The city of Alachua’s primary land use attorney, David Theriaque, terminated his office’s contract with the city on Thursday after 21 years of service.
Theriaque submitted a brief letter addressed to Alachua’s interim City Manager Rodolfo Valladares and City Attorney Marian Rush, informing them of Theriaque & Spain’s discontinued representation of the city.
He said he would be in contact on Aug. 25 to discuss an official termination date and how to proceed with the city’s pending appeal regarding Alachua County’s 2020 charter amendment affecting annexed properties.
“It has been a great honor and privilege to serve as the City’s Land Use Attorney since 2004,” Theriaque wrote. “Some of our law firm’s greatest litigation victories occurred while representing the City.”
Theriaque’s departure continues a year of resignations and staff shuffling in Alachua.
In February, three senior planners resigned, followed by Mike DaRoza’s resignation as city manager in May and the City Commission’s firing of Rush this month.
Theriaque—whose offices are located in Tallahassee and Orlando—has represented multiple parties in Alachua County, including the Gainesville Regional Utilities Authority and a Dollar General approved for Micanopy.
Along with being its land use attorney, the city of Alachua hired Theriaque to oversee the five-part Tara Development.
The City Commission preliminarily approved Tara, which plans to bring over 1,000 homes and businesses next to Mill Creek Sink, a critical area for the city and county’s water supply.
Theriaque emailed the developer last October, saying that the project would be paused due to concerns from Alachua County.
Former principal planner Justin Tabor also raised concerns about the Tara Development in a public letter regarding his resignation. He cited outside influence from former City Manager Adam Boukari on DaRoza and city staff working on Tara as a reason why he left.
The Alachua City Commission will discuss hiring external legal counsel to conduct an investigation into the resignations of the three planners during a regular meeting at 6 p.m. on Aug. 25.
It will be the commission’s third time doing so since February, after calling off two previous pursuits to investigate.