LAKE COUNTY, Fla.,None — Some residents said a program designed to help their community will actually hurt it.
Lake County leaders want to form a community redevelopment area in Mount Plymouth and Sorrento, but it would label them as "blighted neighborhoods."
Some homeowners said they don't like that title. 'Blight' is the term that has set everybody off. Residents said they'd like to see improvements along State Road 46, but they said it's not worth the negative label.
Many of the homeowners who live around the old Mt. Plymouth Golf Club may be in for a surprise.
Jeanne Etter is leading a group of residents opposed to the formation of a community redevelopment area, or CRA, for 2,100 acres in the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento area.
"People are going to be frightened by it. And what does that mean for me?" Etter said.
CRA status allows a larger amount of taxpayer dollars for improvements like sidewalks and street lights.
Funds could also be funneled into the aging business district, but resistance is growing.
"There was a flier that circulated -- actually mailed to all of the residents in the Mount Plymouth area," county commission chair Leslie Campione said. "The flier suggested, in fact I'm just gonna come out and say it -- it used very inflammatory language."
Campione is pushing for the program, but to be eligible for extra funding, the state requires that the redevelopment area meet the criteria of "slum" or "blight."
WFTV found some of those areas, but Etter said an entire community shouldn't get a black eye because of it.
"I mean, that's like having a bushel of apples and finding two or three rotten ones -- and saying the rest must be rotten, too," Etter said.
Etter insists the program would force home values to fall even farther than they already have.
"These are perceptions. 'Blight' is a really bad perception," Etter said.
The county commission will soon hold a workshop on the possible CRA, and only if there's enough support will there be a large community meeting there to pitch the plan.
WFTV
