub-consultant is also completed. Once this very detailed appraisal is
acquired, the CRA Director and the City
Attorney will negotiate with the Bickimer brothers (owners of the old Publix at Terrace
Plaza) in an attempt to avoid the more costly process of condemnation, eminent domain or a
"quick take” of the property.
On April 22nd the City Council held a Special
Workshop, the purpose of which was to get an update on the Revitalization and discuss a
strategy for acquiring out-parcels. The
highpoints of the meeting were:
a)
Bringing
the Downtown Revitalization property north of Chicago Avenue under City control was our
City’s highest priority, property lying in the Downtown Revitalization area south of
Chicago Avenue as well as the Doral Oaks Apartments complex is secondary but any
opportunities will be studied closely. It
is rumored that the owner of Doral Oaks is considering transforming his existing
apartments into condominiums, thus the time for our City to acquire that parcel is before
that process begins.
b) City of
Temple Terrace Finance Director Lee Huffstutler stated even in the worst-case financial
scenario, the Revitalization could still proceed by only utilizing existing C.I.T funds
but this could retard other commitments for the funds.
c) General Obligation Bonds (G.O.) might be needed in the future, which require a public referendum. G.O. Bonds are a way of financing the cost of physical improvements to the City's neighborhoods, streets, parks, beaches, public safety facilities, and other facilities. They are paid solely from property taxes.