Building Of Home Depot In Coral Springs Temporarily On Hold, City Officials Say

By Nicol Jenkins
Editor

The dwindling economy might have even stalled multi-million dollar companies from starting new construction projects.

The building of Home Depot in Coral Springs has been temporarily put on hold.

“Home Depot like many other developers and investors has taken a temporary seat on the sidelines waiting to see where this topsy-turvy economy is headed,” Mike Levinson, City Manager for City of Coral Springs, told the Our Town News March 7.

However, Craig Fishel, spokesperson for the Home Depot, said, “The project is still very early in the process, but we are commited to coming to the Coral Springs area.”

The Coral Springs City Commission unanimously approved adding the “do-it yourself” superstore to Wyndham Lakes Plaza, north of Coral Ridge Drive and Wiles Road at its November 6 meeting.

The store was proposed to become a “green” Home Depot and to span approximately 145,000 square feet complete with a garden center. In addition, the store would be environment friendly offering a wetlands area with a gazebo in front of the site, a car pool area for hybrid cars, and bike racks, among other amenities- making it more of a destination spot.

During that meeting, some local residents expressed concern over increased traffic, safety for students crossing the streets, and increased noise and lights shining into their homes. Representatives for Home Depot told the commission that they have addressed those concerns by completing noise and traffic studies. They have also added provisions in place such as limiting loading vehicles from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., putting in a 30 ft. sound wall, not having an outdoor paging system, and having the building face commercial instead of residential properties, among others. In addition, the company said they would pay for road improvements for Wiles Road and add landscaping to buffer the building.

Levinson said, “Plans have been approved but now it is a wait and see strategy to see if it is justifiable.”

City-wide Program

In light of this trying economy, the city has recently launched a program to assist local businesses.

The Coral Springs business community has rewarded its City government with a 97 percent customer service rating.

During the past several years, the City has reached out to the business community through surveys, focus groups, workshops and other mediums to better understand the needs of the business community as they relate to City services and regulations. The City has responded through the implementation of numerous initiatives to effectively address these needs. These initiatives include the Police Bike Patrol in commercial areas; the intra-city bus system; customer service training; street indexing; improved commercial signage regulations; the Building Department’s Customer Care Center and the “Doing Business in Coral Springs” manual.

“The City is not content to rest on its laurels”, City Manager Mike Levinson said. “We want to take business services to the next level with the help of Enterprise Coral Springs.”

In response to this challenge, the City has formalized a new partnership program with Enterprise Coral Springs, the City’s private, non-profit agent for economic development. ECS serves as the “holding company” for the Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Foundation, Council of Executive Officers and the College and University Partnership. The new program, called the Academy for Best Business Practice, will offer counseling and training to local businesses regarding best practices to improve bottom line performance and customer satisfaction.

A survey instrument will initially be utilized to ascertain business needs, including budgeting, borrowing, workforce training, and developing a business plan. It will also determine how to work with businesses to improve performance, be it via the internet, workshops, classroom training, mentoring, etc. ECS will then assemble a team of professional organizations including Workforce One, Small Business Administration, Score, college and university partners, and the Chamber of Commerce to work as the first responders who will engineer and implement a comprehensive action program in response to the needs assessment.

“A sound business community is essential to our mission to be the premier community in which to live, work and raise a family,” Vice Mayor Vince Boccard said. “Lending a helping hand to businesses is good business.”

The Academy’s program should be fully operational by May 2008. For more information, e-mail Paul Cawley, Program Coordinator at pauledf@bellsouth.net or call 954-796-9922.