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Tampa Projects Can Move Forward After Court's Reversal

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By JOHN W. ALLMAN and CHRISTIAN M. WADE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 19, 2008

TAMPA - After 13 months of waiting, Tampa city officials learned Thursday they can continue moving forward with several high-profile revitalization projects.

The breakthrough came after the state Supreme Court reversed a September 2007 decision that essentially froze redevelopment efforts across Florida.

Justices had spent months reconsidering whether local governments had to receive voter approval before spending millions to redevelop blighted areas.

That delay stymied progress in Tampa on nine community redevelopment areas, including multiple projects downtown and the long-touted revitalization of Central Park Village.

"This is what we've been waiting for," Tom Scott, city council president, said Thursday.

Construction is already more than a year behind schedule at the 28-acre former Central Park Village public housing site. The Tampa Housing Authority, in partnership with Bank of America, is seeking to build a mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood there called Encore.

"We are relieved," said housing vice president Leroy Moore. "We were worried it was going to continue to drag out."

The housing site is expected to be the catalyst for widespread change across the 143-acre Central Park community redevelopment area, which sits between downtown and Ybor City.

Moore said the decision means housing and bank officials can seek financing to pay for road and other improvements at the housing site. Construction on the first new housing buildings could start by June, he said.

Other redevelopment areas in Tampa include Ybor City, the Heights housing project in East Tampa and the Channel District.

Last year's court action had reversed a 1980 decision that allowed officials to use tax-increment financing to redevelop a blighted area of Miami Beach without a vote.

Justice Charles Wells said in Thursday's 4-2 ruling that in the years since the Miami Beach decision, such public projects "have enhanced the quality of life in our state."

Going against that precedent, Wells said, "would cause serious disruption" to projects already approved or in the process of being developed.

The news brought excitement and relief across the state.

"This greatly lessens the burden on taxpayers and contributes to the long-term viability of our urban areas," said Carol Westmoreland, executive director of the Tallahassee-based Florida Redevelopment Association.

Westmoreland said the lengthy delay had stopped or stalled many projects statewide.

In Tampa, the lack of significant progress on projects such as Central Park left private developers leery.

"We had been taking what money we had to work with to move these projects along, piece by piece," said Michael Chen, the city's development services manager. "This ruling will accelerate the use of private investment in the redevelopment of the city."

Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com. Reporter Christian M. Wade can be reached at cwade@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7679.

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