Manatee Commissioner Smith looks to boost business in Palmetto area
MANATEE -- To District 2 Manatee County Commissioner Charles Smith, whose roots are in Palmetto, the area almost looks the same as when he was a child.
As a city commissioner, he said he watched the city of Palmetto be redeveloped with the help of the Palmetto Community Redevelopment Agency.
Now as a county commissioner, Smith hopes to take the redevelopment success the city of Palmetto has experienced to the unincorporated areas of Palmetto.
"There is nothing here to entice anyone," he said as he recently viewed Palmetto from
his commission office.
With the help of a CRA, areas such as Memphis can begin to change, Smith said.
"We can't just bring businesses without removing slum and blight," he said. "It is a whole 'nother world when the sun goes down."
On Thursday, the county commission approved its Property Maintenance Code, which Smith thinks will give code enforcement a better tool to help clean up the community.
"The facts are clear: If you look in the unincorporated areas of Manatee County, most have been neglected. Half of my district is poverty, crime, blight, slum," he said. "No investment from Manatee County government that you can reach out and touch. ... Years of neglect and no plan to clean up these communities, so now we need something to clean up the communities."
Coupled with the ordinance, a CRA in the unincorporated areas on the north side of the Manatee River could help and Smith is proposing one to start within the next year.
An effort was made in 2002 with the creation of a Community Redevelopment Plan, but he said it was never implemented north of the river.
"You've got to clean up the community to get anyone to invest in the community," Smith said. "Only thing we are getting is dirt, crime, shooting and killings. We have to start somewhere."
Businesses are coming to Manatee County, but are not electing to open in the unincorporated portions of Palmetto where there is plenty of available land, he said.
"We don't have anything like that," Smith said of Wawa and 7-Eleven convenience stores.
"People are stranded when it comes to going to the store. Until we improve the conditions of the community, you are going to continue to have crime and murders. ... It is going to take political encouragement from the board (of county commissioners) to get it done."
Kelly Prior, owner of Kelly Prior Commercial Real Estate, has had six parcels totaling 254 acres on Canal Road for the past year and a half.
Prior said there is a need for housing in the $150,000 to $200,000 range, but interested developers changed their mind on the property.
"It's been a little frustrating," he said. "There is certainly a need for that price area. Most of the national builders prefer to build in upscale areas and pricier homes. It is hard to get national builders who are used to building in the $300,000 to $400,000 range."
With other area developments out east along Ellenton-Gillette Road, Prior said he doesn't think there will necessarily be commercial development because most of the commercial uses are close to U.S. 301.
"People already live in the area," he said. "I don't have a quick solution, but it is good to have a creative solution. There is physically a lot of land there and it would be nice to have it in some productive use."
Residents reflect on past
The Rev. Lawrence Livingston, longtime Washington Park resident and Eternity Temple pastor, remembers when there were two grocery stores east of U.S. 41. Today, there are no businesses in the area. All that remains other than houses are churches and schools.
Livingston, who is also executive director of Eternity Temple Washington Park CDC, said the possibility of turning the 88-acre property into a business district and park and the creation of a special tax district or CRA could help to turn things around.
"It is going to take time," Livingston said. "It has been 40 years already. That's all we have is time."
Amani Young, a 12-year-old, has been involved through Eternity Temple Church to help future generations want to stay in the neighborhood.
"If it helps us be able to have more, then we should be involved in having more stuff," Young said.
The key is to make the area a viable community and make residents have pride in the community, said the Rev. McArthur Sellers, president of Eternity Temple Washington Park CDC.
"Commissioner Smith is committed to make it one of his endeavors to improve the community," Sellers said. "We can appreciate that but it takes effort on everyone's part."
Smith's plan is "a better plan than what we have now," Livingston said.
"The longer we delay in doing this, the longer it will delay significant changes from happening," Sellers said.
Demographics are similar
Palmetto CRA director Jeff Burton said there are many similarities between the two areas.
"Ward 1 is very similar to out in the county," Burton said. "The population demographics and income levels are similar. I can understand why Commissioner Smith wants to do something in the Memphis area."
The unincorporated areas outside the boundaries of the Palmetto CRA are textbook slum and blight, he said.
"If managed right, Manatee County could have a good tool out there to improve the community in the Memphis area," Burton said.
"There are a number of things that CRAs can do that government in itself can't do," he added.
Burton said in a city like Palmetto, the CRA identifies the worst-case properties.
"If you can improve those, you are lifting everything up," he said. "We have very aggressive incentives to draw businesses in and it works. How do you entice someone to invest?"
In Palmetto, Burton said the CRA is welcoming businesses and making improvements to the community.
"We are seeing supply of rental spaces going down and demand going up," he said.
If Smith is successful in developing a CRA, Burton said he can absolutely see the CRAs working together.
A CRA won't pop up overnight as they take time, he said.
If a new CRA is created, it has to be mixed with areas such as commercial and industrial, Burton said.
Surrounding area grow
Smith said he has watched businesses come to the east in Ellenton.
"Ellenton is booming," he said, pointing to the new restaurants opening. "We are going to build here because (of the) good news over there."
While businesses are coming to the county, particularly in the eastern portions, residents living in the unincorporated areas of Palmetto need jobs within walking distance, Smith said.
"Jobs need to be walkable," he said.
Within the year, Smith said he hopes to have a CRA. Once Manatee County reaches 400,000 residents, Smith said he thinks it will be more difficult to achieve his goal.
"Time is of the essence," he said. "They are investing in other areas. They are coming and until we do that, we will continue to have problems."
Smith, who was elected in November to the county commission, is making the CRA and redevelopment his mission and goal.
"I look to be successful," he said. "It will be a tough battle, but I will be successful in doing it."
Smith acknowledged the fact that he is pushing a "bold agenda."
"Give our people an opportunity to be employed and incentives for keeping property up and helping our community," he said.
Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter @Claire_Aronson.
This story was originally published April 5, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Manatee Commissioner Smith looks to boost business in Palmetto area."