Pine Hills business owners on board with $500 community improvements fee

PINE HILLS, Fla. — A $500-per-parcel fee has been proposed in Pine Hills to help pay for improvements in the neighborhood and community members were at a public hearing Tuesday to discuss the matter.

Business owners who spoke to Channel 9 said they were on board with the planned referendum and hoped the extra money would help improve the neighborhood.

"I want to see things change in Pine Hills," business owner Augustina Peassah said.

The Pine Hills Neighborhood Improvement District proposed the fee to help pay for the improvements, which would affect the community as a whole, executive director Michelle Owens said.

More than 300 business owners have been asked to vote on the proposal.

“They will each get a ballot in the mail (and) the ballot will ask them if they are in favor of this referendum, and this referendum will be used for various projects, such as infrastructure improvements and maybe some programmatic things they want to see done,” she said. “(And) community events, things that will draw people to the Pine Hills area.”

The money would also be used to adding a town center with retailers and dining.

The hope is the community can build itself up and reverse the view that Pine Hills is a violent area, officials said.

“Over the years, businesses have left, housing has aged, and the general sentiment of the community is they need something to generate more interest in coming to Pine Hills as a destination,” Owens said.

Resident Nicole Farquharson wanted people outside Pine Hills to see it the way residents do, not as a community weighed down by excess crime, but as a neighborhood like any other.

"We want everyone to know that there are good people in Pine Hills," she said. "Yes, things happen. But things happen everywhere on Earth. There's no country, no town, no city, no state that doesn't have crime."

If passed, officials believe the initiative could bring upward of $150,000 to the community.

The Pine Hills Neighborhood Improvement District met with some business owners who have properties on Silver Star and Pine Hills roads, and encouraged them to vote "yes" on revamping parts of their community.

The group wants to know if business owners would be open to paying $500 per parcel of land a year.

The money collected would go toward improvement projects like roadside litter, vandalism and public safety and security initiatives.

"We want Pine Hills to be projected and perceived as a better place to live, work and play," said resident Caroline Wilson.

Businesses will receive a ballot in the mail starting Dec. 9, and they will have until Jan. 25 to send it in.

Cox Media Group