The City Commission just made walkable neighborhoods and starter homes illegal to build in nearly all neighborhoods in Gainesville, all in the name of "reinstating single-family zoning"
Interesting read. I was not aware of the lot requirements since our 1924 house in Duckpond has always had a small lot (by my standards of prior rural living).
Since many lots are already plotted/established in Gainesville neighborhoods (other than new developments) how do these restrictions change the already established lots and being able to rebuild on them or does it just prevent established lots from being subdivided in the designated neighborhoods?
Sadly, part of the reason that the efforts involved in this "take over" of GRU are now primed for success is in large part due to the arrogance and actions of past city commission members who refused to LISTEN to their constituents and to experts.
I'm not in favor of the take over, but I do feel that prior commissions have demonstrated, and led many to believe, that the "the public", e.g. our elected officials, have proven themselves incapable and unworthy of managing this issue. The actions that are now being taken to address some of the long-standing issues with GRU are possibly "too little, too late". So, the vultures waiting in the wings now have an opportunity to do something that they have wanted to do for a long time.
Another reminder of the importance of electing local representatives who are capable and willing to do the hard work necessary for managing and preserving our community while actually representing the perspectives and desires of the people who elect them.
Thanks Bryan...this was thought-provoking. As you noted, this is a complex, multi-faceted problem. It seems to me that there are several options for addressing the influx of folks arriving in Gainesville and Alachua County, other than subdividing existing historic neighborhood lots and/or continuing to destroy "tree city" by clearing precious land and building new homes.
I was very happy with the recent vote; I view it as a way to start from scratch again to put thoughtful planning and consideration into the issue that includes citizen involvement. I view it as a way to take a breath, LISTEN, research, and discuss. The former commission's arrogance, attitudes, and actions regarding this and other issues nearly destroyed my faith in local policy makers' abilities to preserve, enhance, etc. my community and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who feels this way.
I'm sure I'll get lots of push-back on these ideas (especially from folks living in quiet, outlying communities in Alachua county), but........
What if we approach this issue with the perspective of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (1969, Rolling Stones)? Many of us are already practicing this perspective as we adjust to the ugliness, traffic, over-building, and loss of tree canopy that is already happening. What if the thousands of folks who are deciding to move here each year are required to research the situation? They might have to make difficult decisions as to whether this community is the place for them. Maybe these folks aren't going to be able to get a quaint starter home, but rather will need to live in one of the gazillion, ugly multi-family apartment units sprouting up all over? Or, perhaps they will need to live in an outlying area, e.g. Hawthorne, Archer, Newberry, etc.? Or, perhaps the efforts should continue to be invested in bringing to East Gainesville single-family homes, grocery stores, health care, restaurants, etc.? Or, perhaps, rather than turning Gainesville into Jacksonville or Orlando, they will need to just look for jobs and move to one of those places instead? I believe that we need to consider the possibility that maybe Gainesville should not grow to accommodate an influx of people who are moving from places that they don't like, but then want to change this into basically what they moved away from.
I look forward to continued discussion and planning that incorporates citizen involvement, out-of-the box ideas, and the knowledge and expertise of the folks who attempted to present excellent ideas to the former city commission, but were ignored. While I remain extremely disillusioned and distrustful of our political process, I'm hopeful that we have, for now, elected a group of individuals who will respond to this "reset" by doing the hard work involved in representing the diverse perspectives of folks in this community.
Interesting read. I was not aware of the lot requirements since our 1924 house in Duckpond has always had a small lot (by my standards of prior rural living).
Since many lots are already plotted/established in Gainesville neighborhoods (other than new developments) how do these restrictions change the already established lots and being able to rebuild on them or does it just prevent established lots from being subdivided in the designated neighborhoods?
Sadly, part of the reason that the efforts involved in this "take over" of GRU are now primed for success is in large part due to the arrogance and actions of past city commission members who refused to LISTEN to their constituents and to experts.
I'm not in favor of the take over, but I do feel that prior commissions have demonstrated, and led many to believe, that the "the public", e.g. our elected officials, have proven themselves incapable and unworthy of managing this issue. The actions that are now being taken to address some of the long-standing issues with GRU are possibly "too little, too late". So, the vultures waiting in the wings now have an opportunity to do something that they have wanted to do for a long time.
Another reminder of the importance of electing local representatives who are capable and willing to do the hard work necessary for managing and preserving our community while actually representing the perspectives and desires of the people who elect them.
Thanks Bryan...this was thought-provoking. As you noted, this is a complex, multi-faceted problem. It seems to me that there are several options for addressing the influx of folks arriving in Gainesville and Alachua County, other than subdividing existing historic neighborhood lots and/or continuing to destroy "tree city" by clearing precious land and building new homes.
I was very happy with the recent vote; I view it as a way to start from scratch again to put thoughtful planning and consideration into the issue that includes citizen involvement. I view it as a way to take a breath, LISTEN, research, and discuss. The former commission's arrogance, attitudes, and actions regarding this and other issues nearly destroyed my faith in local policy makers' abilities to preserve, enhance, etc. my community and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who feels this way.
I'm sure I'll get lots of push-back on these ideas (especially from folks living in quiet, outlying communities in Alachua county), but........
What if we approach this issue with the perspective of "You Can't Always Get What You Want" (1969, Rolling Stones)? Many of us are already practicing this perspective as we adjust to the ugliness, traffic, over-building, and loss of tree canopy that is already happening. What if the thousands of folks who are deciding to move here each year are required to research the situation? They might have to make difficult decisions as to whether this community is the place for them. Maybe these folks aren't going to be able to get a quaint starter home, but rather will need to live in one of the gazillion, ugly multi-family apartment units sprouting up all over? Or, perhaps they will need to live in an outlying area, e.g. Hawthorne, Archer, Newberry, etc.? Or, perhaps the efforts should continue to be invested in bringing to East Gainesville single-family homes, grocery stores, health care, restaurants, etc.? Or, perhaps, rather than turning Gainesville into Jacksonville or Orlando, they will need to just look for jobs and move to one of those places instead? I believe that we need to consider the possibility that maybe Gainesville should not grow to accommodate an influx of people who are moving from places that they don't like, but then want to change this into basically what they moved away from.
I look forward to continued discussion and planning that incorporates citizen involvement, out-of-the box ideas, and the knowledge and expertise of the folks who attempted to present excellent ideas to the former city commission, but were ignored. While I remain extremely disillusioned and distrustful of our political process, I'm hopeful that we have, for now, elected a group of individuals who will respond to this "reset" by doing the hard work involved in representing the diverse perspectives of folks in this community.