The Alachua City Commission unanimously voted during a regular meeting on Monday to grant staff the final say on approving land developments instead of requiring a vote from the dais.
Resolution 25-11 conforms city policy with the new state law, as Senate Bill 784 is set to take effect on July 1.
According to meeting back-up documents, the law says that a final plat may be administratively approved with “no further action or approval of the governing body.”
Land Development Regulation (LDR) applications must still go through the standard development review process, but the law appoints the city’s Land Development Regulations Administrator (LDRA) as the official responsible for approving or denying plats instead of the commission.
Rodolfo Valladares assumed the LDRA role when the commission selected him as interim city manager earlier this month.
City Attorney Marian Rush said the change is just one of many more to come from Tallahassee and that staff would evaluate its impacts over time.
“More and more is being taken from Tallahassee, and they do not care [about] the havoc that they’re creating locally,” she said. “So yes, we will be looking at this again in a lot of detail. We just wanted to make sure we stayed in compliance with state statute.”
The new policy came amid public concern over the commission directing staff to research the Tomoka Hills development’s potential land use changes from agricultural to residential.
The motion to do so passed 4-1, with Commissioner Jacob Fletcher in dissent.
“I hope, however, this vote goes that we make sure we cross our t’s and dot our I’s on it,” Fletcher said. “But based off of what I’ve seen and my understanding, I’m going to have to say nay.”
Although the site plan for a golf course on the development has already been approved because it complies with the agricultural land use, Tomoka Hills staff said low-density residential land use would allow them to make the golf course private.
They said they hoped the changes would clear any confusion that homes would be built on the golf course.
The commission’s approval also allowed the developers to skip the pre-application conference step of the process, circumventing a one-year waiting period before resubmittal.
Along with other residents, Alachua County Water Resource Program Manager Stacey Greco expressed concerns over the development’s projected negative impacts on water quality.
Because of the Tomoka Hills’ proximity to Mill Creek Sink and projected water use of 52,400 gallons per day for just the golf course—more than Meadowbrook Golf Course used and around the same amount as the entire city of Alachua uses—she said the county is concerned about harmful impacts to both water quality and quantity.
“The most recent status assessment shows that we are not meeting the minimum flows and levels,” Greco said. “We are in recovery on the Santa Fe River and the Ichetucknee, so that means that with the water that we’re already using, we need to start reducing use, not increasing use, if we want to have healthy springs and rivers.”
To increase transparency and bridge meeting accessibility gaps for disabled or elderly citizens, the city moved to direct Valladares to gather information on livestream platforms it could use.
The commission also held off on upholding or repealing its alcohol ordinance until churches and other affected stakeholders had been consulted beyond email about the changes.
Two of the city’s three empty Citizen Advisory Task Force (CATF) seats were also filled on Monday after Diane Carlson and E. Stanley Richardson secured three out of five votes over Vailma Fernández and Julie Smith.
Since Fernández and Smith failed to secure a majority of votes, the third position will be re-advertised and revoted on at a later date.
Ms. Rush is exactly right: Tallahassee does “not care [about] the havoc that they’re creating locally . . . ” And with respect to the Tomoka Hills project, Ms. Greco’s worries are right on spot; that (mis-)use of water is concerning. Very concerning! And besides, Florida already has 1,250 golf courses, more than any other state. Do we really need another?
According to meeting back-up documents, the law says that a final plat may be administratively approved with “no further action or approval of the governing body.”
That doesn’t mean that the governing body CAN’T be the final approval. Just that they don’t HAVE to.
And with all the issues related to the Alachua city planners and accusations that Boukari was running the show from the sidelines for years and that Valladares was also complicit, the commission just hands over power to the city staff/Valladares? There’s a literal investigation underway about this. No concerns?
Something is rotten up in Ala-chew-way.
It’s hard to imagine what further insults the “local-yocal” elected politicians, with little to no experience in environmental impact, can possibly inflict upon our already struggling groundwaters, rivers and springs
For clarification, either the backup documents are misquoted or the backup documents in the Commission backup are incorrect.
Senate Bill 784 states is 177.071(1)(a), “A plat or replat submitted under this part MUST be administratively approved and no further action or approval by the governing body of a county or municipality is required if the plat or replat complies with the requirements of s. 177.091.”
Please read and understand what you are commenting on before you make comments. Further, the conversation by the Alachua Commissioner and Stacey Greco are unwarranted. They assume that City Staff and the City Commission have zero say in the platting process.
Senate Bill 784 is not applicable to Preliminary Plats or Construction Plans. Both still require City Staff review and City Commission approval.
Senate Bill 784 is only applicable to approval of the Final Plat – which is formality once all the issues have been addressed at the preliminary plat and construction plan phase.
Remember people, this is America and we have something called “Personal Property Rights”. Being able to subdivide your property through the legal subdivision process is a RIGHT of the owner and no one is permitted to deny someone that right just because you don’t like it! Stop the NIMBY-ISM! It makes you a hypocrite.