The Crestview Community Redevelopment Agency has frequently been in the news lately. What is it and how does it benefit the community?
CRESTVIEW — Residents may have heard about the city's Community Redevelopment Agency.
But what is its purpose, and who's behind it?
Read Part I of this report here>>
WHO’S IN CHARGE?
Crestview’s CRA oversight falls under the Growth Management Department and, for financial oversight, City Clerk Betsy Roy.
The agency answers to the CRA board, which includes the City Council, plus two appointed members from the district. An attorney, who specializes in CRAs, provides legal advice to the board.
Separating City Council and CRA board responsibilities is important, Crestview CRA administrative team leader Brenda Smith said.
“When they walk in the door they have to think very creatively and strategically,” she said. “They have to be visionaries.”
Hands-on day-to-day operations until June 30 fell under a contracted director. As of July 1, an eight-member team manages the CRA.
THE C.R.A. TEAM
Last week, Smith went from being the agency’s director to a team leader for the CRA’s newly hired advertising and marketing agency.
Hiring the Petermann Agency of Fort Walton Beach was a necessary step in bringing the CRA to the next level as it prepares to tackle serious redevelopment, she said.
“You surround yourself by the experts that know how to redevelop, to transform something from what it is to something totally different,” Smith said. “It’s going to eliminate blight and increase the value of property in the area and everyone benefits.”
Smith said she, with Petermann’s staff of experts, will immediately begin assessing the district and developing a redevelopment plan.
“We need a real good conceptual plan,” she said. “We need to address issues like high vacancy.”
RETAIL DEVELOPMENT
Toward that goal, Petermann brought Matt Petro, chief development officer of Retail Strategies, before the CRA Board’s June 24 workshop meeting.
“(Retail recruitment) is really critical,” Smith said. “When you have a problem, you can sit there and talk about it, but you have to look for a solution.
“There’s a lot of data that these retail companies look at. You have to position yourself and say ‘Hey, look at me! Look at me!’”
While downtown Crestview has often looked toward Fairhope, Alabama’s successful downtown rehabilitation, Smith said that model can’t be cut-and-pasted onto Crestview.
“It’s great to look at other places, but we’re going to be very different from Fairhope,” she said. “We’ll never be a Fairhope. They have different qualities and different planning. We have to be proud of what we have.”
NO FEARS FOR MOM-AND-POPS
Should the CRA contract with Retail Strategies — a year-to-year contract could run as much as $50,000 annually — existing locally-owned Main Street businesses needn’t fear being run off, Smith said.
“If it’s done right, they don’t suffer,” she said. “They grow as well. It makes everybody have to be business savvy and entrepreneurs. It creates entrepreneurial niches, and that’s what you want in your downtown area.”
With her team of experts and her funds in place, Smith sees the CRA district poised to leap into its next phase of redevelopment.
“We’re going forward with some serious stuff,” she said. “There’s enough money that we can have some serious impact on the area.”
Crestview’s Community Redevelopment Agency has spearheaded several downtown improvements, including:
●Three-phase Main Street district streetscape improvements, 1996-2003
●Main Street Crestview Association creation, 1998
●Historic Preservation District designation and documentation of more than 200 downtown structures, 2001-03
●National Register of Historic Districts designation received 2006
●Crestview Centennial Celebration funding begun, 2013-16. Centennial events contracted to Main Street Crestview Association
●Crestview Bark Park dog park planning and fundraising begun, 2015-16
CRESTVIEW C.R.A. PROJECTS
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's CRA, Part II: Who's behind it and what does it do? (VIDEO)