Beulah Master Plan, Century Wastewater Plant, Other RESTORE Projects In Public Comment Period

December 22, 2019

A master plan for Beulah and wastewater treatment facility improvements for Century are two of eight new projects added to Escambia County’s RESTORE Act funding requests. The plan has been released for a 45 day public comment period that ends Thursday, February 6.

Escambia County will receive approximately $70 million through 2031 in RESTORE Act Direct Component (Pot 1) funds as a result of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The RESTORE Act requires a Multi-Year Implementation Plan (MYIP) be approved by the Treasury Department prior to submittal of individual project Grant Applications and dispersal of funds.

The county also removed a funding request for an OLF8 Master plan, replacing the funding ask with a campus expansion at the Pensacola International Airport.

Public comment can be submitted as follows:

  • Online public comment form
  • In person: MYIP Amendment 1 Public Comment Meeting, Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 5:30 p.m., Central Office Complex, 3363 West Park Place, Room 104
  • By email to RESTORE@myescambia.com
  • Postal mail: Attention – Escambia County Natural Resources Management-RESTORE, 221 Palafox Place, Pensacola, FL 32502

Beulah Master Plan
$300,000 to develop a master plan for the Beulah area

Escambia County will procure the services of an urban/land-use planning firm to develop a master plan for approximately 30,000 acres in the Beulah community of Escambia County. The master plan will be based on the University of West Florida HAAS Center Citizen Survey, an existing conditions analysis, technical analysis, and on stakeholder engagement and community participation.

The Beulah Master Plan will establish a vision for allowing for the continued growth in the area while preserving the quality of life and sense of place enjoyed by the current residents. The final deliverable will be a master plan and/or zoning overlay district and implementation plan, dependent on the technical guidance provided by the procured consultant and concurrence provided by Escambia County Developmental Services staff.

The Beulah community has experienced extensive growth resulting from improved economic conditions and the expansion of Navy Federal Credit Union’s Beulah campus, which is expected to employ over 10,000 people by 2022. Subdivision development orders in Beulah have increased exponentially, with 7,000 residences permitted for development since 2010. Beulah does not currently have a master plan nor zoning overlay district to effectively plan or manage growth. Development of the Beulah Master Plan will balance the highest and best land uses of the subject area with the needs of the County, region, and the Beulah community in creating a plan for sustaining growth while preserving the character of the community.

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Town of Century Wastewater Improvements
$500,000 to design and permit repairs to Century’s failing wastewater treatment facility

The wastewater treatment and collection system has fallen into disrepair as the town has struggled financially for the last decade to keep pace with maintenance and replacement activities.

Direct Component funds will be utilized to fund planning, design, and permitting associated with wastewater treatment and collection system improvements, including lift station, treatment plant, and piping repairs and replacements.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) has strict requirements for the proper operation and maintenance of the utility system, and Century is responsible for meeting these requirements. Funding design and permitting of wastewater treatment and collection system improvements will allow the town to work with FDEP to secure funding to implement the improvements from the State’s Revolving Loan Fund as a rural, disadvantaged community.

OTHER PROJECTS:

Pensacola International Airport Campus Extension — $1.524 million, replaces OLF8 Master Plan on funding request
Perdido Bay Boat Ramp — $2.5 million for the construction of a boat ramp
Brownsville Community Center Renovation — $300,000 to renovate the interior and exterior, add incubator retail space
CRA Community Center – $500,000 for a community center in a yet to be determined CRA but likely in the Palafox CRA
CRA Economic Development Program -- $1.5 million to institute the complete streets program in CRAs
Little Sabine Bay Restoration Program – $2 million for a multi-tiered restoration effort

Pictured top: The Century Wastewater Treatment Facility, NorthEscambia.com photo, click to enlarge. Pictured below: The Navy Federal campus in Beulah.

Comments

6 Responses to “Beulah Master Plan, Century Wastewater Plant, Other RESTORE Projects In Public Comment Period”

  1. OHYOUKNOW on December 23rd, 2019 10:37 am

    Just how does the oil spill equate to using that money for Beulah’s waste water plant? That money should be spent where the spill made an impact. The waste water plant is not one of them

  2. GEORGE on December 22nd, 2019 5:42 pm

    Sounds like I got mine the heck with everyone else

  3. James on December 22nd, 2019 5:02 pm

    I have been delivering pizzas in Cantonment and Pensacola along Nine Mile Road for a while now. The growth in Beulah is shocking to me. I’ve lived in a number of places but never have I see the rash of development the sort you see on Beulah Road and off of Frank Reeder. We have gone from a handfull of houses in that region to dozens with no end in sight. There is no way expansion like that can leave an area unchanged.

  4. Henry Coe on December 22nd, 2019 3:45 pm

    “preserving the quality of life and sense of place enjoyed by the current residents.”

    That’s a fallacy,lol. That ship sailed two decades ago when planning was done by developers and community leaders without community input. It is what it is and Beulah is not what it was. With development/progress there is no way to preserve the “sense of place” that it was. Especially when new homes are spaced 10 to 15ft apart. That right there changes country living to city living. We don’t have apartments, yet, but you can bet someone has a plan to build some.
    If quality of life was really the concern, 9 Mile Rd would have been four laned long ago and we would be somewhere close to having the I-10 interchange at least half way to completion but that kind of planning and development is not a tradition for Escambia County and it never has been.
    I’m glad planning is being done but personally I don’t think we need it to be sugar coated and sold to us as though the past way of community life is being preserved. The past has passed.

  5. Tabby on December 22nd, 2019 12:37 pm

    ……”while preserving the character of the community”. Ha ! Too late for that. Not only has Navy Fed permanently altered the character of Beulah, but also the surrounding communities. It is poised to change Cantonment/Molino so that the area will be completely unrecognizable compared even to what it has become in the last decade. People talk progress, revenue, jobs,etc. My family has been here for 90 years and would be just fine without the changes. I wish Navy Fed and the like would leave . For now, we’re holding on until we can’t take it anymore or until property values increase enough to buy land further north.

  6. Honest John on December 22nd, 2019 8:05 am

    Just curious, the second paragraph says the Beulah Master Plan will establish a vision for allowing continued growth in the area while preserving the quality of life and sense of place enjoyed by the current residents. Isn’t it a little late to have a high dollar study on growth?

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News