The Envision Alachua Task Force remains strongly committed to the plan it’s honed over the past three years – despite what opponents to the plan are saying.
When the group met in October 2014, members vowed to keep fighting for the economic and environmental benefits of the proposed Envision Alachua Sector Plan.
The task force advised Plum Creek in preparing the proposed sector plan – a master plan for land holdings of 15,000 acres or more – for the more than 60,000 acres the timber company owns in Alachua County.
County government has been holding public workshop on the proposal in order to gain input prior to an eventual vote by the county commission.
Helen Warren, a task force member and a Gainesville city commissioner, responded to claims that the sector plan would burden taxpayers through unfunded infrastructure and public services.
“It boggles my mind for people to say that this development doesn’t pay for itself,” she said.
The opposite is true, said fellow task force member Rob Brinkman. While some housing construction creates more need for government spending than it generates in taxes, the proposed development under Envision Alachua will actually boost tax revenue, he said.
That’s because the development will be heavily weighted in favor of nonresidential uses – with the goal of creating three jobs for every housing unit built. “Commercial development generates tax dollars in spades,” Brinkman said.
Brinkman also was also irked by opponents’ claim that the 7,600 acres that the plan proposes for development is too wet. “When they call it a swamp, it makes me want to pull out my remaining hair,” Brinkman said.
Speakers at the task force meeting presented additional research on the economic and environmental impacts of Envision Alachua.
Part of that research compared income levels in Alachua County. The annual household average in the western part of the county is $82,000, nearly double the average in the east – the area where the Envision Alachua development is proposed.
David Denslow, a retired University of Florida economist, noted that Envision Alachua would actually help fund local government. It would do so by increasing the percentage of property on the tax rolls.
Countywide, 42 percent of property is exempt from property taxes, which is far greater than the statewide average of 25 percent due largely to the University of Florida, UF Health, Santa Fe College and the VA Medical Center.
“Envision Alachua would help us fix our roads,” Denslow said. “We’ve got to find more funding resources for local government.
With the large parcels of land available under Envision Alachua, Alachua County might be able to attract industry such as the Caterpillar plant that is bringing 1,400 jobs to the Athens, Ga., area, Denslow said.
Tim Jackson, Plum Creek’s director of real estate, also responded to claims that the Envision Alachua land is too wet to be developed.
He noted that 30,000 acres in Alachua County have been developed on land similar to the property proposed for development under Envision Alachua. The projects include the Gainesville Regional Airport, the UF College of Veterinary Medicine campus and the Gainesville County Club.
In Orange County, 132,000 acres of land with drainage challenges has been developed. That land includes parts of downtown Orlando, the Orlando International Airport and the Lake Nona Medical Center.
Linda Shelley, a land-use attorney for Plum Creek, challenged the contention of county staff that the sector plan isn’t specific about what infrastructure it will fund. “No other sector plan has a list of 50 years worth of projects,” she said. “It is impossible at this stage.”
Daniel Iacofano, a planner with the firm MIG who facilitates the task force meetings, responded to claims that Envision Alachua will create urban sprawl.
“The real sprawl is what happened on the west side of the county over the past 30 years,” he said
Iacofano countered the claim of county staff that ample land available for industry already exists in Alachua County. He showed a map illustrating that most of the land considered to have industrial potential in the rural reaches of the county – and isn’t practical to develop because it is remote from highways.
In contrast, the Envision Alachua land is serviced by U.S. 301 and the CSX rail line.
Envision Alachua would make it possible to attract large economic engines the size of the Google headquarters in California or the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., Iacofano said, adding, “It’s not an impossible dream.”
Warren applauded Plum Creek’s efforts to plan carefully with ongoing community involvement.
“What would Florida look like if we had these conversations 50 years ago?” she said. “It gives me goose bumps to make this process the model for the future.”
Task force member Bobbi Walton, president of Windsor Community Services, alluded to the Stand by Our Plan group’s opposition to Envision Alachua, saying, “We don’t need to stand by our plan. There’s nothing in it (the county’s current comprehensive plan) for the eastern side of the county.”