2010-252A (17) - Laserfiche WebLink

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While the increase in business activity and construction has added jobs to this area, it is not evident whether the impact has benefitted the depressed area of the community. Like many depressed areas, Gifford contains a mix of land uses and a supply of vacant industrial and commercially designated land. Going forward, the county should continue to eliminate substandard housing and maintain code enforcement activity in Gifford. ➢ Gifford Enterprise Zone In 2005, Indian River County and the City of Vero Beach jointly established an Enterprise Zone encompassing properties in and around the City of Vero Beach Municipal Airport and properties within the Gifford Community. An Enterprise Zone is an area designation approved by the state to encourage new economic growth and investment in distressed areas. The state accomplishes this in part by providing tax incentives to residents and businesses within Enterprise Zones. Those tax incentives include job tax credits, sales tax refunds, property tax credits, and other tax credits. With the Enterprise Zone, Indian River County and the City of Vero Beach have the ability to offer state sponsored incentives to local companies. Those additional incentives are another tool that the County and the City of Vero Beach have at their disposal to help retain and expand existing businesses and help to attract new businesses. With a possible expansion of the Piper Aircraft facility and the increasingly available industrial land within the Enterprise Zone, additional development can be expected to occur in the future within the Enterprise Zone. In fact, the Indian River Industrial Center, an industrial/business park consisting of 7 lots on 12.5 acres, was recently constructed on the north side of 40 Street, west of 49th Avenue. Besides the Indian River Industrial Center, another industrial/business park is in the planning stages along 40 street in the Gifford Community, between 28th Avenue and 43rd Avenue (Vero Beach Business Park). That business park is proposed to have a total of 15 lots. Oslo The third blighted area is located west of US 1 along Oslo Road in the southern portion of the county. Oslo Road (9th Street, S.W.) is a principal east/west arterial road in the south county from US 1 to I-95. It is expected that the county's third interchange to I-95 will be located at Oslo Road. In Oslo, the blighted area consists chiefly of old platted and unplatted residential areas. Because that area was developed before infrastructure improvements were constructed, many of the roads and lots in the area do not meet county development standards. While increased and continued code enforcement activity is necessary to identify specific structures for repair or removal, a more concerted effort involving individual property owners, the county, and third party developer -financiers will be needed to resolve many of the roadway and infrastructure deficiencies caused by development during the first half of the 20th century. Future Land Use Element 126