The Gainesville Plan Board voted unanimously Thursday to approve a change to the city meal distribution codes.
The codes currently allow soup kitchens to feed 130 people a day. The change proposed is replacing the number for a three-hour time limit.
Most people who spoke at the meeting were in favor of changing the rule. One downtown resident, Dan Harmeling, said he was concerned that the quality of his neighborhood would be put in jeopardy if the limit was increased.
Kent Vann, director of the St. Francis House, said he appreciated the outpouring of support that he saw at the meeting.
“I feel like I just had one thousand more people on our side,” