Promotions | Best of the Coast | Find a paper | About | Advertise with us | Contact
COVER STORY | Vol. 6, No. 22, June 1, 2006
(Ballsy Plan III)
E-mail this to a friend

Ballsy Plan III


Top 10 Ideas For Transforming The Area

OK, y'all, the Independent News is dropping its third year's worth of Ballsy Plans. It's the IN's vision of making downtown, Pensacola and our surrounding counties a better place.

Yes, we belly ache, and we challenge The Man. That's our job, so get over it.

But we also have more than our fair share of constructive ideas. When it comes to visioning what our area could become, we now have 31 to be exact. In 2004, IN unveiled its first "Ballsy New Vision for Downtown P-town." The plan's No. 1 suggestion was a Pelican's Baseball Park in downtown, which the current Community Maritime Park proposes among other things.

Then, 2005's Ballsy Plan called for a Seville Entertainment District, affordable downtown housing, a new library and relocating Pensacola City Hall off of prime water-front property, which is now way under developed.

This year, the IN blazes new territory. The newsweekly's brain trust calls for city annexation, Perdido Key incorporation and a mid-size music venue, plus a bunch of other big ideas.

If we can do it, then it can't be rocket science. So what are we waiting for? It's not a mission impossible.


1. Reorganization Of Pensacola City Council

A 10-member city council is too large to effectively govern this small town. The large council makes it difficult for any government initiatives to begin at the council level. Most of the real power is in the hands of the staff. The average Florida town council possesses five members with the mayor included. So why should Pensacola be any different?

The Independent News Ballsy Plan III Committee wants to see the council reduced to four single-member districts and a mayor, who is elected by the entire city. Districts 1 and 2 would be combined, as would Districts 3 and 4. Districts 5, 6 and 7 would be combined into two districts with minority populations in the majority in both.

By virtue of the smaller council, the new mayor becomes a much stronger mayor with power to make committee assignments and break all ties. Trust us, a five-member city council will make things happen faster than the city's usual  turtle pace.

2. Pensacola Annexation

The City of Pensacola needs to expand its borders to better represent the area it truly encompasses. The expanded size and population will help Pensacola gain greater attention statewide, regionally and nationally. It will help in the business recruitment process, as well.

IN's Ballsy Plan calls to extend the northern boundary of Pensacola to Olive Road. The city limits will then extend westward along Olive Road to U.S. Highway 29. The western boundary will travel south on Highway 29 to W Street and go from there to Fairfield Drive.

Fairfield Drive will become the westernmost edge of the Pensacola city limits all the way to NAS Pensacola. University Mall, Car City, Myrtle Grove, Warrington and Navy Point will all become part of Pensacola.

The population of this Ballsy annexation area is approximately 73,000. Pensacola would move up from the 40th largest city in Florida to No. 12. The 2005 taxable value of property in the area is about $1.6 billion. That means the city could add as much as $8 million in property taxes.

The new Pensacola residents would gain full-time professional fire service and better law enforcement coverage, as well as better maintained streets, drainage and public parks.    

3. Incorporate Perdido Key

Drive Gulf Beach Highway and you'll notice a considerable difference between Perdido Key and its Alabama neighbors—Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. Much of the success of these two south Baldwin County communities can be tied to the fact that they have incorporated.

Incorporation gives a community control over its own destiny. Yes, the residents pay a little more in property taxes, but they make their own laws and can take care of their problems without having to beg a distracted five-member county commission for their share of the millions Perdido Key generates in property, bed and sales tax revenues.

Streets, drainage, fire protection, law enforcement, code enforcement and trash pick-up are the areas a city controls and manages. Perdido Key citizens make the decisions—not some lame-brained bureaucrat sitting at a desk 30 miles away, who has never even driven down your street.

The City of Perdido Key should include, not just the Key, but also the Innerarity Point area. To keep it simple and leave room for future growth, IN's Ballsy Plan calls for the eastern boundary to be Sorrento Road at the western gate to Pensacola's naval base.

4. Regional Port Authority

Pensacola and Escambia County must form a regional port authority whose mission is to relocate the Port of Pensacola to the Pensacola Naval Air Station. Rather than fight the next Base Realignment and Closure process, we need to embrace it.

