Residents urge continued 'affected party' status as Alachua Tara developments near Mill Creek

Resident Brian Buescher told the commission that portions of the Tara developments in the City of Alachua — including a proposed stormwater utility west of Mill Creek — could affect High Springs’ drinking water and asked the commission to retain affected-party status for upcoming hearings.

Buescher reported a Nov. 18 planning-and-zoning hearing in Alachua for the Terra April portion of the project and said parties with nearby property or interests should restate affected-party status at each Alachua hearing. He said the National Speleological Society recently learned of the project and is working with counsel; the county plans to send experts and counsel to testify.

City staff confirmed that the City of High Springs may declare affected-party status again if it chooses and that legal argument would not be considered ‘competent and substantial evidence’ at the Alachua hearing; the staff recommendation was that plan staff, the city manager or a commissioner could attend and testify about impacts on High Springs.

A commissioner said the matter “will absolutely affect us for years and years to come” and proposed keeping the affected-party status. Another commissioner sought clarification about whether individual commissioners may attend public hearings; staff replied that attending is allowed but cautioned that more than one commissioner attending and discussing the matter together could raise appearance-of-impropriety concerns.

No formal vote was taken to redeclare affected-party status at the Oct. 23 meeting; commissioners indicated interest in continued involvement and directed staff to monitor the Alachua hearings and consider testimony options.