by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Reaction to the Civic Council’s Northbank Redevelopment Task Force report has been emerging, with the early outlook positive from City Council members.
The report, released Tuesday, called for the creation of a Downtown Improvement Authority, including its potential governance and financial structure, to oversee all Downtown development.
As part of the revitalization effort, the report included plans to turn the Duval County Courthouse and Annex site into a convention center and exhibition hall of 80,000 square feet or more.
Mayor John Peyton, who helped commission the study, praised the Civic Council’s work and said he was encouraged by the participation from the private sector. The Civic Council consists of about 50 business and civic leaders.
Peyton said while it’s still early in the process, the report and Downtown discussion are “clearly an important conversation.”
“It’s going in the right direction,” said Peyton.
City Council President Jack Webb met with task force leadership, including task force Chair Preston Haskell, before the Tuesday council meeting.
Haskell spoke at the council meeting Tuesday night to present the report.
While Webb said he hasn’t examined the details of the report, the sit-down with Civic Council leadership left him appreciative of the work.
Despite past efforts for Downtown revitalization that have stalled, Webb said he believes mistakes can be avoided with the new plan, given the leaders involved.
“I’m optimistic we can make something happen,” he said.
Like Webb, council member Don Redman, whose district includes parts of Downtown, also sat down with Civic Council leadership to discuss the report before its release.
Redman said he came away from the 45-minute briefing impressed with the suggestions, but cautious about the report’s funding needs, given the present economic conditions.
“The ideas sound great and the overall concept I think is a great idea,” said Redman, though he is undecided about its outlined governance structure.
“But we have a budget to balance. Funding is something we’re going to have to convince taxpayers to do,” he said.
The report calls for a seven-member authority. Rummell and Haskell estimated it would need funding of about $29 million a year and identified several sources. The report said that current conditions do not bode well for a property tax increase.
Redman said his constituents continue to oppose any more taxes or fees.
“It all looks good, it all sounds good and it is good,” said Redman. “But it isn’t going to happen overnight.”
Civic Council Chair Peter Rummell told media Tuesday that the timing of the release was on purpose so that mayoral and City Council candidates would discuss it.
“The reason we’re doing it now is we want it to be part of the debate,” he said.
“It is not an accident we are doing this today,” he said.
Terry Lorince, Downtown Vision Inc. executive director, also is happy to see more support and effort focused on Downtown. She said while she hasn’t closely read the report, several of its points are similar to DVI’s own white paper.
The report is designed to create an authority that will span mayoral administrations, including the one that will be elected in the spring.
Audrey Moran, one of the candidates in the mayoral race, has advocated to recreate the Downtown Development Authority and called its reimplementation the first legislation she’d introduce in office.
Moran, a Republican, was the first mayoral candidate to support of the document Tuesday, saying in a statement she welcomes it.
Candidate Alvin Brown, a Democrat, issued a statement Tuesday evening that creation of a Downtown development authority is part of his platform.
“But regarding the civic council’s proposal, I am concerned that it would create another layer in the bureaucratic process with no accountability. City government needs to focus on reducing bureaucracy and enacting on-the-ground policies that improve residents’ quality of life and take accountable steps toward revitalizing Downtown,” said Brown.
Representatives for candidate Mike Hogan said they were looking into the report before commenting. Representatives for candidate Rick Mullaney did not respond to a request for comment.
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