Almost all those in attendance spoke negatively of GNV Rise by saying it wouldn’t solve any affordable housing issues, didn’t help the poorest city residents, that it only benefited developers, among a list of other concerns.

Hundreds of people showed up to City Hall Thursday to criticize a plan that would bring additional housing developments into existing neighborhoods, some of which would be "affordable" rental units.

Commissioners weighed if they should send an ordinance to the state for feedback before voting in February on the controversial initiative, GNV Rise, a voluntary, incentive-based program that could affect neighborhoods across the city.

In the end, commissioners sided with the public by taking no action, after saying there were parts of the plan they had concerns with, though most agreed they wanted inclusionary zoning and more affordable housing options for residents.

"It's probably going to take some time to figure out what’s best for each neighborhood," Commissioner David Arreola said.

Commissioners waited nearly four hours of public comment before saying where they stood on the issue.

"I'm willing to support ADUs (accessory dwelling units) for this plan and nothing else at this point because I think we need to go back to the drawing board," Commissioner Harvey Ward said.

Commissioner Gail Johnson said she was concerned about possible gentrification and how the plan would affect historically black neighborhoods.

"Going forward, I'd want to see an anti-gentrification and anti-displacement plan," she said.

In the weeks leading up to the meeting, commissioners received dozens of emails urging them to vote down the initiative. City planners also held four open house meetings within each district of the city — at the direction of the commission — to educate the community on the goals of GNV Rise. Approximately, 171 people showed up to those meetings, with at least 18 repeat attendees.

At those meetings, city staff received mixed feedback about the plan. Some said the plan had good intentions and that it recognizes there is an affordable housing shortage. Others said the plan “can not be trusted” and “we are uniformly opposed to this plan.”

In a survey, however, 413 of 549 people recognized the city’s lack of affordable housing is a “serious problem,” and 470 said a “fair amount” could be done about it. About 60 percent said they owned their homes, while 40 percent rented.

GNV Rise

Currently, the Gainesville Housing Authority has more than 4,100 people on its waiting list, while the city has estimated it is about 5,300 affordable rental units shy of adequately serving its poorer population. Gainesville is also home to about 7,700 city residents who are considered “cost burdened.”

In essence, GNV Rise would allow developers to take a parcel of land and subdivide into sections prior to construction. If the subdivision process is approved by city officials, the city could grant a 20 percent “density bonus” that allows more structures to be built on the land than it normally would, as long as it meets city code. If a developer takes the bonus, they must provide at least 10 percent of new units at an affordable rental rate. For example, a developer could build 10 housing units — five duplexes or 10 detached homes — and rent nine those at market value, while just one unit would be considered “affordable.”

In single-family zoned areas, developers would be limited to building two duplexes or triplexes. The plan could not be applied to small single lots, only to lots that can be subdivided by at least five lots.

The plan would call for an amendment of the city’s comprehensive plan and would decrease heights of future developments in residential areas from three stories to two. If a developer doesn’t take the bonus, they could still build multiple units and rent it market value if they went through the subdivision process.

Renters of all incomes could rent units at market value. Those who earn 80 percent or less of the area’s median income would qualify for an “affordable unit.” For one person, that amount is about $40,000 annually. A family of two is around $45,650 and a family of three is about $51,000. A family of four that makes $57,000 a year or less would also qualify. HUD considers anyone who spends more than 30 percent of their income on rent to be “cost burdened.”

The meeting

Mayor Lauren Poe started the meeting by speaking about the history of zoning and segregation in Gainesville. He said the tide started to change in the 1950s following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, which made segregation illegal and resulted in zoning changes.

Poe said the city and its residents inherited issues caused by segregation and the city is attempting to solve that.

“We have the most concentrated poverty and the worst segregation in our state,” he said. “That did not happen by accident. It happened by deliberate actions taken by people mainly serving in this government…"

City Planner Andrew Persons showed an example of how the plan could impact some neighborhoods.

Neighborhoods like Oaks Preserve and Tanglewood currently have a combined 605 homes, none of which are considered affordable housing. Under the GNV Rise plan, the neighborhoods could add 61 “affordable” units.

Close to 200 people showed up to City Hall and about 60 people signed up to speak during public comment. Poe attempted to shorten each speaker’s time to two minutes but reversed back to the standard three minutes after the crowd heckled the commission.

Almost all those in attendance spoke negatively of GNV Rise by saying it wouldn’t solve any affordable housing issues, didn’t help the poorest city residents, that it only benefited developers, among a list of other concerns.

Former City Commissioner Gary Gordon said the commission should be ashamed of themselves for “cloaking this proposal” into a topic of civil rights. Robert Holt, a UF ecology professor, formerly at the University of Kansas, said his concern was more centered around how the influx market-based rentals would affect neighborhoods.

Cindy Gordon said she understood that a majority of the city commissioners promised an increase of affordable housing, but that the program doesn’t serve those most in need.

“This is a development plan," she said. "This is not an affordable housing plan."

Jenn Powell, a former city commission candidate, said that if the City Commission truly wanted to help the poor, they would increase transit services to poorer neighborhoods and would increase wages for city workers.

Lee Malis said he opposed the plan and embraced being called a “nimby,” which stands for “not in my backyard.”

“I am a nimby,” he said.

The city's Department of Doing Director Wendy Thomas apologized to the crowd and commission for not having public input earlier on in the process, despite hosting public meetings. She said the notion that GNV Rise was constructed by developers and for developers, a common statement from the opposition, was false.

"This, to me, is a step in potentially moving forward with a healing process in the community," Thomas said.