Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Alachua County to advertise changes to TND/TOD code to ease phasing and design requirements
Summary
The Board voted to advertise amendments to the Unified Land Development Code that would give developers more phasing flexibility, permit broader mix‑of‑use arrangements (lowering some nonresidential minimums), expand DRC minor‑change authority and clarify liner‑building and parking standards; commissioners debated multi‑story mixed‑use requirements and affordable‑housing tradeoffs.
The Alachua County Board of County Commissioners voted June 9 to authorize staff to advertise proposed county‑initiated amendments to the Unified Land Development Code for Traditional Neighborhood Developments (TND) and Transit‑Oriented Developments (TOD) and to schedule a public hearing on the changes.
Planner Jacob South said the draft language is intended to respond to market conditions and stakeholder feedback by allowing developers to determine the number of phasing steps tied explicitly to infrastructure needs rather than the prior prescriptive phase counts. "Phasing would be required and a plan then must show what infrastructure is tied to uses that are proposed for each phase," South told the board. The update would also allow increased use of minor changes under Development Review Committee (DRC) authority (within defined thresholds) to make the review schedule more predictable for projects already approved at the PDP stage.
Key proposed changes highlighted by staff include: reducing the minimum nonresidential requirement for village centers from 50% to 40%; eliminating some mandatory multi‑story mixed‑use building requirements (while retaining tools to encourage mixed use); establishing liner‑building standards and clearer standards for off‑street parking and multi‑use path requirements; and providing DRC review options for conversion of commercial entitlements to affordable housing using existing buy‑down mechanisms.
Commissioners voiced a range of concerns. Some said eliminating some multi‑story mandates responds to financing challenges for mixed‑use buildings and may help realize stalled village center parcels; others worried it could encourage single‑use residential clusters instead of walkable mixed‑use centers. Commissioners discussed adjusting density‑bonus parameters for affordable housing (one board member suggested increasing a 20% affordability requirement to 25% in certain bonus calculations).
The board voted to advertise the amendments for public hearing, noting that larger changes would return to the board for adoption after public comment. Staff emphasized that previously approved PDPs would be able to use the new phasing triggers under defined conditions but that critical infrastructure conditions would remain enforceable where tied to approvals.
The action is a step toward a public hearing and possible adoption after stakeholder outreach and further refinements.
