By Red Tape Florida
The Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency quietly pulled a proposed $750,000 Southside construction grant from its advisory board agenda Monday night after Red Tape Florida exposed that the project was intended to subsidize a marijuana dispensary — a fact not clearly disclosed in the public-facing materials.
According to reporting by WTXL, the CRA item tied to a redevelopment project at 115 West Harrison Street was removed from consideration following public comment questioning both the use and the transparency of the grant.
That concern echoes a prior Red Tape Florida investigation, which found that while the CRA agenda summary described the project in generic terms — emphasizing “retail” and redevelopment — the applicant’s own documents revealed a different story. Buried deep in the attachments, including an appraisal section beginning on page 52, the intended use of the property was identified as a medical marijuana dispensary, with further confirmation later in the application.
In other words, the key word never appeared in the summary committee members and the public would reasonably rely on — only in dense supporting materials few would ever read.
Residents speaking at the meeting made clear that the objection was not to redevelopment writ large, but to the idea that tax-increment dollars intended for Southside revitalization could be used to subsidize a cannabis retail operation, particularly without clear disclosure up front.
It is unclear if the item will return at a later date, but the episode underscores a recurring concern with the City of Tallahassee Community Redevelopment Agency: critical project details disclosed only after public scrutiny, not before.
For now, the $750,000 grant remains off the table — and the dispensary question remains unanswered.