Dear Mayor Ward and Commissioners Chestnut, Ingle, Duncan-Walker, Book, Willits, and Eastman,

My name is Liz Coursen. I moved from Sarasota to Gainesville in November to research and write two books with strong UF/Gainesville ties: one, about David Levy Yulee and Nancy Wickliffe Yulee, and the other about Virgil Darnell Hawkins.

I moved up here without a car and have enjoyed getting to know Gainesville from the ground level, and have been impressed by your well-mannered motorists and the wonderful green spaces. All those springs! All those creeks! Nearly every day I regale friends with sightings of deer and wild turkeys that I see in my Weschester subdivision, which is up on NW 43rd almost to 441.

Late last week, however, I spotted two tiny blue signs way, way across NW 43rd, across the open field under the electrical poles. Since I had hiking boots on (and was already sweaty), I made my way across the field to discover that I was looking at two zoning notices, noticing my neighborhood of 300 homes that there was a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a "facility" planned in what I'd thought was a "preserve," a "preserve" financed by taxpayers.

I don't mind admitting that I pulled up the signs and replaced them close to 43rd, so that my neighbors could see something was going on, even if they had to get out of their cars to see what that something was.

The meeting on Tuesday was worse than I'd ever imagined. These plans that were first bruited about in 2018 now feature 50,000 sf of paved area, a huge retention pond, and, down the line, a petroleum dispensary, though the developer hemmed and hawed about whether it would be above or below ground.

Y'all, we can do better. In the 7-8 years since this idea began its life, hasn't the Gainesville real estate market changed? Every day riding around I see derelict shopping centers, moribund buildings, and vacant lots...big ones. 

Can't we please have a 180-day moratorium to evaluate whether there's a better place for this facility than this preserve? A preserve with FOUR creeks in it?

We only get one bite at this apple. No shovel has been in the ground. No ditches have been dug. No trees have been pulped.

It is not too late!

Can we please start with a conversation? Can we please hit the "pause" button for a brief period to re-evaluate? To re-assess?

Gainesville deserves better. 

Sincerely, Liz Coursen