Editor, The Beacon:
Concerning the Framework apartment project, which is planned to replace Bank of America’s current building in Downtown DeLand with at least 280 apartments, why was this project not shared with the community through a public meeting sponsored by MainStreet or even the Community Redevelopment Agency before the CRA approved a $9.5 million grant of taxpayer money for the developer from the Tax Increment Trust Fund?
The legal requirements of Florida’s Community Redevelopment Act limit the use of these Trust Fund monies to projects to alleviate slums and blight, provide affordable housing and even foster historic preservation.
Is the replacement of the Bank of America building with market-rate apartments that are out of scale with Historic Downtown DeLand any of this? Is the Bank of America building really slum and blighted?
Or is this simply an economic development project supported by the growth and development interests of DeLand’s elected officials and out-of-town developers seeking to profit at the expense of our community?
Frank Schnidman
DeLand
