In its meeting Thursday, the Gainesville City Commission tensely adopted multiple ordinances pertaining to affordable housing.
One ordinance would require developments with more than 50 units to reserve 10% of the units for affordable housing. A previous version of the rule required the same for developments of more than 10 units.
The ordinance expires in 30 years.
Commissioners Reina Saco and Casey Willits dissented, expressing concerns that increasing the units to 50 would limit the housing to tall buildings. That would decrease the geographical area that can be used for affordable housing, and in turn lower the chance of more families being able to live in affordable complexes, they said.
“I don't want to artificially limit where something with good promise could go,” Saco said.
The Department of Sustainable Development also proposed an addition to the ordinance called a “relief valve,” which would train employees to evaluate the cost of the ordinance when staff and the developer make agreements.
This part of the ordinance was not included in the ordinance adopted at Thursday’s meeting.
While some commissioners had doubts about this part of the ordinance, concerned it would require more expertise and money, Saco and Willits believed the training of staffers to create affordable housing is a cost the city should be able to cover.
“If we need another staff member to help with this, I think it’s worthwhile,” Willits said.
He also said the spending on affordable housing staffers would help create dozens of units.
Kim Tanzer, a Gainesville resident, spoke in support of the ordinance during public comment. Tanzer said in her experience researching the topic nationally, any project under 50 units is rarely successful.
Bobby Mermer, coordinator of the Alachua County Labor Coalition, objected to the new ordinance. He said he’s worried the ordinances will create apartment complexes that will require time to be redeveloped in the future.
“You’re going to get a lot of large apartment complexes that are reaching the end of their lifespan, and they’re not going to get redeveloped all at once,” he said. “It’s going to be building by building.”
The ordinance was passed 5-2, with commissioners Saco and Willits dissenting.
The next city commission regular meeting will be Oct. 3.
Contact Sofia Meyers at smeyers@alligator.org. Follow her on X @SofiaMeyer84496
