More competition on way for tourism on Space Coast
Brevard County’s tourism sector has been having its best summer ever, based on some newly compiled data.
The official numbers are not in yet. But Space Coast Office of Tourism Executive Director Peter Cranis said revenue from Brevard County’s 5% tourist development tax for the last three months was likely to set a record at about $6.2 million.
That means entities collecting the tax made $124 million in revenue this summer from their accommodation rentals.
Tourist development tax revenue is a key economic indicator for the tourism sector. Revenue from the tax funds is used to market the Space Coast to tourists.
It also helps pay for marketing grants to arts, cultural and sports organizations and events; tourism-related capital project grants; upgrades to the Brevard Zoo; beach renourishment; and tourism visitor information centers.
80 senior apartments planned for Titusville
A new affordable housing complex is being planned for Titusville as demand grows on the Space Coast for solutions to skyrocketing home and apartment costs.
The $28 million Forest Glen apartments will feature 80 affordable units targeted toward seniors and will include 72 one-bedroom and 8 two-bedroom units, with rents ranging from $750 to $1,350 per month for income-qualifying residents earning at or below 40% and 60% of the area median income.
Housing Trust Group, the developer behind the complex, will fund the project predominantly through Low Income Housing Tax Credits. They have not yet announced a groundbreaking or completion date while the final details of the project are being arranged.
Starship rockets could cause flight delays
The Federal Aviation Administration is projecting Future Florida airline flight rerouting and delays as a result of SpaceX’s Starship and Super Heavy launches. SpaceX seeks FAA licensing to launch and land up to 44 Starships and Super Heavy boosters per year at pad 39A.
These temporary airspace hazard closure zones could trigger ground stops at major international airports in Tampa, Orlando, Miami and Fort Lauderdale- Hollywood.
The FAA fielded public comments from over two dozen speakers during the two-hour virtual meeting on SpaceX’s bid to bring Starship-Super Heavy operations to pad 39A at KSC. The FAA is studying environmental impacts from the huge rocket system, including temporary airspace hazard areas.
Activists, Brevard Sheriff Wayne Ivey agree: New animal shelter needed
Over this summer, a group of advocates started an online petition demanding the Brevard County Sheriff's Office's public animal shelter off Eau Gallie Boulevard remedy hot, crowded conditions.
The petition, created on Aug. 10, has more than 1,400 signatures.
Sheriff Wayne Ivey says the shelter already has or is addressing the concerns raised by the petition and plans to build a new, larger, cooler shelter within the next two years at the same site off Eau Gallie Boulevard.
But some of the petitioners point to what they see as a bigger pattern of neglect and say their concerns often have been ignored. Some petitioners assert that with an almost $6 million budget and a decade running the shelter, the sheriff's animal services ought to have forged more humane conditions by now for homeless dogs and cats. So for them, a new shelter can't happen soon enough.