The Fayetteville City Council at the April 1 meeting will consider a resolution that would expand the boundaries of the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) to include additional property along North Glynn Street and in a smaller area along the north side of Ga. Highway 54 West.
Main Street Director Brian Wismer in a March 23 letter said the proposal resulted from ideas presented in the recent City Council retreat during conversations on redevelopment within portions of the city. The council is already anticipating an upcoming referendum that would establish tax allocation districts for business redevelopment in some of the city’s older commercial areas.
“To further develop the ideas presented in the LCI town center plan from 2002 and the Lifelong Communities study from 2009, the city has recently contracted with a consulting firm to assist in creating a redevelopment plan for the older retail and office buildings along Ga. Highway 85 and Ga. Highway 54, also referred to as ‘greyfields,’” Wismer said.
As proposed, the DDA boundaries would include adding properties along North Glynn Street and, to a lesser extent, along Hwy. 54 West.
The proposal would expand the DDA boundaries on the west side of North Glynn from Lafayette Avenue and Tiger Trail up to Commerce Drive at Ga. Highway 314. On the east side of North Glynn the expanded area would run from North Jeff Davis to Banks Road.
The proposal, though to a lesser extent, includes commercially zoned properties along Hwy. 54 West and Brandywine Boulevard between Sharon Drive and the area of Marquis Drive.
Federal and state incentives are often associated with these redevelopment projects in the form of low-interest financing and job creation tax credits, Wismer said. These opportunities are typically funneled through local downtown development authorities because of their abilities to provide direct incentives to redevelopment where government agencies are limited or restricted, Wismer added.
