Implementing a community's redevelopment plan - NEXT STEPS

1. Redeveloping North Port St.Joe
implementingthecommunity’splan
APPENDIX
Next steps
Maintaining the
momentum of Phase 1 December, 2016
North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
9 4

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REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Acknowledgements
Boardofdirectors
Chester Davis - President
Dannie Bolden - Vice President
Letha Mathews - Treasurer
Iris Gathers - Secretary
Sub-committees
Economic Development
Otis Stallworth - Chair
Dannie Bolden
Charles Gathers
Tan Smiley
Education and Workforce Development
Johnny Bryant -Chair
Jai Bryant
Lois Byrd
Deborah Crosby
Willie Ash
Lynn Peters
Tourist Development
Timothy Pittman - Chair
Johnna Pittman
Vince Addison
Affordable Housing
Dannie Bolden - Chair
Chester Davis
Dannie Bolden II
Finanacial Literacy
James Chambers - Chair
Inez Mathews
David Woods
Jai Bryant
Beverly Ash
Public works
Inez Mathews - Chair
Lewis Vereen
Dannie Bolden
Public relations
Willie Ash
Dannie Bolden II
Trustees
Leroy Davis - Chair
Marty Lanahan - Vice
Chair
Thomas H. Jeavons
Rev, Eddie E. Jones
David Llewellyn
Mary K. Philips
Staff
Sherry P. Magill, President
Katie Ensign, Senior
Program Officer
Boardofdirectors
David Ashbrook
Rex Buzzett - Chair
Kaye Haddock
Bill Kennedy
Brett Lowery
Bo Patterson - Vice Chair
Andy Smith
William Thursbay
Consultantteam
WIM Associates, Inc. (Walter Miller - project leader)
PacificXanh (John Hendry, Philip Giang)
PORT ST. JOE
REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
Tableofcontents
Introduction
The infrastructure of change
Community priorities
Redevelopment priorities
01
02
07
12
page

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Thenext steps for the
community and its plan
In the first Port St Joe Redevelopment
Agency Plan, produced in 1989, its
objectives included: ‘Prepare
neighborhood studies to encourage
rehabilitation and strengthening of
neighborhoods.’ Twenty years later, the
Agency’s 62-page Plan reported that this
objective was ‘Not yet implemented’.
The Redevelopment Agency’s July 2009
Plan went on to state that its role was to
‘..harmonize the shared community
concerns and objectives as articulated…’
in seven preceding plans, including the
2009 North Port St. Joe Master Plan.
In 2016, the response of the residents of
North Port St. Joe to the Agency’s
objective to harmonize its numerous
plans is simple: Not yet implemented.
1
A community redevelopment plan must
have a realistic implementation element
and motivated citizens ready to execute
it. This is why it is vital that the
momentum built around the 2016 Plan is
maintained. The formation of the North
Port St. Joe Project Area Committee has
culminated in an illustrated Conceptual
Master Plan supported by a clear
narrative about the principals along
which the community would like
redevelopment to proceed . The
following pages propose the next steps
for moving this Plan forward.
A community redevelopment plan must
have a realistic implementation element
and motivated citizens ready to execute
it.
Expansion
area 2010
Downtown
redevelopment
area 1989

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Theinfrastructureof
change
2
The
P.A.C.
The Community
Development
Corporation
Port St. Joe
Redevelopment
Agency
Stakeholder
Groups
The PAC must have credibility and impetus if it is to maintain the support of the Port
St. Joe Redevelopment Agency and local stakeholder groups. It also needs the
fund-raising and implementation capabilities of a Community Development
Corporation. These connections have been strengthened in Phase 1 and, in the
case of the CDC, have resulted in the reinstatement of a dormant entity as an active
agency.
The PAC, on its own, will struggle to
achieve its objectives . It must continue to
develop a support network of local and
regional government entities, as well as
other stakeholders, to create an
infrastructure of change.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Theinfrastructureof
change:
ReinforcethePAC
3
The PAC has achieved much since its inception at the beginning of 2016. However,
the PAC must grow its membership in order to maintain momentum. Community
involvement in this planning process has helped build alliances and the respect of
the City’s leaders over the past six months.
