Constituents packed city hall to voice their opinions on affordable housing during Thursday’s Gainesville City Commission meeting.
The meeting, which usually ends well before the agenda’s posted 10 p.m. end time, did not adjourn until midnight.
The commission voted 4-3 in favor of smaller mandatory minimum lot sizes through its first reading, with Mayor Harvey Ward, Commissioner Casey Willits, Commissioner Reina Saco and Commissioner Bryan Eastman in the affirmative. If passed through a second reading, single family homes could be built on 1/12 of an acre with aims to increase housing density.
Eastman, who spearheaded the initiative since 2023, wrote in an X social media post, “All of our single-family zones, 8,434 acres of land, will soon allow homes on 1/12 of an acre of land. It’s the first step in building the diverse, affordable starter homes our community needs.”
The ordinance also combines all four existing single-family zoning categories into one classification that requires at least 3,000 square footage and 35 feet in width per lot.
Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said she was “terrified” of the ordinance changes. She expressed concern about the large-scale nature of the changes, instead advocating they be implemented in a smaller portion of the city.
Kali Blount, an Alachua County resident, said affordable housing is a “critical need” in the Gainesville community during public comment.
The commission also voted to stop a raise in millage rates for the upcoming fiscal year and to reallocate portions of the unspent federal American Rescue Plan to account for the partial loss of the General Fund Transfer.
The next city commission meeting is slated to take place Aug. 1.
Contact Morgan Vanderlaan at mvanderlaan@alligator.org. Follow her on X @morgvande.
Morgan Vanderlaan is a second year Political Science major and the Fall 2024 Politics Enterprise Reporter. When she's not on the clock she can be found writing, reciting, and watching theatre!