A new port at the base would be closer to the Gulf of Mexico, have railroad access, a direct route up Blue Angel Parkway to Interstate 10 and have the land for regional distribution centers.

Let's wake up and realize a third class port in downtown Pensacola has no chance in hell of ever competing with Mobile and rebuilt ports in Gulfport and New Orleans, let alone stop being a drain on taxpayers' wallets.

5. Wi-Fi Downtowns

Wi-Fi stands for wireless fidelity. Many cities across the country are establishing Wi-Fi—wireless Internet networks—to help tech-savvy residents and visitors access the Web from their laptops and personal digital assistants or PDAs.

All that would be needed to access the network is a wireless card, which is standard in newer laptops and PDAs and can be purchased for older devices for less than $60. The most innovative feature of such a network is its use of location-based applications—services designed to help users access information about businesses and attractions within a 500-foot radius.

When visitors turn on their computers or PDAs, an icon will appear inviting them to launch an Internet browser. When launched, a custom home page pops up, providing direct links to information about area retailers and events, in addition to information about the network itself and access to other Internet sites.

With partners Wave Net of Pensacola and Cisco Systems Inc., Pensacola Junior College has already installed a state-of-the-art wireless system across its Pensacola, Warrington and Milton campuses and the Downtown Center.

C'mon, people, it's time to start living like we're in the 21st century.

6. Gulf Coast Internship Institute

This area has lost 11 percent of its under-35-year-olds since 2000.

Escambia and Santa Rosa counties must start attracting more young professionals and reverse this talent exodus. Establishing an internship clearinghouse that could attract college students from all over the country to this area's sun and beaches is one way to do just that.

The Gulf Coast Internship Institute can be modeled after The Washington Center for Internships, a non-profit organization serving hundreds of colleges and universities. It provides selected students opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C., for academic credit. Now in its 30th year, The Washington Center counts more than 33,000 alumni, who are leaders in numerous professions and nations around the world.

 College interns could stay in the college dorms at the University of West Florida and even enroll in a few summer classes. The end result would be more young adults becoming familiar with this area and possibly relocate here after graduation.

7. Mid-Size Music Venue

Pensacola needs a nice mid-size music venue to replace the old Bayfront Auditorium, which sat on the water at the end of Palafox Street.

The hall should be large enough to accommodate regional bands that are too popular for the 1,800-seat Saengar Theatre, but not big enough to sell out the 10,000-seat Pensacola Civic Center.

Build it in the Belmont-DeVillers District, which would further that neighborhood as a music mecca.

8. Attainable Housing

Pensacola has made great strides in working towards more attainable housing. It has put up unused city property for proposals and rewritten some of its density requirements in certain areas.

The Ballsy Plan calls for the city to do even more, though. Build more parking garages in the downtown area and convert the large parking prairies near City Hall and the Chappie James Building into high-density residential neighborhoods—mostly small town homes.

Also the plan focuses on making inner-city neighborhoods safer and more livable—adding sidewalks, street lighting and more police patrols. Nuisance ordinances absolutely must be enforced. Code enforcement officers should diligently inspect neighborhoods to ensure owners properly maintain their properties.

And remember, attainable housing is built one block and one neighborhood at a time.

9. Mass Transit

Folks, the days of $1.29 gasoline are gone forever. Might as well start preparing now for future gasoline shortages. Mass transit must become more accessible and feasible to our communities.

Monorail systems should be built that connect Pensacola Beach, Gulf Breeze, Perdido Key, downtown Pensacola, Cordova Mall/Pensacola Junior College area, the University of West Florida and Pace.

This requires parking lots for people to park before they board the trains. Riders can transfer to buses once they get off the trains and be taken to various businesses and workplaces. It beats taxis and rickshas.

10. Greater Pensacola Area Minimum Wage

Why do we have a Florida constitutional amendment dictating what the local minimum wage should be?

We all agree that pay rates are way, way toooo low here. Yet the cost of living is no longer much cheaper than Atlanta, New Orleans or other areas with much higher median incomes.

