Title
Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA): Reinvestment Plan
Explanation
Ordinance No. 181001, adopted by the City Commission on September 5, 2019, outlines the CRA’s transition from a Community Redevelopment Agency overseeing projects in four redevelopment areas to become a City Department and one consolidated area. As required by the ordinance in Section 2-410, the City Commission must adopt a reinvestment plan to guide community redevelopment within the new Community Reinvestment Area (GCRA).
The GCRA will consolidate the four former redevelopment plans into one reinvestment plan for the City of Gainesville. The four former redevelopment plans include Downtown Area, Fifth Avenue/Pleasant Street Area, College Park/University Heights Area, and Eastside Area. The plan document will provide an analysis of project opportunities and constraints, an inventory of potential project locations and surrounding context, and initial project area design concepts. The initiatives of the reinvestment plan will be implemented based on a ten year schedule.
EDSA, Inc. has been contracted to lead the community engagement process and develop the reinvestment plan document. A plan kick-off meeting was hosted on October 14 to gather information about the community’s vision for the district. Four area specific meetings were hosted in each former redevelopment district the week of November 4. At these meetings the public was encouraged to prioritize potential plan objectives and areas. All engagement meetings were posted on the City’s Notice of Meetings, and as a public notice in the Gainesville Sun newspaper. Flyers with engagement information were distributed on public bulletin boards and advertised by social media. Every property located with the district received a mailed postcard with engagement dates. Area specific surveys were administered and advertised online. In addition to GCRA sponsored meetings, staff also attended and presented information about the rein...
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