OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Special Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Meeting - April 7, 2026

City Commission — Tuesday, April 7, 2026
BodySarasota, Florida
SessionCity Commission
DateTuesday, April 7, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 42:35

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

This time the City Commission will recess and convene into a special session of the Newtown Community Redevelopment Agency.

0:12

And the first item on that agenda is to, I believe, to approve the minutes of the special uh meeting of uh March 2nd.

0:28

So move.

0:28

Second.

0:30

Okay.

0:30

I think it was I heard Commissioner A.

0:34

Hearn Kotch uh moved and and Commissioner Matty.

0:39

No, it can't.

0:40

I need it to be clear because he said it first.

0:42

So I thought she said it for the first time.

0:44

Is anybody here?

0:46

Okay.

0:46

So okay, so moved by Commissioner Batti, seconded by the Vice Mayor to approve the minutes of the March 2nd special CRA meeting.

0:56

Thank you.

0:57

And your votes.

1:02

And that passed unanimously.

1:05

So as part of the community redevelopment agency, we will now receive uh the annual report from the new town CRA advisory board, and I will invite the advisory board vice chair Yancey, uh Member Preston, Economic Development Manager Appleby, and Business Relations Coordinator Galant to make the presentation.

1:54

Okay, good morning.

1:56

Good morning.

1:56

Good morning.

1:57

Come on.

1:58

Good morning.

1:59

Good morning, Madam Mayor.

2:01

I'm Wayne Appleby.

2:02

I'm the staff assigned to the Newtown CRA advisory board, and we're here for our annual report today.

2:09

With me is uh our Vice Chair Carlos Yancey.

2:13

And Ms.

2:14

Shelle Kalat, our other staff member.

2:17

So I'm going to kick us off and then uh Mr.

2:19

Yancey will take over.

2:20

So just as a reminder, the the community redevelopment agency is created under Chapter 163 of the Florida statutes.

2:28

A CRA was uh first established in the city in 1986.

2:33

Um and that was to establish the area that was downtown.

2:37

Uh and in 2008, uh the city uh decided uh after doing a study and uh getting the uh county commission to agree to submit to create a CRA for the new town area and your new town district was established uh in 2008 under a resolution.

2:58

Now, under Chapter 163, uh you are the governing body.

3:03

That's why you convened this meeting as the CRA, and we're here as your advisor, or the the Mr.

3:09

Yancey's here as your advisory board vice chair to give you the update.

3:15

Um just as a reminder, this is the district itself.

3:19

This is the legal boundary of the district.

3:21

Um it's essentially on a north to south, it's north of 17th Street, but south of Myrtle.

3:28

It's east of 41 and west of the county line.

3:34

Your last resolution was uh revised since 2008.

3:38

There's been a uh two or three different resolutions, but the last one was passed in 2022, and that was where you established a five five-member board.

3:47

And their primary uh responsibility is to be the source of community input to the agency uh in regards to local redevelopment planning.

3:57

I won't read all the purposes and duties.

4:01

And you currently have uh four advisory board members in one vacancy.

4:06

Our chair is Dr.

4:07

Shelley, and unfortunately she is unable to be here today.

4:11

Um Vice Chair Carlos Yancey, uh member Danny Preston and uh member Janine Johnson, and hopefully after this presentation you'll appoint the fifth member.

4:23

I'm gonna turn it now over to Mr.

4:25

Yancey to give you an overview of all of their priorities.

4:29

Good morning, Commissioners.

4:31

Good morning.

4:32

Our priorities must be approved by the CRA redevelopment approval plan and also the annual budget for our priorities.

4:50

Thank you.

4:54

Current priorities.

4:56

We currently um since I came on the board, we've been doing this sidewalk thing.

5:02

It's our biggest budgeted item.

5:04

It's uh we have some um uneven sidewalks that we're gonna um replace and update to make them um more usable, serviceable.

5:14

And we also have the the electric power extension.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Economic Development██████████████████████████████████34%
Community Engagement████████████████████████████28%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████9%
Affordable Housing███████7%
Active Transportation███████7%
Personnel Matters██████6%
Procedural█████5%
Special Event Regulation████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Special Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Meeting - April 7, 2026

Note: According to the agenda and minutes, the meeting actually took place on April 6, 2026, but the instruction specifies April 7, 2026.

The Sarasota Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) held a special meeting on April 7, 2026 (per instruction), convened at 9:31 AM and adjourned at 10:13 AM. The main items were receiving the annual report of the Newtown CRA Advisory Board and appointing a new board member. All votes were unanimous.

Consent Calendar

  • CRA.1 – Minutes Approval: The Board approved the minutes of the Special CRA Meeting of March 2, 2026, by a 5-0 vote. (Citizen comments were not permitted on this item.)

