What Do You Know About the Vilano Beach CRA?

 You may have heard that Vilano Beach is one of three Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA’s) in St Johns County. We join West Augustine and Flagler Estates as beneficiaries of the County’s focus on promoting, coordinating and funding a variety of residential and commercial redevelopment efforts. 

Why “redevelopment?”

Well, twenty-some years ago, when the panoramic Usina Bridge replaced the old drawbridge, those properties and businesses on Vilano Road were left without traffic that would sustain them. With the new bridge, people had to turn right on Coastal Highway to get to Vilano Road and the restaurants and other businesses there. This was before Publix so traffic on Vilano Road slowed to a crawl and the businesses and area were not kept up well.

According to the 2021 CRA Annual Report, the purpose of the CRA is to:

· Plan and implement programs, projects and activities which serve to eliminate/reduce blight conditions

· Establish community policing to encourage compliance with established community  standards and ordinances

· Support the creation and provision of affordable housing

· Provide and encourage the expansion of public sanitary sewer and water utilities

· Provide and support improvement of the roadways and storm water infrastructure

· Encourage and provide incentives for appropriate economic development

· Encourage and foster the development of activities which impact culture and quality  of life in the three established community redevelopment areas: Flagler Estates, Vilano Beach and West Augustine

The Community Redevelopment Agencies have identified five strategic objectives:

• Infrastructure Improvements

• Economic Development 

• Affordable Housing

• Recreation and Community Activities

• Funding, Financing, Management, and Area Promotion

The CRA was approved in 2003, allowing for St Johns County to pay upfront for the Vilano Beach Town Center (VBTC) infrastructure. Construction of the Town Center streetscape was begun in 2006 and completed in 2008. The CRA is repaid through a tax increment financing (TIF) established for Vilano Beach that provides dedicated revenue for a 30-year period as well bonding which SJC chose to utilize to ensure redevelopment initiatives in the redevelopment plan could be realized. 

The definition of the CRA and CRA funding is clearly addressed in the 2021 CRA Annual Report (p.6), so you can continue reading more deeply, but the purpose of this article is to talk about what is happening now with the CRA.

Vilano Beach Main Street, Inc., (VBMS) is a partner with the SJC CRA, and has overall responsibility for executing the Vilano CRA. VBMS is contractually responsible for coordinating the marketing/promotion and economic development needs of SJC, maintaining the beauty and infrastructure of Vilano Beach, and communicating with the public and local businesses. In March 2022, Vilano Beach Main Street renewed their contract with the SJC CRA to continue the CRA. 

The Vilano CRA is different from the Flagler Estates and West Augustine CRA’s in that Vilano CRA is a revenue creating enterprise that will generate significant tax and tourist revenue for St. Johns County. For every dollar that the County invests, a dollar will be returned to the County in multiples from bed tax and other economic investment returns.

VBMS is seeking to make Vilano Beach and the Town Center more inclusive beyond simply Vilano Road, and has created a CRA Steering Committee of members of three local organizations, all working together for the good of the community. North Shores Improvement Association, North Beach Community Allianceand Vilano Beach Main Street are represented on the Steering Committee bringing a much wider perspective to the use of the CRA funding.

That said, the use of CRA funds is limited to the physical boundaries of the CRA, which is basically Ferrol Road north to Gardner Avenue. The broader perspective is important because the Vilano Beach Town Center serves residents and visitors alike as a place to do business and relax.

The CRA does not provide dollars to VBMS. The process is that the County approves a funding budget for the CRA each year, and VBMS must apply for reimbursement for expenditures allowed by the CRA. The allowable reimbursements are defined by Government Accounting standards.

Once the budget is available, the CRA Steering Committee will advise VBMS on use of the funds.

Vilano Beach Main Street, Inc., is the final decision-making authority on how Vilano CRA funds are expended.

The CRA Steering Committee always wants to hear from residents about priorities.  Contact VBMS with your thoughts and ideas.