SEBASTIAN — Some businesses in Sebastian’s targeted redevelopment zone could get caught in the middle of proposed rule changes for grants they are requesting to help spruce up their lots. The city’s Façade, Sign and Landscaping Committee has been working to come up with changes to the rules in hope of bringing more emphasis back to creating the “Old Florida Fishing Village” feel to the waterfront district that spans from the river to US 1 through town.
Last week, the committee reached consensus on several changes that will be presented to the Sebastian Community Redevelopment Agency – which consists of the City Council.
One question that wasn’t resolved through consensus is expected to be addressed by the agency itself – is the grant allowed to be used on new development or only for pre-existing, blighted properties?
That question is part of why Buried Treasure’s grant application has been stymied. The business is established but is currently renting.
There are plans for the owner, Renee Powell, to build anew on a vacant lot in the Community Redevelopment Area District.
Committee member Warren Dill, who serves as attorney for the City of Fellsmere and has extensive municipal law experience, said his interpretation of the grant requirements was to help existing businesses spruce up existing structures – not to help buildings being constructed.
He pointed to the city’s need to remove blight from the district, one of the requirements for having a CRA district.
If the grants help new construction, then no blight is being remedied, Dill reasoned.
Lisanne Robinson interpreted the district’s goals differently, noting that the text says “existing buildings” and “encourage investment.”
Grants could be used as a way to encourage investment in the district – as it is for Buried Treasures.
After the Façade, Sign and Landscaping Committee’s meeting, Powell declined to comment on the discussion.
During the meeting, she told the committee she was in a “little loophole” – she’s an existing business looking to invest by building new.
Powell applied for a $4,320 grant to build a better sign, one that would match the shell-themed façade of her new building.
“I don’t want to rent anymore,” she said. “I want to build and take pride in it.”
The committee, at a previous meeting, had approved the grant amount, contingent on seeing a sign design they could accept.
That design has not yet been submitted to the committee.
Ar-Pat’s Dry Cleaner is another business hanging in limbo as the committee waits to hear from the CRA Board on the proposed changes. The business has applied for a grant, which also received conditional approval from the committee based on acceptable design.
What constitutes an acceptable design could be up to the CRA Board if it decides that the committee’s proposed changes should be imposed immediately.
“I think the direction this is going is all wrong,” Robinson said after the meeting, referring to the impact the proposed changes could have on the businesses already in the system.
“You can’t change the rules in the middle of the game.”
Aside from debating whether new construction should qualify for FSL grants, the committee agreed that they should encourage sign grant applicants to think outside the lit monument sign box – an issue Robinson has raised time and again as more and more businesses apply for low lying, expensive signs with interior lighting.
“That’s something I have to say to stay on this committee,” she said after telling the board she cannot support such monument signs.
Instead, she’d like to see businesses come up with more creative signs, something with character – like those that look as though they’re hand carved and painted and have light shining on them.
City code does allow for dual-pole sign construction, so long as landscaping is done to fill the gap between the poles and between the sign and the ground.
Growth Management Manager Jan King told the committee that her department has shied from such signs becomes it becomes almost impossible to enforce the landscaping requirement.
The committee also decided that sign grants – though meant to replace non-conforming pole signs – could be used for a brand new sign for existing, improved properties.
For example, a formerly residential building on US 1 wouldn’t have a sign – but if it were converted to a commercial business, the owner would then need a sign and could qualify for a grant.
The group has also proposed making changes to the amount of money the grants could be awarded.
As it is, grants can be awarded up to $15,000 for projects that include façade only or façade, sign and landscaping improvements.
Sign and landscaping projects can be awarded up to $7,500. The committee decided to create a separate category for just landscaping, to be awarded up to $5,000.
The purpose would be to help business owners add to their existing landscaping or replace damaged landscaping.
The group is also proposing that façade-only projects be awarded a maximum of $10,000.
Business owners, currently, have to wait three years after having received the maximum $15,000 FSL grant.
The committee is recommending to the CRA Board that the wait should be cut to two years.
The committee’s recommendations will go before the Community Redevelopment Agency Board in the near future. A date for that meeting has not yet been determined but is expected to be held on prior to a regular City Council meeting.