A.G. Gancarski
On Thursday, Jacksonville City Council members Scott Wilson, John Crescimbeni, and Greg Anderson convened to discuss an issue of interest to Wilson: commercial corridors in need of re-development.
Wilson, elected in 2015, has contended Jacksonville’s economic incentives policy doesn’t accommodate his district on Jacksonville’s Southside, where many neighborhoods have economic issues, but don’t qualify for incentives in the city’s recently formulated policy.
While the idea is to encourage retail development, the short answer is there are no easy answers to problems of disuse and misuse that built over decades.
One option could be Residential Recapture Enhanced Value Grants, or REV Grants, which could defray the cost of some improvements over time, such as facade improvements and landscaping.
An open question is whether that grant would “move the needle” to drive incentive.
For businesses like used car lots and mechanics, these modest grants wouldn’t really drive the kind of commercial redevelopment needed.
Paul Crawford, a representative from the mayor’s office’s economic development department, suggested a way forward would be to change the use, into a “productive retail space.”
Many properties weren’t designed for their current uses, Crawford said.
Councilman Crescimbeni noted previous zoning decisions “opened the door” for a preponderance of used car lots and the like in Arlington, suggesting that changing the zoning categories may be the move.
“Down zoning” properties would have a gradual effect, with current tenants grandfathered in, Crescimbeni said.
Amortization was also discussed, creating a hard deadline for compliance with zoning criteria, which could change the topography of these “blightscapes” over time.
Another issue with the zoning in some parts of the Southside and Arlington: the fact that commercial zoning can go back a couple of properties into neighborhoods.
A potential solution: a zoning overlay to create larger, albeit gradual, zoning changes.
With overlays in Jacksonville, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, though the zoning issues in once-thriving areas seem to come down to used car dealerships and other businesses not conducive to residential prosperity.
Anderson discussed areas on the Westside, such as Blanding and San Juan, that have become hotbeds of more sordid businesses in recent years.
Hardscaping was discussed as one potential solution. Also discussed were community development block grant dollars, which may be difficult in these areas given that they aren’t quite economically distressed enough.
Crescimbeni laid out a problem: “planning commissioners aren’t accountable to anybody … and right now, we have a planning commission that never met an exception it didn’t like.”
Of course, the planning commission went through some big changes about a year ago, when Alvin Brown appointees were scuttled in favor of Lenny Curry adherents.
