Council advances updated Cocoa and Diamond Square CRA plans; public-engagement priorities include waterfront and streetscape projects

The council received final updates to the Cocoa Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and Diamond Square CRA redevelopment plans and voted to advance them. Inspire Placemaking's Laura Martinez summarized public engagement and a diagnostic that led to prioritized goals: waterfront and public-realm improvements, improved connectivity and pedestrian safety, housing options including "missing middle" and mixed-use infill, and environmental resiliency.\n\nFor the Cocoa CRA the consultant highlighted proposed projects such as a festival street on Harrison, a gateway plaza and waterfront placemaking; the team used a conservative 3% tax-increment financing (TIF) growth assumption to model potential revenues and identify priority projects. For Diamond Square the updated plan emphasizes placemaking, housing and infill, small-business support, and a short list of capital projects scaled to a smaller CRA tax base.\n\nCouncil voted unanimously to adopt the Cocoa CRA plan and to pass the Diamond Square update on first reading. Staff said the plans include prioritized projects, cost estimates and suggested funding sources and that next steps include CRA board review and implementation planning.