A 12-acre site in the 800 block of Northwest 53rd Avenue will be the future home of Gainesville's One Stop Homeless Assistance Center, city commissioners decided unanimously at Thursday's meeting.
Although several locations had been ruled out in the past, commissioners had to make a quick decision to meet an approaching deadline for state and federal stimulus money.
"Without the land, we cannot pursue these funds," said Fred Murry, assistant city manager. The potential stimulus earnings amount to $371,003 from the Community Development Block Grant Program and $567,404 from the Homelessness Prevention Fund, according to the agenda.
In total, Murry estimates the city will have about $1.3 million to fund the center, with opportunities to bring in other funds, he said.
Murry also discussed the process the city took in selecting the property, which included forming an Alternative Site Selection Group.
After considering various sites, the committee chose the plot on 53rd Avenue because of its location -- away from a residential area - and its accessibility, Murry said.
"This particular site does have great possibilities," Commissioner Scherwin Henry said.
The One Stop Homeless Center is a key part of the City of Gainesville/Alachua County 10-Year Plan to End Homelessness, which was established in 2005, according to the county's Web site.
The center will be designed with a homeless-campus concept, providing food, shelter and a range of social services, Murry said.
Such services will be geared toward the chronically homeless, "not for those who are just temporarily out of their luck," said Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan.
"Those folks are much easier to house elsewhere," she said.
At this point, the center's design calls for 15 to 30 beds, but Hanrahan said she hopes that can be increased to as many as 200 over time - enough to house all of Gainesville's consistently homeless.
"That should be where we're trying to get to," she said.
Also discussed was the issue of rezoning election districts. City boundaries have morphed in recent years, prompting Gainesville city commissioners to consider rezoning Gainesville's election districts.
Annexations have changed the city's voter base since its last redistricting in 2002, Assistant City Attorney Stephanie Marchman said. According to the city charter, Marchman said, the commission is required to adjust election districts whenever they feel the number of people per district has become uneven.
Commissioners responded, calling for an independent citizen's committee and a team of investigators to study the problem.
UF political science professor Kenneth Wald and former UF geography professor Joshua Comenetz, Ph.D., will be paid up to $10,000 to evaluate whether rezoning is necessary, commissioners unanimously approved.
In addition, a seven-member citizen's committee will be formed to evaluate the team's findings and give their input to the commission.
Also discussed was the issue of maximum occupancy in local bars and clubs. A new city ordinance will hold these estblishments to stricter standards.
The ordinance, which was unanimously adopted on first reading, allows Gainesville Police Department officers to enforce certain fire code penalties that are currently handled solely by Gainesville Fire Rescue.
Because there are generally GPD officers on patrol, whereas GFR isn't regularly around, the changes will allow police officers to handle "clear violations, creating an immediate risk to public safety" on site, according to the agenda.
The ordinance will also strengthen fire code penalties and associated civil citations, according to the agenda.
Additionally, the Public Safety Committee is looking into regulating promoters, according to an attached memo from the city attorney.
Commissioner Mastrodicasa spoke in favor of the ordinance, and said that overcrowding was "one of the scariest things" she has seen while participating in GPD ride-alongs.
"This will give us another tool in solving these problems," she said.
