New chair appointed to Coral Springs agency overseeing downtown vision
After weeks of one-on-one conversations and speeches by candidates, Bernie Moyle became the chair of the Coral Springs Community Redevelopment Agency, with commissioners voting 3-2 to appoint him on Thursday night.
Moyle, an attorney and former CRA vice chair, has spent years in the hospitality industry and purchased the Country Club of Coral Springs for $4.3 million in 2022. He was selected over three other candidates who also currently serve on the board: vice chair Lorna Brown-Burton, retail member Mike Del Pozo and urban design member Germain Bebe.
During his remarks to the commission March 26, Moyle, a finance member and former vice chair of the CRA, told commissioners that his variety of experiences would make him an ideal connector between developers and city officials. This included time as board chair of the Broward Workshop and work with developers inside and outside of Coral Springs.
He praised Brown-Burton and Bebe, the speakers before him, adding his perspective on the CRA’s role.
“It’s communicate. It’s following the statute, it’s following the Commission’s desires,” Moyle said. “Even though we are independent, it’s understood, it’s communication, it’s inclusion, it’s participation, it’s having differences of opinion, but airing them out, and it’s making sure you read all the agreements.”
Moyle said his goal is to see more mixed-use, residential development and encourage development in underused parts to the downtown area — particularly the Village Square parcel north of City Hall.
While Moyle said mixed-use development will include housing, he added, “Most of that residential is apartments. Not really, necessarily what we want. Might be what we get, or we have to wait.”
Plans for multiple high-rise, mixed-use apartment complexes downtown have drawn blowback from some residents.
Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen also asked about his plans to use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds, which are collected in special tax districts and can be used by the CRA for additional projects, infrastructure upgrades or other purposes.
“We had a really good discussion in our recent meeting about assuring that dollars that are spent are spent properly,” Moyle said.
He gave the multi-million Coral Springs Museum of Art move to downtown as an example.
”How is (the money) going to be used? And when the contractor submits that requisition, gets approved by an independent architect, and once approved by them, how does it go through the process with the city? And finally, coming back to the CRA to make sure that those dollars are spent the way they were promised to be spent. And that’s our responsibility.”
Commissioner Joshua Simmons, the CRA’s commission liaison, stressed the importance of having the right chair during a February board of directors meeting, where he said the city’s elected officials had taken “heat” for past situations involving the CRA.
“This agency has a lot of important decisions to make in the next couple of years,” he said. “Lots of these developers prey on CRAs and take advantage of them, assume they don’t have industry know-how.”
Commissioners also voted 4-1 for attorney and longtime CRA member Lorna Burton-Brown to continue as vice chair, with both Metayer Bowen and Simmons highlighting her institutional knowledge and tenacity.
“I believe the CRA requires strong governance, accountability and clear enforcement of how public dollars are used,” Metayer Bowen said. “I believe her experience and approach positions us to strengthen oversight and ensure we are delivering for our residents.”
The next CRA meeting is scheduled for April 27 at 5:30 p.m. in the Sawgrass Room at City Hall.
Olivia Lloyd contributed reporting to this story.
This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 2:08 PM.