DRC approves 75-unit Live Oak Cottages; public question highlights absence of affordability commitments

Alachua County growth-management planner Jacob Salplanner presented the final development plan for Live Oak Cottages, a 75-unit cottage-neighborhood development proposed on about 9 acres at 2408 NW 143rd Street. Salplanner described the cottage-neighborhood standards the plan uses: individual detached homes organized around common greens, a maximum unit size of 1,400 square feet, parking and pedestrian access, and tree-canopy preservation. Staff said the final plan intends to preserve roughly 46% of the existing on-site tree canopy and provides 142 parking spaces compared with a code-calculated 112 spaces.