1. Augment the role of the committees. The PAC’s committees should be driving
its policy and implementing its mission. The committees must be empowered so
that the knowledge and experience of their members can be recognized and
utilized to the full.
2. Expand the PAC and increase its influence by involving the local network of
churches in the redevelopment process.
3. Prioritize the funding and search for a full-time community worker able to
represent the PAC.
What the PAC has achieved in less than
a year is remarkable. Increasing its
representation of the neighborhood
remains a priority and this will require
help.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Theinfrastructureof
change:
Continueactivating
theCDC
4
The Community Development Corporation is North Port St Joe’s implementation
agency. It will be designed to bring PAC policies and plans to fruition and is critical
to promoting and enabling redevelopment of the community. The intention is for
the CDC (a 501c3 not-for-profit organization) and, by association, the PAC to be
self-sustaining.
1. Create the business plan for the CDC. This is essential in ensuring that the
CDC’s day-to-day workload properly reflects the redevelopment process and
priorities of the PAC which, in turn, must represent the interests and aspirations
of the community it comprises.
2. Establish the CDC’s sources of funding through various means, incuding
established networks that date back to the organization’s previous existance. This
is doubly important now that it is clear that North Port St. Joe will be generating
little or no Tax Increment Financing in the foreseeable future.
The CDC will become the community’s
most powerful tool for implementing its
redevelopment plans.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Theinfrastructureof
change:
Maintainstakeholder
involvement
5
The stakeholders include the Port Authority, the St. Joe Company and Sacred Heart
Hospital. A further stakeholder, Gulf Coast State College, has been identified but
has yet to be approached. The Sacred Heart Hospital has expressed interest in the
PAC’s initiatives but is waiting to see how its plans will unfold, especially with
respect to the neighborhood clean-up initiative.
On the other hand, the Port St. Joe Port Authority formally recognized its role as a
stakeholder by signing a letter of support at its October 2106 meeting. The St. Joe
Company, meanwhile, expressed its informal support of the North Port St Joe 2016
Concept Master Plan when shown it in its draft form. The apparent recent progress
in reopening the port has given even more focus to these two immediate neighbors
and the roll-out of their plans for the port’s future.
1. Establish a further formal connection between the port and the North Port
St Joe community by canvassing support for at least one community member to
join the Board of the Port Authority.
2. Continue discussions with the St. Joe Company about including their land in
the City’s Comprehensive Plan, a process that is a vital to the redevelopment
implementation plan for North Port St Joe.
3. Reach out to Gulf Coast State College, a potential stakeholder recommended
by one of the existing stakeholders, particularly in reference to job training.
4. Convince Sacred Heart Hospital to become involved in the redevelopment
process by engaging them again, following the neighborhood clean-up.
Eastern Shipbuilding’s plans are at the heart of the Port of Port St.
Joe’s renaissance

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Theinfrastructureof
change:
PortSt.Joe
Redevelopment
Agency
6
Every Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) relies on its access to Tax
Increment Financing, paid into a Redevelopment Trust Fund. When North Port St.
Joe became an ‘expansion area’ of the Port St. Joe CRA in 2009, it was assumed that
its Trust Fund would have a small but growing surplus . The chart on this page
shows the reality. In fact, the taxable value of the real estate in the expansion area
fell over 15% following the ‘base year’ valuation made in 2010 and has yet to
exceed it.
The original 1989 CRA will ‘sunset’ in 2019 when its statutory 30-year term ends,
some 20 years earlier than its ‘expansion area’. The Port St. Joe Redevelopment
Agency is the statutory administrating body for the ‘expansion area’.
1. Commence discussions with the PSJRA concerning its future, the timetable
and milestones of the ‘sunsetting’ process and the implications for governance,
administration and funding of the ‘expansion area’.
