Interim City Manager Rodolfo Valladares will be the final decision maker on development approvals, according to a unanimous vote by the city commission on Monday.
The vote aligns city policy with a new state law set to go into effect on July 1.
The law aims to streamline the development process by making final plat approval a staff decision instead of a commission one.
How does the system work now?
When a developer applies to build in the City of Alachua, staff reviews their plans. The two entities work together to ensure compliance with local regulations on traffic, trees and more.
The process culminates in the developer creating a final plat: a detailed map showing how the land will be used. Staff presents this plat to the city commission in a public meeting along with a recommendation of whether or not to approve it.
The city commission votes publicly on the final plat after hearing public comment.
What does the change entail?
The new city resolution removes the commission’s vote.
It designates the Land Development Regulations Administrator as the person to greenlight or deny a developer’s final plat. Rodolfo Valladares assumed that role once he was appointed Interim City Manager earlier this month.
Will there still be public commission votes?
The change only applies to final plat approvals. Other steps in the development process, including preliminary plat approvals, amendments to the city’s future land use map and rezoning, still require votes by the city commission and/or planning and zoning board.
What comes next?
City Attorney Marian Rush said she intended to revisit the final plat approval process as clarification comes from Tallahassee. The resolution remains in effect until “a new resolution or ordinance is brought forward to further clarify the impacts of Senate Bill 784 on the City of Alachua Land Development Regulations.”
“This bill went under the radar,” she said. “We intend on coming back.”
Residents acknowledged the city had to make this change in order to comply with new state law and emphasized the change shouldn’t be used as a means to rush the approval process.
“As Madam Attorney noted a couple of months ago, there are potentially eight projects coming up that could be litigious,” said Bryan Buescher. “If we think that removing steps in that process will make it less litigious, we are fooling ourselves.”
The commission voted unanimously to direct staff to explore options for livestreaming meetings and conducting a citywide survey of residents’ priorities to increase transparency.