Gainesville votes to reinstate exclusionary zoning
Gainesville's City Commissioner's votes put it at odds with most progressives and realists nationally
By a 4-3 vote, with Commissioners Chestnut, Duncan-Walker, Book, and Mayor Ward voting in support and Commissioners Eastman, Willits, Saco in dissent, the city of Gainesville moved to reinstate exclusionary zoning citywide. The vote stands in stark contrast with the growing movement to relax zoning laws to allow more homes to be built. Nationally, the support for building more multifamily homes has had support from progressives like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, centrists like Former President Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and some libertarian think tanks and writers. Many cities across the US are facing housing shortages that are resulting in higher rents and real estate prices. Building more housing is the most obvious and straightforward way of solving a housing shortage.
I would say nobody told the Gainesville City Commission that, but in fact, many people have repeatedly told them that building more housing will help alleviate the housing shortage locally. The city spent no small sum of money on a consulting firm that gave them recommendations on ending exclusionary zoning and working to implement inclusionary zoning practices. The zoning reforms that had been passed by the previous commission allowed for development of quadplexes of up to two stories in most neighborhoods. Two stories is not very tall. These quadplexes would have been shorter than some of the old mansions in the historic districts in Gainesville. Yet, even that modest proposal was too much for Commissioners Chestnut, Duncan-Walker, Book, and Mayor Ward. In Gainesville, the city commission is ok with building tall mansions, but not ok with building more housing for working class people.
Aside from some efforts from the previous mayor, the city historically hasn’t shown that they cared much for the folks who can’t work at all, but I think it’s important they don’t get lost in the discussion here. Gainesville could more widely allow for single room occupancy units to house the homeless. Instead the city is planning to once again conduct a sweep of camps in the coming days without a plan on where to send people. And since the city has once again made it more difficult to build more housing near much needed services and jobs, our housing problems will only get worse. Gainesville appears to be gunning for regaining that meanest city in America title it once held in the 2004 and 2009.
In voting to restore exclusionary zoning, Gainesville’s 3 Democratic city commissioners and mayor did exactly as the DeSantis’s administration had asked, handing the governor perhaps the easiest win he’s ever gotten out of the otherwise staunchly liberal college town. For Commissioner Chestnut and Mayor Ward, their alignment with DeSantis on what is one of the most important issues in Gainesville serves as an odd capstone to an otherwise admirable legacy of fighting for and enacting policies that benefit people.
Where Gainesville goes from here on housing policies is a mystery at the moment. The city continues to grow at a fairly rapid rate and development continues to sprawl out to the western portion of Alachua County, which in turn continues to drive car dependency and traffic upward. Aside from Commissioners Willits, Saco, and Eastman, it’s fairly obvious by now that this new commission is not nearly as progressive on urban issues as the last one. Allowing more housing and more dense development also helps to make cycling and mass transit more viable alternatives to driving cars, which in turn leads to a number of health and economic benefits. The new commission seems more concerned about the past than the future at the moment.
From discussions I’ve had and public comments I’ve read and heard, I’ve found that many supporters of exclusionary zoning want to turn back the clock and bring back the Gainesville of the 1970s or 80s or 90s or early 2000s or even of last year. The era differs depending on who you ask. But the exact year doesn’t matter because Gainesville, like every other city or town will consistently move forward and change. Change is the only constant in this world. And no amount of wishful thinking or misguided votes can change that.