Larry Johnson Reply (Part 1)

Below is the response from the Office of Commissioner Larry Johnson Regarding the previous post:

Since taking office, Commissioner Johnson has taken many steps towards helping to revitalize the Wesley Chapel area which is in District 3; Covington Highway at Panola is in District 5 – Commissioner Lee May

Commissioner Johnson began by pulling the business owners and property owners in the Wesley Chapel Corridor together to develop an economic development vision. Without the input and participation of the individuals who own the property plans can be made but cannot be implemented without them. In addition to this, he has securing funding to assist the business community and the residential community to come together in order to build on this visioning process. He has arranged for a developers tour of the area to match property owners with developers (mixed-used developers) to begin a dialogue with the end result of getting some construction projects started.

The widening of Wesley Chapel, unfortunately, contributed to a lot of the existing businesses’ demise, but now that the construction is over an the traffic congestion that was a way of life is no more. The Wesley Chapel area is again on the rise. Part of the this rise is that in addition to participation by the property owners in any development plan, incentives have to be in place for developers to come. Our Economic Development Department has an array of incentives that developers can take advantage of in addition; Commissioner Johnson has helped to develop the I-20 Corridor Overlay District. This development tool will assist developers in coming into the area because the standards and requirements that the business community and residential community have developed are in place, spelled out and the overlay also makes it more cost effective to get permits, etc.

Commissioner Johnson has met with several interested developers who have expressed an interest in the Wesley Chapel.

The other part of this equation is that support from the community is essential in keeping businesses open; holding the businesses there accountable --- as in ensuring that merchandise is top quality, the condition of the store is kept at maximum standard, customer service is excellent, etc. Unfortunately, in most cases when these items are lacking, rather than the community holding the business accountable, the community continues to shop at the store with the substandard practices or goes elsewhere --- again, all without voicing their concerns to the owner.

But back to economic development, steps are being undertaken to secure high end retail development in the area. Redevelopment of the area will be at the behest of the property owners who have sites that are attractive to developers.

If you have any specific recommendations for sites: The old Wal-Mart site is under contract, FYI; but if there are other areas in the Wesley Chapel area where you are aware that the property owner is willing to talk with developers our Economic Development Department will be happy to facilitate a meeting with the goal of putting a package together.