News and Public Media for North Central Florida
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

UF Strategic Development Plan Fires Up Community

Nearly 100 people attended the second public forum on the University of Florida's Strategic Development Plan meant to help lead UF to preeminence. (Marie Edinger/WUFT News)
Nearly 100 people attended the second public forum on the University of Florida's Strategic Development Plan meant to help lead UF to preeminence. (Marie Edinger/WUFT News)

About 100 people attended a public forum Wednesday that aimed to bring the community together.

Yet its leader still ended up apologizing for maintaining division.

Gregory Janks, the lead analyst at Dumont Janks, the company directing the University of Florida’s strategic development plan, outlined three goals at Wednesday's forum.

The goals, “Re-center, unite and sustain,” are meant to lead Gainesville and the University of Florida toward preeminence. However, some community members say their area of Gainesville has not been well-sustained, is not unified with the rest of the community, and is not a central hub in town.

Janks called these areas, “voids,” meaning they aren’t developed and are not dense enough to make adding retail belts more profitable than focusing efforts in more highly populated, highly visited sectors.

In response, a woman shouted: “I’m offended!” She lives in one of those "voids" on the east side of town.

Dumont Janks’ plan is to focus on development near campus, mainly in the eastern portion. For instance, Northwest 13th Street is important to the plan. Janks said Southwest Fourth Avenue would be perfect for development as well because it cuts straight through campus.

“That’s 6 million square feet of development potential,” Janks said.

This is the second public forum to gain input on the strategic development plan. David Manfredi, another consultant for the plan, focused largely on population density because he said it brings people together, which is an important part in making UF and Gainesville preeminent.

Charlie Lane, UF’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, said one of the goals of the plan is to create more interaction within the community.

“We’re thinking that if we can focus our buildings in a more concerted way, it will create more opportunity for collisions between faculty members and staff, faculty members and students – and that’s a very beneficial thing,” he said.

The meeting began with Janks, who explained what they’d established so far. Then attendees at the forum discussed in groups what they’d like to see incorporated and then presented their ideas to the room.

“We’re going to need to have a number of discussions around how to move this plan forward, but at the end of this, we really want to make sure that we have some concrete steps that can accomplish over the next two years, the next five years, obviously, things that put in place a plan of action over the next 40 or 50 years," Lane said.

And the public was certainly involved in the discussion, with frustrations only mounting after each presentation.

Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe spoke first, expressing a concern for the history and character of the city — a concern prominent in the overall discussion. Some people say the Fifth Avenue Historic District, for instance, should have its history preserved rather than renovated.

The mayor was sitting with the “offended” woman, and their group also spoke about breaking down barriers between communities and improving transportation. Transportation was a major part of Mayor Poe’s platform during his campaign and provoked rabble-rousing among this particular crowd as well.

Bruce DeLaney, a real estate broker in Gainesville, emphasized collaboration between the city and university to improve infrastructure, perhaps adding more tunnels and improving connectivity of bike lanes and pedestrian areas.

The development plan is focused largely on UF and its immediate surrounding areas, where parking and transportation are concerns for faculty and students alike. One suggested idea was to establish a rental car system, so students are less likely to bring their own cars and use up parking spaces near the university.

The most stark contrast between the existing plan and the community input was a focus on the east side of town, which has historically been underdeveloped with several food deserts and more mom-and-pop businesses than chain stores. The strategic development plan, so far, showed little intention of changing these trends.

Anyone who was not able to make themselves heard at the forum can submit questions and comments at uf.dumontjanks.com.

Marie is a reporter who can be contacted by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org.