Readers comment on proposed zoning changes in Gainesville and more
Sledgehammer approach
The City Commission’s current affordable housing proposal seeks to harvest a proportionately small number of affordable housing units in exchange for changing the zoning for every single-family household in the city, and letting developers decide what sort of city we live in.
Lauren Poe, David Areola, Reina Saco, Adrian Hayes-Santos: I voted for you — all of you — and I am disappointed.
This is a classic, reckless sledgehammer approach to governing, akin to strip mining or fishing with dynamite. The only clear winners from this approach are developers, who are no doubt gleefully watching this Trojan Horse disguised as affordable housing policy wheeled up to City Hall.
City commissioners, I humbly suggest: If the majority of the community disagrees with you, you might be misunderstood geniuses, casting pearls before swine. Or — more likely — you might be dead wrong, hiding behind a developer-friendly consultant PowerPoint and poised to drag the city kicking and screaming into another embarrassing policy disaster that will make biomass seem like a eureka moment by comparison.
Affordable housing is a complex, multilayered problem that requires complex, multilayered solutions. Putting developers in charge of redesigning Gainesville neighborhoods is like putting a coal company executive in charge of emission standards.
Stan Michael, Gainesville
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Growing population
The fear of the proposed City Commission change of exclusionary zoning (as I understand it) is that structures the size of the Empire State Building, with rowdy, foul-smelling neighbors hanging out from every window at all hours of the night, will be permitted to be erected across the street from and around the corners of our usually peaceful, tree-canopied, well-established neighborhood homes.
Looking more closely at the proposed zoning change, one finds that developers building their new multi-family dwellings need to comply with the stipulations that these structures cannot be over two stories high and house at most four families. Also, there is a distinct possibility that the new neighbors might actually be friendly, hard-working, not too disruptive citizens like ourselves.
Our population has grown in the last 10 years, and will grow further with the threat of climate refugees coming up from the south. Changing exclusionary zoning is the only way to build new, more affordable housing units to meet our city’s need. Of the mayoral candidates, only David Arreola is standing his ground on this and many other local issues vital for Gainesville. My vote is with him.
Marilyn Eisenberg, Gainesville
Disturbing effort
It is disturbing to see our mayor and commissioners marching headstrong to eliminate single-family zoning.
The majority of residents appear strongly opposed to this move. Even the leaders and occupants of minority areas have expressed opposition. Cynthia Chestnut, who has been a very effective leader over the years, has expressed opposition to the proposal. If implemented, it could destroy our city over the long haul.
Most disturbing is the recognition that our mayor and commission clearly have no intent to support the wishes of the people. They are simply determined to eliminate single-family zoning, regardless of the adverse economic/social impact to the neighborhoods and the lower levels of tax income to the city.
Instead of listening and supporting their constituents, they are simply driving their goal down the peoples' throats. The Aug. 4 meeting will allow only 30 people to attend the meeting and only in the evening portion.
It is clear that they are only interested in passing their plan, period. It is also sickening that one of the commissioners supporting the elimination is David Arreola, who is running for mayor. His support for this action should telegraph what can be expected from him as a mayor. Hopefully our citizens will vote no for Arreola.
Robert Lape, Gainesville
The subtleties of discrimination
While I applaud the sentiment behind the “Non-Discrimination Notice” in the full-page announcement in Sunday’s Gainesville Sun (“Welcome Back to Alachua County Public Schools”), I must issue a correction. The very first sentence reads: “The School Board does not discriminate on the basis of race (including anti-Semitism).” Unfortunately, that carries an echo of the Germany’s Third Reich under Adolf Hitler.
Nazi ideology deliberately and wrongly insisted that the Jews were a separate race, instead of simply a different religion, in order to fuel their brand of anti-Semitism. We cannot allow that even to be suggested as a valid point of view today. There is a disturbing rise of anti-Semitic rhetoric against our Jewish fellow-citizens at present, in this country and around the world.
The misinformation of its racial element was unfortunately not entirely buried in 1945. We should not allow it to persist.
Geoffrey Giles, Gainesville
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This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Letters on proposed zoning changes in Gainesville and more