Discussion Items

  • CRA.2 – Annual Report of the Newtown CRA Advisory Board: Economic Development Manager Wayne Applebee, Business Relations Coordinator Rochelle Gallant, and Advisory Board Vice Chair Carlos Yancy presented a PowerPoint summary of the board's priorities and accomplishments over the past year. Key highlights included:

    • Sidewalk connectivity program (Phase 1 in design; approximately $2 million in CRA and federal funds available, but not sufficient for all of Phase 1; timeline to be provided at a future CRA meeting).
    • Completion of power extension to light poles on MLK from North Orange to MLK Park, allowing holiday lights.
    • MLK Commercial Corridor redevelopment efforts: a banquet hall (Margot Ventures), mixed-use development (Bay First Bank and Helen Payne), and a land purchase agreement with Merit and Marion Anderson.
    • Legacy Trail extension through Newtown, with updates expected at the May 13 NCRAAB meeting.
    • Park improvements at Fred Atkins and MLK parks; funding gap for MLK park was filled by CRA; bids came in over estimates; staff will provide a consolidated update.
    • Business Incubation Center pilot: seeking a location; currently negotiating lease at former Democratic headquarters on MLK; will partner with CEO, SCORE, and other organizations.
    • Newtown Business Grant Assistance: nine grants completed.
    • Home Paint Beautification Program: 28 homes painted since 2023, 14 more in process; contractor now under a 3-year contract.
    • Not-for-profit grant program and funding for CEO ($20,000) and SCORE ($4,900).
    • Cultural Events Grant program and in-kind services; "Taste of Newtown" event held in November with over 20 vendors and six performances; planning for annual event but may adjust timing.
    • MLK Corridor Visioning: working with an architectural firm on a dynamic model for the 301 to North Orange section; nearing completion.
    • Branding and marketing: website launched, logo created.
    • In response to Commissioner Battie, Mr. Yancey and Mr. Battie described a mixed-use redevelopment consortium (including Scott Elliott, Keith DeBoes, etc.) that is developing renderings of a French Quarter-style facade for MLK corridor, with support from foundations.
    • Commissioner questions also covered the timeline for sidewalk and park projects, which staff will compile and provide later.
    • Commissioners praised the work of the Advisory Board, especially Mr. Applebee who will be leaving the city.

  • CRA.3 – Appointment to Newtown CRA Advisory Board: There was one vacancy with four applicants. Vice Chair Ohlrich nominated Charles Walker; seconded by Commissioner Battie. Commissioners expressed that all applicants were qualified but noted that Mr. Williams was also the only applicant for the Human Relations Board, so he would be better placed there. The Board reached consensus to appoint Charles Walker.

Key Outcomes

  • The Board accepted the Annual Report of the Newtown Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board (motion by Ahearn-Koch, second by Battie, 5-0).
  • Charles Walker was appointed to the NCRAAB.
  • Staff will provide written updates on MLK park improvements and sidewalk project timelines.
  • The Board expressed gratitude to Wayne Applebee for his leadership and contributions.

Meeting Transcript

This time the City Commission will recess and convene into a special session of the Newtown Community Redevelopment Agency. And the first item on that agenda is to, I believe, to approve the minutes of the special uh meeting of uh March 2nd. So move. Second. Okay. I think it was I heard Commissioner A. Hearn Kotch uh moved and and Commissioner Matty. No, it can't. I need it to be clear because he said it first. So I thought she said it for the first time. Is anybody here? Okay. So okay, so moved by Commissioner Batti, seconded by the Vice Mayor to approve the minutes of the March 2nd special CRA meeting. Thank you. And your votes. And that passed unanimously. So as part of the community redevelopment agency, we will now receive uh the annual report from the new town CRA advisory board, and I will invite the advisory board vice chair Yancey, uh Member Preston, Economic Development Manager Appleby, and Business Relations Coordinator Galant to make the presentation. Okay, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Come on. Good morning. Good morning, Madam Mayor. I'm Wayne Appleby. I'm the staff assigned to the Newtown CRA advisory board, and we're here for our annual report today. With me is uh our Vice Chair Carlos Yancey. And Ms. Shelle Kalat, our other staff member. So I'm going to kick us off and then uh Mr. Yancey will take over. So just as a reminder, the the community redevelopment agency is created under Chapter 163 of the Florida statutes. A CRA was uh first established in the city in 1986. Um and that was to establish the area that was downtown. Uh and in 2008, uh the city uh decided uh after doing a study and uh getting the uh county commission to agree to submit to create a CRA for the new town area and your new town district was established uh in 2008 under a resolution. Now, under Chapter 163, uh you are the governing body. That's why you convened this meeting as the CRA, and we're here as your advisor, or the the Mr. Yancey's here as your advisory board vice chair to give you the update. Um just as a reminder, this is the district itself. This is the legal boundary of the district. Um it's essentially on a north to south, it's north of 17th Street, but south of Myrtle. It's east of 41 and west of the county line. Your last resolution was uh revised since 2008. There's been a uh two or three different resolutions, but the last one was passed in 2022, and that was where you established a five five-member board. And their primary uh responsibility is to be the source of community input to the agency uh in regards to local redevelopment planning. I won't read all the purposes and duties. And you currently have uh four advisory board members in one vacancy. Our chair is Dr. Shelley, and unfortunately she is unable to be here today. Um Vice Chair Carlos Yancey, uh member Danny Preston and uh member Janine Johnson, and hopefully after this presentation you'll appoint the fifth member. I'm gonna turn it now over to Mr.

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