Award of Excellence for Comprehensive Plan

The Alachua County Commission was presented an Award of Excellence for its Comprehensive Plan on September 27, 2011, by Allison Megrath, AICP, Chair of the Awards Committee for the American Planning Association Florida Chapter.

“The award is based on five criteria: innovation, transferability, implementation, quality and comprehensiveness,?said Ms. Megrath. “The Alachua County Comprehensive Plan exceeded the requirements that are provided by the State for a Comprehensive Plan, and so I am pleased to present this award to you.
View the Comprehensive Plan Overview Poster

Better Community Award

Alachua County is receiving the 1000 Friends of Florida’s "Better Community Award" for adopting and implementing an innovative plan and implementing ordinances to promote multimodal transportation and sustainable patterns of development.

“Alachua County is taking important steps to provide a wider range of transportation options for its residents,” 1000 Friends President and CEO Charles Pattison, FAICP, explains. “With its mobility plan, urban services area, and multimodal transportation mitigation ordinance, Alachua County has taken a significant step to promote smarter growth.”

The Mobility PlanLearn More

• Multimodal Transportation Mitigation Program (MMTM):
  Three MMTM agreements have been approved by the BOCC.
• SW Transportation Improvement District:
  The BOCC directed Staff to continue with a Southwest Transportation Improvement District Ordinance.
• Celebration Pointe Developer’s Agreement:
  Staff is continuing the negotiations at the direction of the BOCC.
• Developments implementing the Mobility Plan:
  Staff continued to work with the developers?of several Transit Oriented Development projects in the design of their projects and proposed developer’s agreements.
• FDOT County Incentive Grant Program Application:
  This $2.5 Million grant was awarded to the County.

Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP-1)

This $2.9 million grant is being used to acquire, rehab, and sell or rent foreclosed properties in both unincorporated and incorporated areas of Alachua County. Twenty (20) foreclosed homes have been purchased to date.

Qualified contractors are making repairs and energy conservation improvements such as insulation, energy efficient windows, and Energy Star appliances on eighteen of the twenty homes.
To date, 18 foreclosed homes have been repaired and 2 homes are in progress. The net proceeds from the sales will be used to complete repairs on the remaining two homes and to buy additional foreclosed homes in designated areas.
View homes for sale..

Large Scale Transit Oriented Developments

Celebration PointeDocuments | Contact Staff

• Status: Preliminary Development Plan Approved

Newberry VillageDocuments | Contact Staff

• Status: Land Use Change Adopted (CPA-02-10)

SpringhillsDocuments | Contact Staff

• Status: Land Use Change Adopted (CPA-04-10)

Santa Fe VillageDocuments | Contact Staff

• Status: Land Use Change Adopted (CPA-06-04)

Update of the Land Development Code

Next workshop is on May 22, 2012

The update began in January to implement updated policies in the Comprehensive Plan, address legislative changes made in the previous session and provide clarifications and updates needed to the current language.

The first drafts for Chapters 400-404 were reviewed by the Board of County Commissioners in a workshop discussion on August 9th. Staff provided a schedule to the Board for upcoming workshops in the first quarter of FY 2011-2012 to review the remaining drafts before making a request to advertise for public hearings in the second quarter of FY 2011-2012. Learn More

Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) - Eastside

On May 24, 2011, the Board of County Commissioners directed staff to prepare a Finding of Necessity to document the community conditions and draft the Resolutions necessary to establish a CRA, and bring these documents to the Board of County Commissioners with a request for authorization to advertise the Public Hearing to consider adoption of the resolutions. Staff presented this to the board on September 27, 2011 and the Board requested additional information. Upon receiving the additional information on November 15, 2011, the Board referred the CRA to advisory committees for input.
Learn More about the Eastside CRA

Disaster Recovery Initiative Grant

This $475,822 Grant was awarded by Florida Department of Community Affairs for disaster relief due to Tropical Storm Fay. All activities will primarily benefit low to moderate income persons.

Projects include: storm water projects in the Cities of Newberry and Archer to alleviate flooding in low to moderate-income neighborhoods; weatherization and roof repair of public housing units. The City of Archer enlarged a basin to alleviate flooding. The City of Gainesville began its roof replacement project this quarter, replacing two roofs for low-income families. The City of Newberry began the design process with the assistance of Alachua County Public Works for its drainage project.

Innovation Partners"Great Partnerships lead to great communities"

We are dedicated to providing the information and assistance you need for relocating a company, starting a business, or helping your existing business achieve success. We can guide you through local regulatory requirements, and present available state and local incentives.

Learn about starting a home based business or if you qualify for incentives through the State's Qualified Target Industry (QTI) program.
Learn More

New Commissioner Districts

County Commissioner District Boundaries are adjusted every ten years to account for population growth in the county. Using the population data from the 2010 US Census, staff used GIS software to create several proposals for new districts which more equally distributes population amongst the five districts. Staff had ongoing communication with the Supervisor of Elections office to ensure minimal conflicts with changes to their new voting districts. An Ordinance updating District Boundaries was adopted by the County Commission on November 8, 2011.
View Adopted Map

Scenic Roads

The Scenic Road Ordinance was established in 1980. The ordinance creates a protected area along designated roadways. The protected area extends 100 feet from the right-of- way line. There are currently portions of five roads designated as scenic roads. In 1980, Old Bellamy Road, Millhopper Road and Crown Road were designated as scenic roads. In 1987, Fort Clarke Church Road was designated as a Scenic Road . In 2004, Dusty Trail was designated as a Scenic Road.

Visit our website to request a scenic road designation, view the requirements that must be met, and browse a photo gallery of current scenic roads.