Commissioners debate reserving CRA funds for small businesses as North Beach Street projects advance

Commissioners at the Daytona Beach Community Redevelopment Agency on May 6 debated how to balance funding for large infrastructure projects with ongoing small-business grants.

Several commissioners urged reserving a portion of CRA funds across the agency’s redevelopment areas to ensure small businesses can access grants and façade funds while larger projects — notably the North Beach Street (referred to in the meeting as Blue Road) resurfacing and other corridor investments — proceed. Commissioners said four businesses are currently positioned to move forward with grant applications and matching investment, representing about $200,000 in requested grant awards, while staff noted the larger corridor project carries a multi‑million-dollar price tag (discussed in the meeting as approximately $2.2 million).

Development staff told commissioners that existing grant programs remain budgeted and that any specific grant still requires board and commission approval. Staff also said they will provide a follow-up memo with ranked priorities from the commission workshop at the next meeting. Commissioners discussed using a fixed percentage reserved for small-business grants so that major projects do not fully exhaust available CRA funds and stall private investment already underway.

Context and next steps

Commissioners noted visible recent private investment along the corridor — storefront work, façade improvements and businesses preparing to open — and some members argued that modest CRA grants now could leverage greater private investment while waiting for larger public infrastructure work to be completed. Staff committed to presenting the commission with the grant application list and a memo of priorities at the next scheduled meeting. The CRA meeting adjourned and the city commission was scheduled to convene five minutes later.