The Gainesville City Commission approved new, smaller home lot sizes on Thursday that will consolidate all single-family zoning into one single-family zoning district.  

The commission voted 5-1 on the proposal, with Commissioner Reina Saco in dissent and Commissioner Casey Willits absent. The proposal has been in the works for years and gone before the city commission along with community input meetings.  

The commission previously approved the preliminary vote on the lot sizes, but the proposal had a couple tweaks at the final hearing.  

The changes combine all four single-family zoning categories into a single-family zoning classification and allows a minimum lot size of 3,500 square feet across the city. The lots need to have a minimum width of 35 feet along with setback requirements.  

Commissioner Bryan Eastman, who originally drafted and brought the changes forward, proposed restricting the size of the home on lots smaller than 5,445 square feet—only allowing a principal structure of 1,600 square feet.  

His amendment would also allow only one additional dwelling unit (ADU) instead of the two currently allowed by city code.  

After discussion with Commissioner Cynthia Chestnut, Eastman changed the requirements to only allow up to a 1,500-square-foot principal structure instead of 1,600 square feet.  

Saco said she would disagree with any proposal besides the one previously voted on and sent to Tallahassee for approval. She especially disagreed with a reduction in ADUs.  

Saco said ADUs were approved in 2020, and staff data shows that Gainesville hasn’t been overrun with requests and more intensity since then. City staff said around 30 to 40 ADUs have been approved since the code was amended in 2020.  

Eastman said he hoped these changes would help garner the four votes needed to pass the lot size reforms by alleviating fears of a developer maximizing small lots. But Saco said physics and the city’s current codes would restrict ADUs as needed on these smaller lots.  

“I think my issue comes with overregulating scenarios that are very unlikely,” Saco said.  

She said that includes trying to nitpick between allowing a maximum principal structure of 1,600, 1,500 or 1,400 square feet. She said it will just create a headache to meet standards that aren’t needed for these lots.  

Mayor Harvey Ward said he’d like to be more restrictive if he were able to have a final say. But in politics, it’s about moving forward with a policy that the commission agrees with on the whole.  

“This is about bringing as much of the commission together as we can get and as much of the community together as we can get so that we remain community,” Ward said. “That’s the whole idea for me.” 

The smaller lot sizes are meant to increase the number of affordable starter homes by reducing the price of land attached to a home.  

Besides starter homes, public commenter Chuck Ross noted that Gainesville is seeing an increase in older demographics moving here, according to the Shimberg Research Center. The smaller homes could also work for elderly citizens who want to downsize.  

Also at Thursday’s meeting, the City Commission approved a contract amendment for architectural support by Wannemacher Jensen Architects, Inc. for the Thelma Boltin Center.  

Betsy Waite, Wild Spaces Public Places director, said phase 1 should start in the spring and include structural repairs, mitigating stormwater drainage and waterproofing. Phase 2 would start after that with whatever funds remain and look at repairs needed to finally reopen the building.  

The city has set aside $1.5 million for the project, and Waite said she plans to ask Alachua County for a matching $1.5 million in Wild Spaces Public Places funding set aside for matching grants.