City Council Takes Steps to Advance CRA

Panama City Beach City Council Advances Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) Projects

Panama City Beach, FL– The Panama City Beach City Council took several proactive steps Thursday to advance the progress on future segments of the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area (CRA).

The Council approved two resolutions for task orders with Chandler and Associates and Deal Consulting, for the appraisal of properties needed for Segment 4.3 of the Front Beach Road CRA. Once the property appraisals are complete, they will be reviewed by Barry Diskin of Diskin Property Research; the Council also approved a contract with Diskin for the appraisal reviews.

After this process, offers will be made for the properties.

The Council also voted to authorize the acquisition of right of way along Front Beach Road between Hutchison Boulevard and Richard Jackson Boulevard as part of Segment 4.3.

“What this does is authorize the CRA team to start making offers to property holders where we need to acquire property rights,” said City Attorney Cole Davis. “Essentially the CRA team has started to identify the property we need and on the consent agenda you authorized the appraisal of that property and this authorizes for the team to start making offers.”

Davis said instead of the property acquisition offers coming piecemeal back to the City Council for approval, this action authorizes staff to make the offers, thus saving valuable time in the process. Council will still have the final approval over the acquisitions.

“Perfect,” said Mayor Mark Sheldon. “This speeds up the process. This is the key to this whole thing, and it is speeding up the CRA even more. That’s the goal.”

Reflecting on his time in office, City Councilman Michael Jarman said when he ran for office four years ago, road improvements and transportation issues was the number one concern of voters. He noted that working with FDOT and state officials, the expansion of Panama City Beach Parkway is currently underway but was originally slated for 2040.

“That is a huge boon for this community,” Jarman said. He mentioned other road construction projects including State Road 79, Hutchison Boulevard and 98 West. “This brings us to the CRA which is a transportation improvement for the City.”

In other CRA business, the Council also approved a modification to two grant agreements with the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) to extend the time of the grants, which will pay for the undergrounding of utilities within the Front Beach Road CRA.

One FDEM Hazard Mitigation Grant is providing $1.05 million in federal funding for CRA Segments 4.1 and 4.2; these segments will be bid and constructed as one project. The grant agreement expired January 31, 2024 and has been extended to January 31, 2025. A second grant agreement for $663,353 for utilities in Segment 4.3 expired in December 2023 and is being extended to January 31, 2025.

The Council did approve a separate project that will see intersection improvements for increased safety on the north end of Richard Jackson Boulevard between Home Depot and Publix. The council approved a Florida Department of Transportation Local Agency Program (LAP) agreement that provides $850,000 to the City for this project. A roundabout will be constructed at the north entrance to both shopping areas to eliminate cross traffic at the Market Street intersection.

All Front Beach Road CRA projects include dedicated turn lanes, transit/bicycle lanes, sidewalks on both sides of the road, roadway lighting, landscaped medians, and undergrounding of all overhead utilities.

Segment 4.1 runs from Lullwater Drive, where Segment 3 ends, to Hills Road. Segment 4.2 picks up at Hills Road and runs east to Lantana Street. Segment 4.3 runs from the Hutchison Boulevard/Front Beach Road intersection at Lantana Street, east to where Segment 2 ends at Richard Jackson Boulevard.

Segment 4.3 will also include new traffic signals at the Hutchison Boulevard/Lantana Street intersection, and on Front Beach Road at the intersections with Clara Avenue, the M.B. Miller County Pier, and Alf Coleman Road.