The City of Gainesville has released the first draft of its updated comprehensive plan, a document that will guide how the city grows and develops in the coming years.
Comprehensive plans outline where housing and businesses can be built, how transportation systems are designed, how the environment is protected, and how public infrastructure is funded. State law requires cities to maintain these plans, but local governments have flexibility in how they shape them. Gainesville leaders say they want the updated plan to reflect residents’ wants and needs.
The draft is organized into nine sections: Our City Government, Our Cultural Identity, Where We Live, How We Build, How We Get Around, Our Environment, Our Health and Wellbeing, How We Work and How We Learn.
Here’s what’s inside.
What’s in the first draft?
According to the draft, there are three main pillars of this plan: to center on low-income and underrepresented residents in Gainesville, to involve the whole city organization and to generate accountability and action. The draft outlines policies that would influence land use, housing development, infrastructure investment and transportation planning across Gainesville.
One of the largest sections focuses on housing.
The plan acknowledges that recent development has largely centered on student housing and higher-cost rental units near the University of Florida and major corridors. At the same time, new single-family homes have continued to spread outward, often increasing commute times and infrastructure costs.
City officials identify a lack of what planners call “missing middle” housing, options like duplexes and small multifamily buildings that fall between large apartment complexes and detached single-family homes.
The draft proposes:
- Reforming zoning practices that limit housing types.
- Encouraging a wider mix of housing densities.
- Supporting affordable and workforce housing programs.
- Expanding housing options near transit routes and activity centers.
- Promoting infill development rather than outward sprawl.
The Future Land Use section serves as the backbone of the document. It sets categories that determine what can be built and at what density. Residential areas are assigned maximum unit limits per acre, and accessory dwelling units are permitted in several categories.
The draft also emphasizes compact, mixed-use development through the continued use of transect zones, which are designed to allow neighborhoods to transition gradually from lower to higher intensity development.
Another major focus is transportation.
The “How We Get Around” section links land-use decisions to mobility. The draft promotes a multimodal system that prioritizes public transit, sidewalks, bike infrastructure and improved bus stop amenities. It proposes:
- Improving transit reliability and accessibility.
- Creating mobility hubs for easier transfers.
- Expanding first- and last-mile connections.
- Exploring options like Bus Rapid Transit.
- Prioritizing underserved communities in transportation planning.
The plan also requires that new development account for infrastructure needs, including roads, stormwater systems and utilities, to maintain adopted service standards.
Throughout the document, city leaders reference historic inequities in housing and land use, stating that future policies should aim to reduce disparities and expand access to opportunity.
What changes could residents see?
If adopted, the comprehensive plan could shape how Gainesville grows over the next decade and beyond.
Residents may see:
- More diverse housing types in areas previously dominated by single-family zoning.
- Increased residential density in certain corridors and activity centers.
- Greater emphasis on infill development rather than outward expansion.
- Expanded transit improvements and pedestrian infrastructure.
- New housing located closer to bus routes and employment centers.
Supporters argue that encouraging compact growth can reduce car dependency, shorten commutes and make infrastructure investments more efficient.
At the same time, changes to land use and zoning often spark debate over neighborhood character, building heights, traffic and displacement concerns. Because the comprehensive plan sets the framework for future zoning and development decisions, its policies can have long-term impacts on property values, affordability and growth patterns.
Richard Allen, a board member of Gainesville Neighborhood Voices, said there’s a lot of pressure when it comes to the growing population of Gainesville.
“ It's always a challenge with housing because we are just, by the nature of the city, going to grow a lot,” he said. “Neighborhoods that have lower income are the ones that are more affordable, and therefore they're the ones that are more likely to be developed, which could create gentrification.”
Gainesville Resident Dave Wilson said he feels strongly about the current housing situation for UF students.
“Their events are enormously disruptive,” he said. “The problem is noise, yard parking, trash and traffic safety.”
How are residents getting involved?
Community input is a central part of the update process, according to Forrest Eddelton, director of the Department of Sustainable Development.
Gainesville Neighborhood Voices has hosted workshops where residents met with city officials to discuss areas of agreement and concern in the draft. Attendees were invited to share ideas about housing density, transportation priorities and neighborhood preservation.
“ To hear what the neighbors want, what the community groups want and different organizations want out of their city is the best way to plan for the city,” Eddelton said.
The city is also collecting feedback through email submissions, public comments on the draft PDF and future public meetings and workshops.lic meetings and workshops.
City officials say the feedback will help shape revisions before the plan moves to formal adoption.
“ Right now, the most important thing to do is for people to be involved and give us their feedback and their idea of what they would like the city to be,” Eddelton said.
Allen said he hopes the workshops are not only helping build a better draft, but also a closer community.
“ What we're trying to do is just help bring the Gainesville neighborhoods together,” he said. “We want the growth to be something that's copacetic for everybody that lives here today.”
Allen also called each neighborhood “unique,” emphasizing the diversity of the city.
“Being able to have residents of [different] neighborhoods come together and help create a vision for their neighborhood is really important,” he said.
What’s next?
After the public comment period, city staff will revise the draft based on community input. The updated version will then move through the formal review and adoption process, which includes hearings and votes by city officials.
A city plan board adoption hearing for this week has been rescheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Auditorium. The final adoption hearing before the city commission is scheduled for April 16.
Once adopted, the comprehensive plan will guide zoning changes, development approvals and long-term infrastructure investments.
Because it influences where housing can be built, how dense neighborhoods can become and how transportation systems are designed, the comprehensive plan will play a central role in shaping Gainesville’s future growth.