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Redevelopment Plan Finalized For ‘Blighted’ Areas Of Cantonment
October 30, 2013
A final review and comment meeting was held Tuesday night at Jim Allen Elementary School for the Cantonment Redevelopment Plan — a plan designed to address issues that need major improvement in a distressed area of Cantonment.
Just under 2,000 people live in the Cantonment Redevelopment Area in 533 family households. The median household income is $28,291, far below the Escambia County median income of $43,707. Over half of the homes in the area are worth less than $50,000, and a significant number are in need of some sort of repair.
West of Highway 29, the blighted area is generally bordered by Heaton Road to the south, Nowak Road and Hicks Street to the west and Well Line Road to the north. East of Highway 29, the blighted area is generally bordered by Becks Lake Road, Virecent Road, and Eden Lane. The blighted area does not include all properties on the listed roads. (For a detailed map in pdf format, click here.)
Crime and the perception of crime are major contributing factors to blight in the area. In a five-year data period, total crimes in the Cantonment CRA exceed the crime rate in Escambia County as whole. Residents and business owners in the Cantonment CRA are more likely to experience crime than the county average.
In four out of the five reporting years, citizens and businesses in the Cantonment CRA were twice as likely to be the victim of a burglary that a citizen outside of the CRA.
Through a series of workshops and public participation, seven focus areas needing improvement in the area were identified: Housing, Community Facilities and Services, Health and Safety, Workforce and Jobs.
The CRA will be responsible for overseeing the implementation of the plan once it is approved by the Escambia County Commission. The Cantonment Improvement Committee will play a major role in the implementation of this plan, along with other neighborhood groups formed within this area. Other county agencies, such as Code Enforcement, will also be utilized.
The major needs identified in the Cantonment Redevelopment Plan were as follows:
Housing
Because over 50 percent of the homes within the redevelopment area are 45 years or older, there is a great need for housing repair or rehabilitation. Other identifiable needs included affordable mortgages and affordable rental homes and apartments.
The Community Redevelopment Agency will work with the Neighborhood Enterprise Foundation and other groups to assist residential property owners who need housing repairs and or rehabilitation assistance. The CRA will encourage public/private initiatives to make affordable mortgages available.
Community Facilities and Services
Residents of the area identified the need for a community center, job training center, library, adult education center, center for tutoring, a senior citizens center, recreation center and housing center.
The Sidney W. Nelson Community Learning Center (formerly known as old Ransom High School) has been identified by the community to possibly be converted to a community center. The CRA will collaborate with the Escambia County School Board, Community Affairs, and other agencies to determine if this is feasible and/or look at alternatives of building a new facility. Such a community center could be utilized to meet most of the other community facilities needs identified in the plan.
Health and Safety
The top two health and safety issues identified by the community are street lights and health care facilities. Additionally mosquito control and vacant and abandoned homes are important community issues as well as community policing and disaster shelters ranked very closely. Although they are lower priorities, overgrown trees and bushes and noise at the paper mill were also major concerns.
The CRA will work with Gulf Power and other departments to identify locations for street lights. The CRA will also collaborate with Escambia County Health Department, Sacred
Heart, Baptist and West Florida Hospitals and other agencies to provide or build a medical facility that provides 24 hour health care services in the local area.
The use of community policing, neighborhood watch groups and use of other agencies will be encouraged. The CRA staff will work closely with Escambia County Code Enforcement and
International Paper to ensure buffers is in place to reduce and control the paper mill noise.
Workforce and Jobs
Job training opportunities and more local jobs tied as the highest priority in this category. Many participants at the public meetings noted the long drive required to job training centers and areas were most job opportunities are available. Making job opportunities and training available locally will improve the lives of residents in Cantonment. Providing job opportunities for ex-convicts and voluntary pre-kindergarten programs were also identified as needs in the community.
Transportation and Infrastructure
Improving roads and improving drainage and ditches were the two highest priority transportation and infrastructure need identified by the community. Other high priority issues were
improving Muscogee Road, adding sidewalks and bike paths, creating a roadway plan for private roads, traffic calming and adding more bus stops and increasing bus frequency.
Opportunities identified by meeting participants included increasing transit and transport jobs, training and elderly services.
Business Generation
Creating more small business and retail shopping received the highest priority by the community. Improving commercial infrastructure and developing a local farmers market were also needs that could be addressed. The community identified several ideas for improving business generation opportunities: partner with major industries in the Cantonment and Greater Pensacola area to bring jobs to the community as well as reusing the Sidney W. Nelson Community Learning Center as a job training center.
Cultural/Natural Resources and Recreation
In the cultural/natural resources and recreation category, Cantonment citizens identified the greatest needs as a community pool, sports programs and the lack of identified historic buildings. The Community Redevelopment Agency will work to address the needs.
