Another opportunity to investigate planning staff resignations passed by the city of Alachua Monday night after a motion to hire external legal counsel failed to advance it to the voting stage during a regular commission meeting.
Monday was the third time since three senior planning staff members resigned in February that the topic of investigating the departures made its way onto a meeting agenda, only to fail, leaving some leaders and citizens wanting to leave the idea behind and others still seeking answers.
Commissioner Jacob Fletcher said the agenda topic was his idea this time and made a motion that the city hire attorney Mark Barneby to conduct the investigation. Barneby was one of two candidates presented by City Attorney Marian Rush during the July 28 meeting after the commission directed her to research options.
Fletcher’s motion during that meeting to hire attorney Clifford Shepard passed for discussion with support from Mayor Walter Welch, before failing after a 2-2 vote with Commissioners Dayna Williams and Jennifer Ringersen in dissent.
Not receiving a second on Monday, Fletcher’s latest motion died before it could get to a vote. Ringersen was absent from the dais.
“The best thing we can do is just push forward,” Welch said. “What are we going to get out of it if we dwell on something we can’t change? We can’t change it if it’s voted out…let’s just try to move forward.”
Multiple citizens during public comment cited a number of reasons why an investigation is even more critical now than before.
Some included a circulating petition calling for the investigation, “despicable” timing of the City Commission’s unexpected firing of Rush during commissioner comment at the previous regular meeting, and land use attorney David Theriaque’s contract termination with the city.
Williams did not give comments on her vote, but has previously said the money for an investigation could instead be used for other projects in the city’s budget, instead of what she called glorified exit interviews.
Vice Mayor Shirley Green-Brown, who previously supported an investigation, said she’s grateful for citizens’ comments but that respect and communication can’t be one-sided from the commissioners.
“It’s great to offer your opinion, I respect that,” she said. “But it’s also good when you listen to our opinions. Communication is a two-way street; communication is a reciprocal act and we need to continue to respect each other.”
The commission unanimously voted at the meeting to join other cities across the state in a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 180.
Gov. Ron DeSantis passed the bill in June that aimed for better emergency management and disaster recovery after natural disasters by reducing permitting burdens. Such burdens include increasing impact fees during times of recovery and rezoning before somebody rebuilds.
However, some cities like Alachua are concerned that the bill encroaches on permitting beyond the disasters.
SB 180 states that each municipality located in counties listed in the Federal Disaster Declaration (FDD) for hurricanes Debby, Helene and Milton may not propose or adopt “more restrictive or burdensome” amendments to its comprehensive plan or Land Development Regulations (LDR), or place moratoriums on construction, reconstruction or redevelopment of property damaged by the storms.
The same restrictions apply to FDD municipalities within 100 miles of the track of a hurricane for one year after it made landfall. The bill says anyone can file suit against the local government to enforce the bill, which is enforced retroactively from Aug. 1, 2024, through Oct. 1, 2027.
According to meeting backup documents, attorney Jamie Cole, who is part of the Weiss, Sarota, Helfman, Cole & Berman (WSHCB) law firm spearheading the lawsuit, called the bill a “sweeping attack on the home rule authority of every city and county in the state of Florida.”
Opponents of the bill say it prevents communities from adopting stronger standards to reduce storm damage, improve resiliency, or protect the environment, leads to higher rebuilding costs for taxpayers, higher flood insurance premiums, weakens long-term planning and encourages litigation.
Rush said the language is extremely broad and vague and would essentially always be in effect since Alachua County is impacted by one or more hurricanes every year.
Alachua will pay a $10,000 flat fee to secure WSHCB’s services in trial and an additional $5,000 if an appeal is filed. In 2023, the firm challenged a state law requiring city commissioners to fill out Form 6 for financial disclosure and successfully secured an injunction on the law.
“It’s the local cities that know more about what is needed locally than getting something from Tallahassee,” she said. “That is why you have home rule. It’s because the local cities know their particular needs. It’s not one thing for all across the state. Each [hurricane] impacts everything differently.”
Because of SB 180, staff said it wasn’t able to make amendments to the text of six different LDR articles passed on first reading by the City Commission, 3-1, at the meeting, which were more restrictive.
The amendments aimed to clarify mixed-use development, density and intensity standards in order to encourage infill development, redevelopment and preserve agricultural lands. The table of land uses and the official zoning atlas would not change, but multiple residents expressed concerns over where exactly the amendments would apply.
A second reading of the amendments will be heard for a second and final reading during the Sep. 8 regular commission meeting.