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.