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Editor, The Beacon:
My wife and I moved to DeLand permanently 20 years ago after visiting since the early 1970s. My wife’s parents retired to DeLand when South Woodland Boulevard was still two lanes and Roses was the biggest store in the area.
We are now residents of Victoria Gardens and love the vibrant Downtown, with its great restaurants and regular events and activities.
We typically reach Downtown via East New York Avenue (East State Road 44), but if we have out-of-town visitors we avoid this route, instead using Taylor Road and South Woodland Boulevard.
As proud as we are of our adopted town, we are embarrassed by the appearance of this “gateway” route to our town.
Can this $600,000 (that Downtown DeLand’s Community Redevelopment Agency has) be used to begin a program to assist property owners to clean up their homes and establishments? (Especially those between Kepler Road and Hill Avenue.)
I wonder how many people leave the interstate on State Road 44 west and turn around before ever reaching Downtown?
Thank you,
Dale and Deborah Hull
DeLand
Editor’s note: While we appreciate the letter from the Hulls sharing their opinion about City of DeLand needs, the $600,000 available in the Community Redevelopment Agency fund may not be spent on this project.
The CRA funds must be spent within the boundaries of the Downtown DeLand CRA district, which roughly encompass the core of Downtown DeLand, plus a short stretch of West Voorhis Avenue.