2. Present this document as the community’s update to its 2009 Master Plan
and ensure that it is supported by the documentation necessary for it to be
incorporated into the Community Redevelopment Plan as well as conform with
the municipal Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations.
$22,099,594
$22,574,791
$23,389,665
$23,378,975
$22,404,292
$23,469,981
Base Year 2010
Taxable Value: $26,185,135
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
North Port St Joe’s taxable value, courtesy of the Gulf County
Property Appraiser.
The North Port St.Joe ’expansion area’ has not generated a tax
increment so its Trust Fund remains empty and will do so for
the foreseeable future.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Communitypriorities.
7
The community discussed its broad priorities during three workshops. Four issues
came to the fore and two of those - jobs and housing - were considered to be
pivotal to the redevelopment of North Port St. Joe.
Jobs
Heritage
Open
space
Housing
These themes help to inform the type of
development that the community wants
to see implemented in North Port St Joe.
And the hurdles that will have to be
overcome.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Communitypriorities:
Jobs
8
The security of the paper mill, whether it was through direct employment or the
indirect benefit derived from its overwhelming economic presence, has never been
replaced in Port St. Joe. The renaissance of the port holds out hope that some
skilled tradespeople will once more be required in Gulf County. The biggest fear is
that these jobs will be taken by experienced workers from other parts of the region.
In the meantime, tourism-related work is considered by some menial, transient and
underpaid. This despite the fact that tourism is supporting profitable, locally-owned
enterprises that appear to be reinvesting locally and, in the case of the hospitality
industry, traditionally offer genuinely sustainable career prospects for those well-
trained and accredited.
1. Strengthen the connection between the port and the North Port St. Joe
community by ensuring that the Port Authority is aware of the work going on in
North Port St. Joe and the enthusiasm of the community’s leaders to ‘be at the
table’ when plans are being made.
2. Manage existing relationships with local job training networks so that the
community’s priority with regard to job training is clear and that the community’s
experience and knowledge of local needs are made clear to training program
designers.
3. Ensure that the CDC makes jobs one of its highest priorities when preparing
its business plan.
The limited availability of local jobs is
considered by the community to be the
greatest barrier to redevelopment of
North Port St.Joe.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Communitypriorities:
Housing
9
The community reiterated its strong desire for mixed-use development to be central
to its master plan. In fact, this discussion often focussed on the mix of housing types
that the community felt were crucial to the future of North Port St. Joe. Homes for
seniors and young people characterized two ends of a spectrum that ranged from
good quality, assisted living facilities to affordable, rental and for-sale ‘starter
homes’ and studios.
Workforce housing was also a strong topic for discussion. Rental housing is in short
supply throughout the community. Smaller, cheaper homes in Port St. Joe have
become the target of investors who are benefitting from the increased demand
from visitors for short-term vacation rentals within the City limits, reducing the
availability of long-term rentals.
1. Build a detailed model of the housing needs of North Port St. Joe and the
wider community, where anecdotal evidence shows an increasing demand for
good quality market-priced rental accommodation.
2. Ensure that the Community Development Corporation is fully engaged in
identifying and advertising sources of finance for developers able to deliver
appropriate housing models to North Port St Joe.
3. Focus attention on Martin Luther King Boulevard as a location for innovative
forms of housing development aimed at younger residents.
The community believes that there is a
wide spectrum of housing needs, not
just in North Port St.Joe but throughout
the region as a whole.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Communitypriorities:
Openspaces
10
This element of the Plan has provided one of the catalyst projects in the form of a
‘pocket park’. The PAC is in discussion with a property owner that has land surplus
to their family’s requirements. A concept for the Pocket Park, located close to Martin
Luther King Boulevard, can be found detailed in the main body of the document.
1. Continue discussions with the landowner with the objective of entering into
an agreement between the interested parties that the plots in question may be
acquired by the City.
2. Formally share the concept plan with the North Port St Joe community in
order to ensure that it meets the needs of the community.
3. Work with the Port St. Joe Redevelopment Agency to seek grant aid for the
completion of Phase 1 of the Pocket Park.
