The Alachua City Commission swore in new Mayor Walter Welch and Commissioner Jacob Fletcher to kick off a lengthy regular meeting on Monday at Alachua City Hall.  

During the election on April 8, Welch, a pastor at Church of God in Christ, edged former Mayor Gib Coerper by 21 votes with a 639-618 victory. Fletcher, a 29-year-old data engineer, defeated former Commissioner Ed Potts, 785-513. Potts did not attend Monday’s meeting. 

The swearing-in ceremony followed a joint meeting with the Board of Canvassers to approve the minutes of meetings from April 2, 8 and 9. After posing for photos with Alachua Elementary School students who commenced the meeting with a choral performance, Coerper handed the gavel over to Welch. 

“I thank you all for allowing me to serve,” Welch said. “I’m here for the people, and I want to learn…my main focus is bringing unity and respect. I feel like if we can do that and we can respect one another, we can move forward with a great harmony in the city.” 

The City Commission also voted on a new vice mayor, per custom for the first commission meeting following an election. Commissioner Jennifer Ringersen nominated Commissioner Shirley Green Brown for the position and a unanimous roll-call vote from the dais approved the nomination. 

Emory Group CEO and Tech City co-developer Mitch Glaeser then came to the podium to discuss “election integrity.”  

Glaeser said he gained extensive knowledge about election law during his experience running for Supervisor of Elections in Alachua County and testifying before the House and Senate on election issues.  

He called it his heartbreaking but civic duty to disclose “prima facie” evidence of a double-digit number of ineligible ballots cast during the recent municipal election due to error, deception or fraud. 

Glaeser said the evidence would be forwarded to the appropriate agencies at the local, state and federal levels. 

“We must ensure accountability with well-trained election officials and educated citizens as these crimes are prosecuted to safeguard our elections,” Glaeser said. “The casting and counting of ineligible votes are not allowed in our city elections.” 

The commission also moved to approve the final plat for each developmental phase of the Fletcher Trace development, approve the subdividers agreement and authorize the mayor and city attorney to sign the final plat and subdividers agreements. 

The 21.35-acre Fletcher Trace development will feature 32 single-family detached lots north of NW 110th Avenue and east of County Road 235. The commission approved zoning for the development in 2022 and construction plans last April. 

Alachua City Planner Carson Crockett gave a presentation on each of the quasi-judicial items, which he said city staff found to be consistent with the city of Alachua’s comprehensive plan and in compliance with land development regulations and relevant city ordinances. 

Motions to approve phases two and three passed unanimously, and 4-1 for phase one. Fletcher voted in dissent, citing resident Tamara Robbins’ concerns raised during public comment that the commission illegally deferred the item from the April 7 meeting agenda at the beginning of the meeting before public comment, and that no public notice was given for when it would be discussed again. 

Crockett and the Fletcher Trace development applicant and agent, Aaron Hickman, confirmed that Hickman requested the deferment in order to allow more time to gather the necessary information for complying with the land development regulations. 

City Attorney Marian Rush also confirmed the public had been notified of the April 21 meeting where Fletcher Trace would be discussed and said that while deferring items at the beginning of meetings to allow for public comment is guidance under commission rules, the applicant’s request to defer takes precedence as a land development regulation ordinance. 

“There is no harm here in how this has been done,” Rush said. “People who were at those meetings are standing at these meetings.” 

The commission also voted 4-1 to amend the future land use of Santa Fe Hills Church of Christ at 16313 NW US Hwy 441 from agriculture and agriculture county to commercial after finding it consistent with the city’s comprehensive plan. 

Multiple residents raised concerns about the traffic that would be added and the agricultural land that would be lost with the commercial development. A representative on behalf of the Browning family, who owns the land, said that while they don’t know what businesses will be built there, they are planning to work with residents to create a planted screen buffer between their homes and the developments.  

Living within 400 feet of the proposed rezoning, Soorya Lindberg identified herself as an affected resident. She said even though her area is not within city limits, it’s still affected by being next to the development.  

“We are not just a square on a map,” Lindberg said. “Many people on my street have been there for generations.” 

Crockett said in his professional opinion, commercial and residential are compatible with each other.  

“What we think of as this Euclidean zoning of having these separate residential and commercial areas, if we were to follow that 100% of the time, we would end up with residential solely on the other side of town, commercial solely on the other, industrial on the other,” he said. “Then we’d really have a traffic problem, wouldn’t we?”