In its meeting Thursday, the Gainesville City Commission approved an amendment to an affordable housing ordinance, which will decrease the amount of housing units that can be built on land that is a certain square footage.
The amendment to the ordinance was made to promote diverse housing options on land that will hold affordable housing developments.
The ordinance says lots below 5,445 square feet can’t house a dwelling larger than 1,500 feet of space. The ordinance also says the land can only hold a maximum of one accessory dwelling unit.
Previously, the ordinance had stated the dwellings should not exceed 1,600 feet.
Commissioner Bryan Eastman expressed his support for the amendment to the ordinance at Thursday’s meeting.
“When we create the diversity of housing that allows people to find a house that works for them, that is what we should be doing as a city,” Eastman said.
Discussion amongst the board remained confrontational, as Commissioner Reina Saco dissented, describing the reduction of accessory dwelling units on the affordable housing’s land as overregulation.
Saco said she believes the decrease in ADUs will lead to fewer tools for affordable housing.
“I have a question as to why Commissioner Eastman is interested in crippling how many accessory dwelling units we can put into neighborhoods,” she said. “We have two years of data showing that ADUs did not upend the city. So why even make it part of this capitulation?”
Matthew Umanos spoke on behalf of the Gainesville Alachua County Association of Realtors during public comment. The association supports the amended ordinance, he said.
“Modifying these regulations related to lot size is a great step in providing more housing options while at the same time, expanding private property rights for homeowners and aspiring buyers,” Umanos said.
Richard Allen, the secretary of Gainesville Neighborhood Voices, also expressed support, saying neighborhoods the organization talked to agreed with the reduction of the lot sizes.
Gainesville resident Xavier Fuentes disagreed with the proposed changes Thursday.
“I think that limiting the number of ADUs on a lot if it’s below a certain size only to one, I think that’s a bad idea,” he said. “I think that in a case like that, overregulation would cause just limiting the diversity options for residents.”
The ordinance was approved 5-1, with Saco dissenting and Commissioner Casey Willits absent.
City commission discusses automated school zone speed enforcement
At its meeting, the commission also reviewed a proposal by the Gainesville Police Department to implement speed detection systems throughout school zones.
The speed detection systems are being put in place to enhance pedestrian safety within school zones, according to the GPD.
When a driver violates the speed limit in the school zone, the camera will capture details of the event. Once the violation is processed, the violator will receive an ordinance violation in the mail, which can be contested or resolved through payment.
The fines will be used to fund other speed detection systems in school zones, school security initiatives and student transportation.
Funds collected from the violations will also be used for the School Crossing Guard Recruitment and Retention program, according to GPD Captain Summer Kerkau.
The commission unanimously passed the motion with Saco absent, which would allow GPD to move forward with the proposal and direct the city attorney to prepare a draft ordinance related to the proposal.
Commission reviews Hurricane Helene mitigation efforts
The commission discussed the progress in mitigating the impacts of Hurricane Helene, which hit Gainesville Sept. 26.
Public works director Brian Singleton said 9,400 sandbags were distributed Sept. 24 and Sept. 25 ahead of the storm .
There are also no more road closures in place, Singleton said.
“We had 375 service requests for down trees, which generated 245 work orders,” Singleton said. “We only have 15 work orders open and we expect to complete them all today.”
It’s also estimated there are 200,000 cubic yards of debris that needs to be collected, he said.
Singleton presented two plans for the city to move forward with Thursday.
One plan requires the city to activate emergency response contractors. Singleton said if FEMA announces debris assistance, the full cost would be reimbursed.
Clean up would take up to 30 days, and it would cost approximately $5 million.
The other plan entails using the city’s regular contractor and in-house staff.
With this plan, clean up would take approximately 90 days and cost $4 million, which would not be fully reimbursed by FEMA.
The commission unanimously approved the motion to direct staff to work with the emergency debris contractors to collect debris using fund balance. The city will await reimbursement from FEMA.
The next city commission regular meeting will be Oct. 17.
Contact Sofia Meyers at smeyers@alligator.org. Follow her on X @SofiaMeyer84496.
