Bill Text: FL S1434 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urban Infill and Redevelopment Assistance Grant Program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2014-05-02 - Died in Community Affairs [S1434 Detail]
Download: Florida-2014-S1434-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2014 SB 1434
By Senator Soto
14-01319A-14 20141434__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Urban Infill and Redevelopment
3 Assistance Grant Program; creating s. 163.2524, F.S.;
4 establishing the program; providing for grants to
5 counties and municipalities with urban infill and
6 redevelopment areas; authorizing transfer of unused
7 funds between grant categories under the program;
8 requiring the Department of Economic Opportunity to
9 administer the program; requiring the department to
10 adopt rules establishing grant review criteria;
11 amending ss. 163.065, 163.2511, and 163.2514, F.S.;
12 conforming cross-references; providing an effective
13 date.
14
15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
16
17 Section 1. Section 163.2524, Florida Statutes, is created
18 to read:
19 163.2524 Grant program.-An Urban Infill and Redevelopment
20 Assistance Grant Program is created for local governments. A
21 local government may allocate grant money to special districts,
22 including community redevelopment agencies, and nonprofit
23 community development organizations to implement projects
24 consistent with an adopted urban infill and redevelopment plan
25 or plan employed in lieu thereof. Thirty percent of the general
26 revenue appropriated for this program shall be available for
27 planning grants to be used by local governments for the
28 development of an urban infill and redevelopment plan, including
29 community participation processes for the plan. Sixty percent of
30 the general revenue appropriated for this program shall be
31 available for fifty/fifty matching grants for implementing urban
32 infill and redevelopment projects that further the objectives
33 set forth in the local government’s adopted urban infill and
34 redevelopment plan or plan employed in lieu thereof. The
35 remaining 10 percent of the revenue must be used for outright
36 grants for implementing projects requiring an expenditure of
37 less than $50,000. If the volume of fundable applications under
38 any of the allocations specified in this section does not fully
39 obligate the amount of the allocation, the Department of
40 Economic Opportunity may transfer the unused balance to the
41 category having the highest dollar value of applications
42 eligible but unfunded. However, in no event may the percentage
43 of dollars allocated to outright grants for implementing
44 projects exceed 20 percent in any given fiscal year. Projects
45 that provide employment opportunities for clients of the
46 temporary cash assistance program and projects within urban
47 infill and redevelopment areas that include a community
48 redevelopment area, Florida Main Street program, Front Porch
49 Florida Community, sustainable community, enterprise zone,
50 federal enterprise zone, enterprise community, or neighborhood
51 improvement district must be given an elevated priority in the
52 scoring of competing grant applications. The Department of
53 Economic Opportunity shall administer the grant program. The
54 Department of Economic Opportunity shall adopt rules
55 establishing grant review criteria consistent with this section.
56 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (4) of section
57 163.065, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
58 163.065 Miami River Improvement Act.—
59 (4) PLAN.—The Miami River Commission, working with the City
60 of Miami and Miami-Dade County, shall consider the merits of the
61 following:
62 (a) Development and adoption of an urban infill and
63 redevelopment plan, under ss. 163.2511-163.2524 163.2511
64 163.2520, which participating state and regional agencies shall
65 review for the purposes of determining consistency with
66 applicable law.
67 Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 163.2511, Florida
68 Statutes, is amended to read:
69 163.2511 Urban infill and redevelopment.—
70 (1) Sections 163.2511-163.2524 163.2511-163.2520 may be
71 cited as the “Growth Policy Act.”
72 Section 4. Section 163.2514, Florida Statutes, is amended
73 to read:
74 163.2514 Growth Policy Act; definitions.—As used in ss.
75 163.2511-163.2524 163.2511-163.2520, the term:
76 (1) “Local government” means any county or municipality.
77 (2) “Urban infill and redevelopment area” means an area or
78 areas designated by a local government where:
79 (a) Public services such as water and wastewater,
80 transportation, schools, and recreation are already available or
81 are scheduled to be provided in an adopted 5-year schedule of
82 capital improvements;
83 (b) The area, or one or more neighborhoods within the area,
84 suffers from pervasive poverty, unemployment, and general
85 distress as defined by s. 290.0058;
86 (c) The area exhibits a proportion of properties that are
87 substandard, overcrowded, dilapidated, vacant or abandoned, or
88 functionally obsolete which is higher than the average for the
89 local government;
90 (d) More than 50 percent of the area is within 1/4 mile of
91 a transit stop, or a sufficient number of transit stops will be
92 made available concurrent with the designation; and
93 (e) The area includes or is adjacent to community
94 redevelopment areas, brownfields, enterprise zones, or Main
95 Street programs, or has been designated by the state or Federal
96 Government as an urban redevelopment, revitalization, or infill
97 area under empowerment zone, enterprise community, or brownfield
98 showcase community programs or similar programs.
99 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
