Guidelines

I am one member of a five person board. The opinions I express on this forum are mine only, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Escambia County Staff, Administrators, Employees, or anyone else associated with Escambia County Florida. I am interested in establishing this blog as a means of additional transparency to the public, outreach to the community, and information dissemination to all who choose to look. Feedback is welcome, but because public participation is equally encouraged, appropriate language and decorum is mandatory. Although this is not my campaign site for re-election--sometimes campaign related information will be discussed, therefore in an abundance of caution I add the following :








Tuesday, July 3, 2018

Large N.W. Dist. 1 Mixed-Use Development Allows for Potential Public-Private Cooperation



There will be a massive new development in the Northwest portion of District 1 over the next several years.  This mixed use development (according to the conceptual drawings I have seen) will have something for everyone: Restaurants, Shops, Retail,  Medical office, Townhomes, Condos, and Single family residences and amenities for residents of the development.  From the drawings I have seen--it appears as though this will be a pedestrian/bike friendly, walkable development that will mesh well with the currently-under-construction sidewalk and bikepath along the southern portion of 9-Mile Road.

The location for "Pathstone" (this development)  is along the southern portion of 9-Mile Road, East of 11-Mile Creek and running down along Exit 5 of I-10 and down and over to Klondike Road (as depicted above)

There are discussions of accessibility for this parcel from the south via Klondike Road, and the north via a traffic-light at 9-Mile road and the entrance of this development.  There are talks underway between myself, the county staff, and these developers to formalize the route of the road that would go through this property and help the area (and this development) by essentially adding another north-south connector between 9-Mile road and Mobile Highway.  This is looking like a very strong possibility and a win-win for the community and for the developer.

The appealing aspects of this development are numerous:  Finally--more than just Tom Thumb gas station food and delivery pizza as food options for Beulah Residents.  Additionally, I'm told numerous nationally-recognized full-service restaurants have expressed interest in locating in this area. Development of this area and the concomitant drainage and infrastructure improvements will allow for better traffic movement through this already congested area.

Between this development, the Dawson Group mixed-use development planned adjacent to the west, and the residences at Nature Creek going in just north of this development on the north side of 9-mile road--the area around Navy Federal Credit Union is quickly becoming a private-sector funded amenity for the community.  Add to this a walking/biking trail all the way around OLF 8, a recreation park at OLF 8, and several commercial parcels along 9-mile road on the southern part of the OLF 8 parcel--if the board approves these amenities as a part of the plan for OLF 8--and we are quickly coming to a point where we will go from no retail options (except Tom Thumb or Dollar General) and no restaurant options--to a cornucopia of excellent dining/retail/and entertainment options.

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