Bayshore CAPA erected a sign indicating its first right of refusal on the CRA's catalytical redevelopment site on Bayshore Dr.
The Bayshore Beautification MSTU was created in 1997 and the Bayshore Gateway Triangle CRA was created in 2000. While the Bayshore Beautification MSTU was busy at work installing decorative light poles, signage and beautiful landscaping along Bayshore Drive, the CRA was equally busy implementing its Redevelopment Plan. With the goal of alleviating slum and blight in the area, the CRA Redevelopment Plan calls for the acquisition of blighted residential properties, acquisition of catalytic commercial properties (all from willing sellers), improvement of stormwater drainage, revision to the Land Development Code, and improvement to streetscapes, among other things.
AMS Planning & Research recommended the designation of a Cultural Arts District based on research on the Bayshore Gateway Triangle Area. Stakeholders worked with CRA staff and delineated the boundaries for this district, outlined in this map. Artists have coalesced around this effort, with Bayshore CAPA establishing an office on Bayshore Drive.
To help ease the cost-burden of redevelopment, CRA staff designated the 17+ acre site it owns at the corner of Jeepers and Bayshore Drive to be a Brownfield Area. This
- Removal of underground storage tanks from site aquired by CRA.
designation sets the site up for various tax incentives through Enterprise Florida. When the CRA began remediating the trace amounts of petroleum contamination there, it executed a Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreement (BSRA) with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The BSRA established the terms of the cleanup and made the CRA eligible for Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credits (VCTC) worth up to 50% of the expenses for the cleanup effort plus a 25% bonus upon completion. The CRA received its Site Rehabilitation Completion Order in January 2011, indicating it had satisfied all requirements of the BSRA, and entitling the CRA to the additional 25% VCTC for cleanup costs.
Neighbors come together for Neighborhood Watch training at the CRA office.
Though the CRA and MSTU have been hard at work for over a decade now, the proof is in the pudding. . . . the crime statistics pudding, that is! To be sure, CRA staff work closely with the Collier County Sheriff and Code Enforcement to bring these numbers down. With all our efforts, we can see that there is a steady decline in crime over the past five years in the CRA by studying numbers of calls to 911. The CRA owes a special debt of gratitude to the Sheriff’s Department for its support of the local implementation of Neighborhood Watch, where deputies have backed the effort with off-hours bar-b-ques and meetings. We couldn’t do it without you!