Alachua County commissioners review future land-use capacity, direct staff to draft amendments

Alachua County commissioners at a special Aug. 12 workshop reviewed preliminary findings from a mandated evaluation of the countycomprehensive planand unanimously directed staff to draft amendments focusing on the future land use element.

County planning presenter Ben Chumbley told the board that "by statute, this is a process that all local governments are required to go through every 7 years," and that the workshops are intended to identify changes needed to keep the plan consistent with state law and local issues.

The presentation summarized population and development trends, urban-cluster capacity, activity-center policy, transit-oriented and traditional-neighborhood development (TOD/TND), accessory dwelling units (ADUs), commercial and tourist-entertainment designations, and several technical updates staff recommends including references to the Live Local Act and coordination with Gainesville Regional Utilities (GRU).

Why it matters: staff said the future land use element sets the county's overall development pattern, directing where housing and nonresidential uses can be located and how dense development should be. Commissioners asked whether the county has the urban-cluster capacity to absorb projected growth and pressed staff on tools other than boundary expansion, such as higher densities in urban areas, redevelopment of infill neighborhoods and coordination with municipalities and utilities.

Key findings and figures presented - County growth since 2010: Chumbley said the countypopulation increased by roughly 49,000 people since 2010 (about 3,500 per year), with roughly 52% of that growth inside the city of Gainesville and 31% in the unincorporated county. - Projections to 2050: staff showed a countywide projected increase of almost 93,000 people by 2050 and an estimated increase of about 32,000 people in the unincorporated area; Chumbley presented an estimate that the unincorporated area would need roughly 14,000…