A pocket park would be the ideal
catalyst for - and symbol of - North Port
St.Joe’s redevelopment program.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Communitypriorities:
Heritage,culture
andidentity
11
This unique neighborhood is expressed in its heritage, culture and identity. Other
historic communities have shown inspired (and inspiring) ways to begin community-
wide conversations that have helped create authentic places that empower their
residents, attract visitors and, most important of all, replace crippling blight with a
communal pride in place.
1. Begin assembling a collection of photographic memories of North Port St.
Joe and its community that can be used to illustrate the theme of heritage.
2. Identify a public location for a ‘pop-up’ gallery or exhibit that can provoke
conversation about these themes within and outside the neighborhood.
3. Continue the conversation.
North Port St.Joe is a unique African
American working community that can
trace its heritage back to the region’s
earliest industrial period.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Redevelopment
priorities:
MartinLutherKing
Boulevard
12
Restoring Martin Luther King Boulevard is the community’s highest redevelopment
priority. Concentrating resources and the community’s energy here will yield the
highest returns.
1. Prepare design guidelines for Martin Luther King Boulevard. These must
manifest the work that the community has put into the first phase of the project
as documented in these pages.
2. Identify infrastructure improvements to Martin Luther King Boulevard and
include them in the guidelines.
3. Memorialize the design guidelines in the City’s Land Development
Regulations by using them to create a ‘special overlay’ district for Martin Luther
King Boulevard, allowing it to be treated as a unique area with redevelopment
incentives and not simply another ‘mixed use’ zone.
4. Amend the language and mapping of the City’s Comprehensive Plan to
reflect the community’s vision, as manifest in these pages.
The community’s vision for Martin Luther
King must be embedded in the City’s
Comprehensive Plan if it is to be
implemented efficiently.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Redevelopment
priorities:
AvenueAandthe
newtowncenter
13
The land along the southern edge of Avenue A, from Highway 98 to Bridgeport
Lane, is owned by the St Joe Company and is either undeveloped or is part of the
railroad right-of-way. A large area adjacent to Highway 98 was planned as a town
center for Port St Joe. The residents of North Port St Joe would like this to remain a
planning option. The land is almost entirely zoned ‘industrial’, its ‘Planned Unit
Development’ designation having been allowed to expire.
1. Continue discussions with the St. Joe Company concerning its relationship
with the Port Authority and how the renaissance of the port will effect the current
land use and the landowner’s attitude towards rezoning it as ‘mixed use’.
The concept of a new town center
should remain an important planning
objective for North Port St.Joe and the
rest of the community. It should be
discussed openly with the St Joe
Company.

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North Port St. Joe
P. A . Cproject area committee
REDEVELOPING NORTH PORT ST JOE: Implementing the community’s plan 2016
Redevelopmentpriorities:
Catalystprojects
14
|
2
Inn &
Cottages
Apartments
Lake Cottage Resort
Paces Foundation
Residences
Wetlands
Gateway
Sign Posts
Public Park Existing
Gymnasium
Innovation
Center
Community
Food
Community
Pool
Heritage
Walk
New Town
Center &
Green
New City
Hall Martin Luther
King Plaza
Training
Center
Dollar
General
DAYCARE
CENTER
CAMPUS
CORNER
ZONED
RESIDENTIAL
SITE
CIVIC
CENTER
ACCESS TO
NEW LAND
& EXISTING
APARTMENTS
These catalyst projects have been
selected because for various reasons:
1. They are development
opportunities currently being
considered by North Port St. Joe
property owners. Campus Corner and
the Daycare center fit this description
2. They are already zoned for the
use in question. The residential site on
Avenue A was rezoned before the
recession to attract apartment
developers.
3. They involve City-owned property
and their improvement could benefit the
city as a whole. This applies to the
proposed new civic center.
4. They may meet the investment
criteria of interested in community-
enriching projects. The civic center and
the day care center fit this profile
or They are a combination of all of
these reasons.
The next steps for these catalyst projects
is to provide them with the support
necessary to be properly planned and
presented to potential investors.