Stakeholders attend meeting on new CRA
More than 40 local business and property owners and residents attended a meeting earlier this month to discuss the City's application for a new community redevelopment district. Attendees were shown updated boundaries, which were absent previously included areas. The new CRA includes eight percent of the land in the City, according to research cited by Tony Otte, New Smyrna Beach CRA director. However, 58 percent of the City's crime and 33 percent of its code violations occur within those limited boundaries.

Otte added the proposed boundaries include properties with values that have decreased more than the City's total value and have generally not rebounded to the level of the other properties. The proposed CRA includes US 1 from just north of the municipal airport to the southern City limits, parts of the Historic Westside Community within the City limits, the Canal Street Historic District, Bert Fish Medical Center area, a portion of SR 44 to include the former K-Mart building, and contiguous residential areas. Once the blight study is completed, the City Commission will determine the need for a master plan.

North Causeway Plan to be discussed
An all-day community workshop to discuss updates to the North Causeway Plan will begin at 9 a.m., Saturday, April 6, at the New Smyrna Beach Woman's Club, 403 Magnolia Street. The discussion will include landscaping in the right-of-way and medians, design standards and options for use of the Administrative Office Building (AOB) site at 160 N. Causeway. For more information, please call Gail Henrikson, planning manager, at 386.424.2134.

Esther Street Beachfront Park ceremony April 20
Soon beachgoers will have another option for beachfront parking. The ribbon cutting ceremony for Esther Street Beachfront Park will be at 9 a.m., Saturday, April 20. New Smyrna Beach and Volusia County elected officials are expected to participate. In addition to off-beach parking, the park includes pavilions, restrooms, a playground, walking trails, a volleyball area, reconstructed seawall and a wooden dune walkover. Stormwater improvements also were included in the project. The total projected cost of the project is nearly $1.7 million and is funded jointly by the County of Volusia and the City of New Smyrna Beach through its Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the City's general fund.

Washington Street Streetscape Project
The newest streetscape project in New Smyrna Beach's Historic Westside Community is moving forward. To date, the stormwater system has been completed from Myrtle Avenue to Sheldon Street. The project will enhance the roadway, pedestrian access, stormwater system, and lighting along the quarter-mile roadway from Myrtle Avenue to U.S. 1. The nearly $1.4 million cost of the project is funded by the County of Volusia and the City of New Smyrna Beach through the City's Community Redevelopment Agency and includes design, construction within the Washington Street right of way, and railway crossing improvements. The project is scheduled for completion in June.

Mary Avenue Tot  Lot update
Pre-construction planning continues at a children's playground in the CRA's Historic Westside Community at the intersection of Mary Avenue and Josie Street. The project now is out for bid. Improvements to the current playground include new restrooms, a pavilion, a sidewalk, a new fence, and a playground. The estimated cost of the project is $168,000 and is funded jointly by the County of Volusia and the City of New Smyrna Beach through its CRA. The project is expected to be completed this fall.