Mayor and Commissioners,

Good afternoon.  As a gentle reminder, please refrain from responding to the forwarded email outside of a noticed, public meeting.  While this communication is not violative of the Sunshine Law, a back-and-forth exchange could certainly be perceived as a violation.  On the bright side, if desired, there will be ample time for the Commission to discuss whether further direction should be given to staff on this proposed Land Development Code amendment.  Second reading of the Land Development Code amendment will not be advertised and scheduled until after the corresponding Comp Plan amendment completes State review.  There will be several public meetings of the City Commission prior to that time.

As always, please feel free to contact me.

Best regards,

Daniel Nee

Daniel M. Nee, B.C.S. | City Attorney

Board Certified in City, County and Local Government Law 
Office of the City Attorney | City of Gainesville 
Office (352)334-5011 | Fax 352-334-2229 
Email needm@cityofgainesville.org

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Mr. Mayor and Fellow Commissioners,

I wish to propose, at the 2^nd reading of Ordinance 2024-263, the attached proposal for modification of the Ordinance. I believe that these are very modest in nature and are in alignment with our intention for the Ordinance, which is to create the opportunity for more affordable starter homes.

The proposals in the attached document can be summarized as follows:

• Set a maximum building square footage of 1,400 sf and require at least 1 parking space for lots 1/8 acre or smaller that are created by the new zoning, and allow only one ADU on those new small lots.
• And set the maximum building square footage at 1,400 sf for homes built in a Cottage Neighborhood.
• And adopt the language, allowances and restrictions from Alachua County’s cottage neighborhood for our ordinance on cottage neighborhoods, which will also encourage less expensive starter homes.

I believe that adopting these modifications at the 2^nd reading would not only align the Ordinance with our goal of more affordable starter homes, but that adopting them would give us the opportunity for more community and Commission consensus, hopefully reducing the volume and tone of objections to the Ordinance.

I would like to work with Staff before the 2^nd reading to ensure that this can be accomplished on the 2^nd reading, without delaying the approval of Ordinance 2024-263 at the 2^nd reading should the Commission vote to approve it on 2^nd reading.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Moore Chestnut |Commissioner At Large Seat B

City of Gainesville | Office of City Commission

200 East University Avenue

Gainesville, Florida 32601

Phone: (352) 334-5016 Fax: (352) 334-2036

Mobile:352-317-8291