Pictured top: Areas like Lakeview Avenue are under consideration as the Cantonment Community Redevelopment Area. Pictured top inset: A meeting on the plan held at Jim Allen Elementary School. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
12 Responses to “Redevelopment Plan Finalized For ‘Blighted’ Areas Of Cantonment”
That funeral chapel with the adjoining crematorium there at the corner of Neal Road and highway 29 should be able to afford to clean up a little. I have not noticed any funeral processions on my way to and from the mill, but I see black smoke coming from the crematorium all the time so I figure they are pretty busy.
I have lived in the East Hill city limits for close to 25yrs. To this day, I avoid driving through Cantonment if at all possible. It’s blighted, with little or no zoning regulations of any kind. Line up the bulldozers, level it off and start over with city annexation. If you can’t afford to live in the City limits, please move back to AL, MS or LA.
I attended the last two meetings (didn’t hear about them until the afternoon of the second one!)
People that live in that area already *are* doing something for themselves. That is why I attended. I actually live a little outside of the CRA but I was very interested to hear that their was a group, the Cantonment Improvement Board, that has already been at work doing things to improve the area! They are working on a clean up project this Saturday.
The next meeting for this CIC was announced for Tuesday, Nov. 5th at 6 pm at Pearl Valley Baptist Church at 6 pm.
Some of the leaders have been working with the county and our commissioner to identify some problems but they said that they aren’t waiting for the government to help them. (The funds from the increased tax revenue from higher property values may take years to show up!)
I applaud people that live in the area are working do improve it on their own. I am interested in helping because as that area improves, so does the rest of Cantonment. I don’t know the members personally yet or haven’t attended their meetings (hope to) but let’s give credit where credit is due. I’d be interested to hear more about the CIC and how it got started. Josh Womack was listed as the contact person for the group.
If I were in charge of code enforcement, I would be seeking funding authorization for some forty foot dump trailers and large front end loaders.
That is probably not too bad a job and one worth hanging on to.
Who is the Director of Code Enforcement for Escambia County and is that position appointed by the county commission?
Ha, good luck trying to change anything in this area, try changing the minds of the people of the community first . maybe if some would get off there a** and help themselves then things would change . and yes I do live in the area , and own a home free and clear ,that was built in the 80,s and I hold down a full time job so it,s what you make of it , to many people wanting free help and a free hand out in this area everyone thinks it ,s owed to them , like the person that could of had a job at burger king but did not take it because they thought it was not good enough , a job is a job especially if you’re holding your hand out wanting something for nothing , I do not care if it,s scrubbing out toilets , I would make that toilet shine,blame it on the hurricanes , blame it on your surroundings blame it on your upbringing, blame it on the people that move here from everywhere else including New Orleans , blame it on oil spills , blame it on gas prices/ food prices blame it on the economy ,blame it on are government , blame it on Barack Obama ,,, or take the blame on yourself and do something about it . out of the about 30 homes on our block I bet at least 15 of them families no one works they sit on their front porch talking on their cell phones smoking cigs and drinking beer ,they are the ones that even tho they are home all day there yards are a mess with garbage/junk and toys not cleaned up and the inside of the homes are the same way some I know are on government assistance some are on disability and the rest who knows how they survive .it,s a mess in the Cantonment area and if I had known that 8 years ago I would have never moved here , so it would be great if someone did something for the area. please don,t get mad at me I’m just telling the truth .I see it and hear it everyday .
AMEN KB.
VERY well said! YOU need to be on that committee.
I could have sworn that we passed the movie set from the 1991 motion picture, Nothing But Trouble as we were coming into Cantonment on our way to the fair last week.
Why do people let their property get into such an awful condition? It does give me a good appreciation for the order that we enjoy in Atmore.
Something really needs to be done with all the derelict structures around Cantonment. I know that the impression I get when I approach from the north is one of a post apocalyptic landscape. Zoning certainly would not hurt anything.
That place never did fully recovered from Hurricane Ivan.
I live in that area and my income is below the median listed above. My family size is 3X the national average. I’m not on any kind public assistance and don’t want to be. My house isn’t falling apart. We live well on our income. We work hard, stay home, and stay out of trouble. Three of my kids have jobs. None of us do drugs. None of us have ever been arrested. Both are very expensive. Don’t bring us more welfare and food stamps, bring us more and better jobs. Tell us who live next to Champion how to get hired. Our parents worked there, but now you’d think it was a company from a foreign country. Give us more police and pay them better. And when a person is caught committing a crime take away their public assistance ( unless they are in jail, keep them there and feed them)
All the problems of this area are not going to be solved by redistributing more of the wealth of others to the area. This county might be much improved through two incentives for business, namely more freedom and lower taxes.
Amen “429SCJ” Painting and sugar coating and the problem continue to ROT within. People need to change and get a mindset of helping themselves. Prioritize every decision not just living like there is all tomorrows. Plan today and your tomorrows will take care of themselves. Just saying.
When the music’s over, turn out the light.
Changing the exterior is a nice touch, but I am of the opinion that these conditions are more of an internal matter. Good Luck.