In its Thursday meeting, the Gainesville City Commission passed an ordinance covering restrictions on single room occupancy (SRO) residences through a second reading.
SROs are a form of housing where renters live in smaller units usually lacking a full bathroom, kitchen or both, and instead share these features with other SRO units. They offer a potential solution to housing unaffordability by allowing renters to pay less while landlords can have more units on a smaller plot of real estate, according to a city of Gainesville agenda action report.
The ordinance changes SRO regulations, requiring one private bathroom per floor to be allotted for residences without in-unit facilities and on-call maintenance as opposed to 24-hour management if enacted.
Its first reading was approved June 6.
Commissioner Ed Book said he was originally “on the fence” about the logistics and living standards of SROs, expressing concern the housing type sounded “dorm-like” and would potentially affect other residences in the area.
“I know we don’t like to use that language, but this is a dorm in the city limits,” he said.
Between the first and second readings, Book said he received feedback from the Alachua County Association of Realtors advocating for the initiative’s passage.
SRO construction aligns with Gainesville’s goals in regard to providing affordable homes and reducing sprawl, according to the agenda action report.
The ordinance was passed unanimously, with Mayor Harvey Ward absent.
The next city commission meeting will take place July 18.
Contact Morgan Vanderlaan at mvanderlaan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @morgvande.
Morgan Vanderlaan is a first-year Political Science and English major and the City and County Commission Reporter for The Alligator. When she’s not on the clock, she can be found watching, writing and reciting theatre!
