by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
David Auchter supports the mayor’s plan to eliminate the Downtown Development Authority even though it will bring a premature end to Auchter’s term as DDA chairman.
Auchter had been sitting in the chairman’s seat for only two months when Peyton announced his plan to cut the DDA out of the City’s approval process for development deals. The mayor’s proposal to replace the DDA with an advisory committee should accelerate by a month the approval process for such deals according to Ron Barton, executive director of the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission.
Barton expects that removing the extra layer of red tape should make Jacksonville a more attractive market to developers.
Auchter, also vice president of corporate development at the Auchter Company, agrees with that line of thinking so long as downtown advocates have an adequate voice within the JEDC. The mayor’s proposal takes steps to provide that by expanding the JEDC board from seven seats to nine and setting aside three seats for members of the Downtown Committee, the DDA’s replacement.
“I think the mayor has displayed throughout his time in office that, in no uncertain terms, the revitalization of downtown is a priority to him,” said Auchter. “The effectiveness of repealing the DDA will depend on the strength of the Downtown Committee and its support staff.”
Auchter doesn’t know whether he’ll be filling one of the seats set aside on the JEDC board for the Downtown Committee. He’s on the board currently in the seat reserved for the DDA chair. However, once the DDA is gone, it will be up to Peyton whether Auchter will remain.
Auchter’s selection would put two former DDA chairmen on the JEDC board — Bob Rhodes is the other. Auchter thinks that would send a clear message from the mayor’s office that the cause for developing downtown is secure, even in the DDA’s absence.
“I could see a very good scenario where you have two previous chairman of the DDA sitting on the JEDC (board.) That would be very telling,” said Auchter.
Auchter sees areas where the new committee could improve the City’s approach to developing downtown. A streamlined approval process is a good start, he said. But he thinks the City should readdress its downtown masterplan to reflect current market conditions and also said the process as a whole should be more inviting to developers.
“The masterplan has been a tremendous asset, but it needs to reflect current activity downtown,” said Auchter. “The current plan wasn’t aware of The Strand and the Peninsula going vertical on the Southbank. It wasn’t aware of the public investment along Bay Street.”