Leon County Commission Meeting Briefs: June 11,2024

Below are the briefs from the Leon County Commission meeting on May 14, 2024.

At the June 11th Leon County Commission meeting, the Tallahassee-Leon County Office of Economic Vitality (OEV) provided a local economic update via the May 2024 Quarterly Economic Dashboard Report. The update noted the Tallahassee International Airport experienced a surge in passenger volume, with the highest Q1 traffic in 14 years.

The county staff provided a final report on the Targeted Emergency Assistance Microgrant (TEAM) Leon Program (see story nearby) established by the Board to provide immediate assistance to individuals and businesses impacted by the May 10, 2024, tornadoes event as a bridge to eventual federal aid. County staff also provided more information on funding related to other expenses incurred due to the storm event.

The Board accepted a status report on the Minority, Women, and Small Business Enterprise (MWSBE) Program expenditures for Fiscal Year 2023. For FY 2023, the total utilization of Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) and Women Business Enterprise (WBE) exceeded Leon County’s aspirational targets by achieving 215% of the 2023 MBE goal and 404% of the 2023 WBE goal, respectively.

This Board received a status update on the Southside Action Plan. The item provided a history of the Southside Action Plan (SAP) including an overview of the three phases of the plan, the corresponding June 2023 amendment to the Tallahassee-Leon County Comprehensive Plan, and “action” projects that have been implemented through a combination of public and private investments in southern Leon County.  The Board voted to schedule a workshop on the Southside Action Plan for Tuesday, September 24, 2024, at 1:30 p.m. During the discussion, Commissioner Bill Proctor expressed his desire to have separate workshop on the fairgrounds. Staff assured him the SAP workshop would address the fairgrounds.

The Board approved funding requests in the amount of $7,000 to support The Henry Hill Foundation, Inc.’s annual Emancipation Day Celebration ($6,000) and the Tallahassee Area Chapter of 100 Black Men of America, Inc.’s annual Scholarship Gala ($1,000).

The Board voted to appoint three citizens, Elena Bradbury*, James Butler, and Miriam Gurniak, to the Architectural Review Board, for three-year terms ending June 30, 2027.

The Board voted to appoint George Reynolds to the Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Commission for a three-year term ending on June 30, 2027. 

The Board voted to appoint Carol Rippee to the County’s Architecture / Construction / Engineering seat on the Tallahassee-Leon County Minority, Women and Small Business Enterprise Citizen Advisory Committee for a two-year term ending April 30, 2026.

The Board approved an amendment to the Southwood Integrated Development Order (DRI-DO).  In summary, the changes to the Master Plan Map will change the mix of the units and commercial square footage allocation within the DRI-DO.  These changes would allow for an increase of 416 single-family dwelling units and an increase of 710 multifamily dwelling units, while simultaneously decreasing approximately 15,000 square feet of office and commercial uses each, and a decrease of 2.3 million square feet of industrial uses.

The Board voted to conduct the adoption public hearing and adopt the proposed ordinance containing text amendments to the Tallahassee-Leon County 2030 Comprehensive Plan. During the discussion, Commissioner Bill Proctor advocated a change to the current rule that will not allow more than one home per ten acres in rural Leon County.