SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Authorize a Purchase Order to Alfred Benesch and Company (Benesch) of Tampa, Florida in the amount of $255,978.00 to prepare amendments to the city’s Community Development Code implementing recommendations from the North Greenwood Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) Plan, per Code of Ordinance 2.563(1)(c) Piggyback and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same.
Body
SUMMARY:
In January of 2023, City Council approved the North Greenwood CRA Plan followed by Pinellas County approval in May of 2023. Included in this plan are recommendations to encourage redevelopment and infill development and provide a variety of housing opportunities while working to prevent displacement.
Prior to the final approval of the CRA Plan, the city was awarded a grant from Forward Pinellas to conduct a design charrette for the North Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue corridor within the North Greenwood community. This design charrette allowed staff to continue to build on work the CRA Plan started with a focus on the historic center of the community and what can be done to revitalize this historically important area. The charrette resulted in recommendations to create form-based code regulations in the city’s Community Development Code (CDC) specific to the North Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue corridor.
As detailed in the attached scope of work, Benesch will build on past efforts to initiate amendments to the CDC to implement the recommendations from the CRA Plan and the design charrette. City staff will work alongside Benesch and their team of subconsultants to amend the CDC to provide opportunities for incremental, small-scale redevelopment and infill development that will allow residents and business owners to build generational wealth within the neighborhood.
Community engagement will be integrated throughout the process including a listening session and cultural mapping workshop. Additionally, a special team has been assembled to conduct an interactive workshop to refine the community’s vision and visualize what could be built with changes to the CDC regulations for this neighborhood. This project is anticipated to take 11 months inclusive of the city’s adoption process.
In 2023, Forward Pinellas, acting as the Pinellas Planning Council and Pinellas County Metropolitan Planning Organization, approved nine firms to provide professional planning support services including Alfred Benesch & Company. Code of Ordinances Sec. 2.563 (1)(c) allows for direct contracting with consultants utilizing contracts previously awarded by other governmental entities.
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
Funding for this contract has been included in the fiscal year 2023/24 budget in special program M2101, Planning Study Fund.
USE OF RESERVE FUNDS: N/A
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
Amending the Community Development Code to provide regulations to meet the unique conditions of the North Greenwood neighborhood supports Strategic Plan Objectives 3.2 and 3.4.
