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04/17/2023 Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes April 17, 2023 City of Clearwater Main Library- Council Chambers 100 N. Osceola Avenue Clearwater, FL 33755 e Meeting Minutes Monday, April 17, 2023 8:00 AM Main Library - Council Chambers Community Redevelopment Agency Page 1 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes April 17, 2023 Roll Call Present 5 - Chair Brian Aungst Sr., Trustee Kathleen Beckman, Trustee Mark Bunker, Trustee David Allbritton, and Trustee Lina Teixeira Also Present: Jennifer Poirrier— City Manager, Michael Delk—Assistant City Manager, David Margolis — City Attorney, Rosemarie Call — City Clerk, Nicole Sprague — Deputy City Clerk, and Dr. Jaye Matthews — CRA Executive Director. To provide continuity for research, items are listed in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. 1. Call to Order— Chair Aungst, Sr. The meeting was called to order at 8:00 a.m. 2. Approval of Minutes 2.1 Approve the minutes of the February 13, 2023 CRA Meeting as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk. Trustee Beckman moved to approve the minutes of the February 13, 2023 CRA Meeting as submitted in written summation by the City Clerk. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 3. Citizens to be Heard Regarding Items Not on the Agenda — None. 4. New Business Items 4.1 Recommend approval of amendments to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan. The City established the Public Amenities Incentive Pool (Pool) in the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan when it was amended in 2004. The Pool is intended to support private sector efforts to redevelop Downtown by providing the ability to request increases in density and/or intensity in excess of the established maximum development potential when certain public amenities are incorporated into the project, thereby providing benefits to both parties and furthering the City's goals for Downtown. Proposed Ordinance No. 9663-23 is the first amendment to the Pool since it was established and is the first step in modifying the allocation process of units and floor area from the Pool to address previous direction from the City Council. This amendment would allow the Community Development Director to approve such allocations through the Development Review Committee (DRC) process, Page 2 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes April 17, 2023 the details of which will be established in the Community Development Code through a separate Ordinance. Additionally, the list of eligible amenities is proposed to be expanded to encourage the construction of Class A office space in the Downtown Core and Prospect Lake Character Districts and hotel and residential rental projects throughout Downtown, as well as to support the inclusion of sustainable development technologies in new development. The Community Redevelopment Agency has the authority and responsibility to make a recommendation on the proposed amendments to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan to the City Council. The Community Development Board, in its capacity as the Local Planning Agency (LPA), will review the proposed amendments to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan at its meeting on April 18, 2023, and make a recommendation to City Council. The Council has the authority for the final decision on the amendments. In response to questions, Planning and Development Assistant Director Lauren Matzke said character districts are the different defined areas in the downtown plan, such as the downtown core, Prospect Lake, Downtown Gateway, South Gateway, and Old Bay. The proposed change encourages Class A office space in the Downtown core and Prospect Lake area. She said staff worked with CRA and Economic Development and Housing and identified that more office space was needed to meet their economic development goals. She said Class A is the desired space for corporations. Trustee Bunker moved to recommend approval of amendments to the Clearwater Downtown Redevelopment Plan. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 4.2 Approve allocating remaining White Box Grant funds to the Business Renovation Grant Program. At the January 9, 2023 Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) meeting, staff requested terminating the White Box Grant Program as it is similar to the Business Renovation Grant, which provides up to $100,000. To date, there have been seven approved grants totaling $277,722. The CRA's White Box Grant Program was established with a $300,000 budget. To date, there is currently one approved and active grant for$50,000. Staff recommends moving the remaining $250,000 from the terminated White Box Grant Program to the Business Renovation Grant Program, bringing the available balance to $272,278. Page 3 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes April 17, 2023 Four applicants are pending grant approval that have submitted Business Renovation Grant Application. APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT: Business Renovation Grants are paid from 3887552- R2003- Economic Development-City In response to a question, CRA Executive Director Jaye Matthews said the funds sitting in the White Box grants will be moved over to the Business Renovation grant program since the program was terminated. Trustee Teixeira moved to approve allocating remaining White Box Grant funds to the Business Renovation Grant Program. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. 5. Director's Report CRA Executive Director Jaye Matthews reviewed recent and upcoming events. She said since the last meeting, three new businesses have opened in downtown:Ahilly's Ice Cream, Flamboyan Bar& Restaurant, and Captian's Cigar Lounge. The Nash Keys has scheduled a grand opening at the end of May. She said staff is reaching out to existing businesses this week regarding a discount program that would run in conjunction with the grand opening of Coachman Park. Dr. Matthews said the grants programs are still under an audit, she hopes to complete the audit soon. Staff is considering dumpster enclosures and storm drain screens as part of a placemaking program for Stevenson Creek. The Pinellas County Board of Commissioners will be voting on the North Greenwood Community Redevelopment Agency on May 23, 2023. In response to questions, Dr. Matthews said installing the screens for the storm drains can be implemented quickly. Regarding the dumpster enclosures, staff is addressing code related questions before moving forward with implementation. The City Manager said CRA, Code Enforcement, Solid Waste, and Office of Innovation staff met to discuss options for addressing the overflowing dumpsters. Page 4 City of Clearwater Community Redevelopment Agency Meeting Minutes 6. Adjourn Attest a,1k1 City Clerk City of Clearwater The meeting adjourned at 8:20 a.m. April 17, 2023 Chair ‘0ti\JELoW•PMFti���i9 Community ommunity Redeelopment Agency \cc)`•.g ••• CORPORA, On onus nil moo Page 5