Already with a near 30-year run in district, Canal Street to be part of new one
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- When it was revealed at an economic summit over the weekend that Canal Street would be included in a new CRA district along the US 1 corridor where blight is paramount, some officials were stunned while others were tightlipped.
"I had no idea they were going to include Canal Street, Vice Mayor and City Commissioner Jim Hathaway, an announced candidate for County Council dist. 3, told NSBNews.net after the announcement by CRA Director Tony Otte during Saturday's summit which was attended by 50 people, most of them officials from New Smyrna Beach and Edgewater. NSBNews.net was the only media outlet to cover the event.
Canal Street has been under the CRA since 1986, receiving millions of dollars in taxpayer money for the purpose of overcoming blight.
Asked if he wanted to comment on this or anything else from the summit during the lunch hour of the daylong summit, Mayor Adam Barringer responded, "No," and walked away.
Planning and Zoning Board Chairman Jason McGuirk, an announced candidate for Hathaway's seat in the 2012 elections and the owner of the Dairy Queen on US 1, said he was aware of the possibility of the city's main north-south artery becoming the new CRA district in 2015, when the existing one covering Canal And Flagler Avenue sunsets, but he was surprised and puzzled.
Describing US 1 as the "biggest need" for a new CRA, McGuirk said of the north-south highway: "US 1 is run down. It's blighted. It needs a tremendous amount of investment."
McGuirk was asked straight out if he felt it was necessary for Canal to continue with CRA subsidies after a nearly three-decade run, to which he responded" That's a good question."
McGuirk was asked straight out if he felt it was necessary for Canal to continue with CRA subsidies after a nearly three-decade run, to which he responded" That's a good question."
Editor's Note: NSBNews.net will have much more on this story later in the day. You can hear more from CRA Director Tony Otte, Commissioner Jim Hathaway and Planning Board Chairman Jason McGuirk in the videos above.