WUFT News News and Public Media for North Central Florida from the University of Florida in Gainesville
The old RTS facility in Gainesville could soon switch hands from the city back to Alachua County.
This space was given to the city of Gainesville to use for an RTS facility “on the condition that if they no longer used it, that we would get it back,” said Michele Lieberman, County Attorney.
The land has not been used since around September 2015, which means it should go back to the county.
County Commission Chairman Robert Hutchinson said he is going to hand carry the letter over to the city.
It will be very conciliatory, so the commissioners can sort things out before it becomes a problem, he said.
Alachua County spokesman Mark Sexton expects the property to be returned.
“We fully expect that the city will see that that’s reasonable and that the property will be returned,” Sexton said.
The county attorney’s office filed an injunction today, which would prohibit any activity on the property. This means nothing moves on or off the property until the issue is sorted out.
Hutchinson speculated on possible uses for the space.
“I can image this land being reused and redeveloped for something that would be very good for the community,” he said. “We’ve even talked about things like amphitheaters and things like that.”
However, there are no specific plans for the space yet. Sexton said, “We are in the process of looking at our space needs right now.”
