The city of Alachua passed a state-mandated business impact statement ordinance in a regular meeting on Monday. The commission also heard a report from the Alachua Chamber of Commerce on recommendations and plans for “Alachua 2.0.”
The business impact statement ordinance came from a new state law, Florida Statute 166.041(4)(a) enacted in July 2023, which requires local governments to create and publish business impact estimates (BIEs) before adopting certain ordinances.
According to state law, a BIE must contain a summary of the proposed ordinance, including the public purpose it is to serve, and estimates of the direct economic impact on private, for-profit businesses in the municipality. These estimates encompass direct compliance costs, new charges or fees, regulatory costs, and a good faith estimate of the number of businesses likely to be impacted.
Several types of ordinances are exempt from the BIE requirement, including those required for compliance with state or federal laws or regulations, related to issuance or refinancing of debt, the adoption or amendment of a budget, those required to implement a contract or agreement, emergency ordinances, those related to procurement or several types under an umbrella of development and planning.
The BIE must be published no later than the notice of the proposed ordinance.
Alachua’s ordinance, in compliance with the state, passed with no discussion.
Most of the meeting’s talk revolved around a new plan emerging from the Alachua Chamber of Commerce: Alachua 2.0. The Chamber formed a committee for the plan and has been developing ideas for how to improve Alachua’s business environment for the past one and a half or two years.
“We’re prepared to work with you to actually adopt this plan,” chamber president Mitch Glaeser told the commission, “and to strategically start implementing these pieces together so that we can become that beacon in the greatest small town in America, as I like to talk about.”
The detailed report will come out later this week, but Adam Boukari, co-chair of the Alachua 2.0 committee and president-elect of the chamber, gave a run-down of the chamber’s objectives. The list is long, including everything from road improvement and beautification, to developing Mill Creek Sink Nature Preserve into an educational tourist destination, to the possibility of a vehicle-free Main Street.
Each commissioner expressed interest in the ideas Boukari presented, which he also said were created in alignment with the city’s strategic plan. Mayor Gib Coerper asked about the possibility of a workshop, and Vice Mayor Dayna Miller asked about placing a liaison from the city government on the new committee the chamber is assembling for implementation.
“I think what you’re proposing, it creates thoughts,” Commissioner Ed Potts told Boukari in the meeting. “Not everybody’s going to agree with every part of it, but it certainly has a purpose of making our city better, and recognizable, and differentiated from our… neighbors.”
Boukari told the commission that the chamber was requesting support through legislative action, an inviting environment for developers and businesses, and to build public-private partnerships.
“We looked at a lot of existing programs, and tried to evaluate what we have now and look at what opportunities may come up for a future benefit,” Boukari said.