The Florida Division of Administrative Hearings has delayed hearings about Gainesville’s exclusionary zoning after the City Commission started down a path of repeal on Jan. 5.  

Scheduled for mid-February, the hearings challenged the city’s trio of new zoning laws. But Judge E. Gary Early has given May 9 as the new deadline. The parties—Gainesville, the Florida Department of Economic Development, Peggy Carr, Faye Williams and Alachua County—will inform the court of the repeal process and if the hearings will continue by then.  

The commission split the repeal vote 4-3 at its first meeting. New ordinances that exactly replace the Development Code’s previous language, prior to Oct. 17, will next appear before the plan board. The repeal process could take until March to complete, but the city wanted an ironclad method to overturn the previous commission’s work.  

The City Plan Board is scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 26 in City Hall.