Local fast food owners are offering signing bonuses to new employees. The minimum wage just isn't working for the employee or the employer.

The answer? Let's get UWF's Haas Center economic gurus to help us develop a "Greater Pensacola Area Minimum Wage"—one that allows a full-time worker to live without government subsidies or charity.

So what if some of our business owners might not be able to afford that third $500,000-plus condominium? The overall quality of life in the community would be raised. More people could afford to shop in local stores.

Many of the fastest growing cities in this country have the better paying jobs, so don't tell us that we have to keep our wages low to attract new businesses to this area. Mexico passed us in that niche long ago.

The last big industry attracted to Escambia and Santa Rosa counties because of the area's cheap labor was the Starter Corporation, who makes the official NFL licensed jackets and other clothing. Starter operated a plant in Century, only to see its low-cost employees nearly steal it blind. Eventually, they were forced to close the plant.

Heck, if we had a decent minimum wage, then the local hospitals wouldn't be clamoring for a local sales tax option to help pay for the medical care of the uninsured working poor in Escambia County.

Ballsy Plan 2
2005

1. DOWNTOWN PARKING GARAGES
• Corner of Jefferson and Romana streets (across from the Pensacola News Journal's bomb shelter).
• Corner of Romana and Baylen streets (behind the Blount office building).
• Corner of Jefferson and Government streets (behind Seville Tower).
• Corner of Intendencia and Spring streets (behind the Chappie James building).
• Corner of Baylen and Chase streets (behind the Bank of America).

2. AFFORDABLE DOWNTOWN HOUSING

3. RELOCATE PENSACOLA CITY HALL
• To the corner of Main Street and Barrancas Avenue on the Pensacola Appliance property and the American Cresote site.

4. SEVILLE ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT

5. NEW PUBLIC LIBRARY/AUDITORIUM
• IN experts recommend a 21st century library in the Belmont-Devilliers area.

6. QUICK FIXES FOR DOWNTOWN
• Open Palafox Place, Baylen and Spring streets to two-way traffic.
• Limit deliveries to Palafox Place businesses to no later than 9 a.m. on weekdays.
• Require all retail stores to open on Saturdays.
• Host concerts or other fun events late Friday afternoons in Ferdinand Plaza.

7. PENSACOLA BEACH NO-BRAINERS
• Deed property over to the current leaseholders. Start assessing property taxes.
• Remove height restrictions and allow high-rises to go up, up, up.
• Four-lane Via de Luna all the way to Portofino, but don't put the utilities underground, thus saving $12 million and money for future repairs.
• Build parking garages at Casino Beach, Quietwater Beach and adjacent to the Pensacola Beach Chamber of Commerce.
• Eliminate the toll on the Bob Sikes Bridge.
• Maintain public access to the entire beach.

8. SOUTH SANTA ROSA TRAFFIC PROPOSALS
• Build a four-lane express overpass over Gulf Breeze that rainbows straight to Pensacola Beach.
• Triple the number of traffic lights on U.S. 98. It should slow traffic down and encourage more motorists to use the Garcon Point Bridge.

9. DOWNSIZE ESCAMBIA COUNTY
• The two most obvious eliminations are the Santa Rosa Island Authority and the ECUA.

10. CULTURAL INVESTMENT 
• Escambia County should give a third of its nearly $4 million in bed tax collections for the arts and such festivals as the Great Gulf Coast Arts Festival, Pensacola Bay International Film Festival, SpringFest and the Pensacola Jazz Festival.

(Click here for the complete plan)

Ballsy Plan I 
2004

1. Downtown Pelicans Baseball Park
2. Hotel/Retail Complex on Ninth Avenue by Gulf Power
3. Exhibit Hall/Convention Center between Civic Center and Aragon
4. Convert Port of Pensacola to mixed use with housing, retail, offices
5. Maritime Museum and Research Center
6. De Luna Park on site of old Bayfront Auditorium
7. Amphitheatre on Trillium property
8. Corporate Center on Trillium property
9. Replace Main Street plant with Water Park and Botanical Garden
10. Seville Entertainment District
11. New West Florida Public Library

Click Here

















Apple iTunes