by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
Jacksonville Economic Development Commission executive director Kirk Wendland may have made one of the understatements of the year Thursday morning at the first meeting of the JEDC’s economic incentives subcommittee.
“At the JEDC workshop this month a draft ordinance was presented and that kicked off substantial debate,” said Wendland. “There is a lot of work to be done.”
Yes, there is, especially if the subcommittee is going to be able to convince city leaders that economic incentives are good for the entire city and not just one geographical region.
Since its inception in 1997, the JEDC has played a major role in the revitalization of downtown through various economic incentive programs. That role has included finished projects such as Berkman Plaza and the Adam’s Mark Hotel; current projects such as 11 E. Forsyth and The Shipyards; and those still in the planning stages such as The Strand on the Southbank.
While these projects have received both headlines and hundreds of million of dollars worth of incentives, some developers and politicians have begun to openly question what’s available for other parts of town. At Mayor John Delaney’s direction, the JEDC has focused primarily on projects north and west of the St. Johns River. Rarely has a project outside of those geographical boundaries been granted incentives. That may be coming to an end.
At this month’s JEDC workshop — the only action item was to approve the minutes from the July meeting — Chairman Fred Newbill asked JEDC members Ceree Harden and Susan Hartley to serve on the subcommittee. Their directive? Determine the feasibility of extending the geographical boundaries of the JEDC’s incentive policy to include most of Jacksonville or decide if that policy should only affect specific pockets of town. Areas under consideration include the South Metro office park between I-95 and Phillips Highway and a section of Arlington around the Town & Country shopping center.
Thursday’s meeting served as a starting point for the subcommittee. Both Harden and Wendland agreed that the subcommittee should be able to provide the JEDC with a report later this year, probably at the November meeting.
“We tried to form our outline as what we are doing and use that outline to give us direction,” said Hartley, who owns Sunbelt Coffee & Water. “We have to continue with our public purpose work. We are going to create an annual scorecard for projects and we will look at the challenges and needs for economically depressed areas.”
Hartley said she’s well aware of the stipulations Delaney established regarding the JEDC and its physical parameters. She also said Delaney can be receptive to innovative ideas.
“Mayor Delaney is a very astute mayor,” said Hartley. “He can recognize the need for outside input and he’s open-minded enough to consider it.”
Hartley even said she can envision the day the JEDC and Downtown Development Authority part ways, with the DDA continuing to concentrate on revitalizing existing and luring new businesses to the downtown area while the JEDC begins to incentivize projects all over Jacksonville.
“That’s possible, but I don’t know if the timing is right,” she said. “Down the road that may surface. Right now, we [the JEDC] have a clear direction.”
Before submitting their final report, the subcommittee will meet several more times. Plans call for members of the Chamber of Commerce, the African American Chamber of Commerce and the mayor’s office to be invited to participate in future discussions. The subcommittee will also create a matrix point system that will allow them to better determine which areas of town need what projects and the affects those projects will have on specific neighborhoods.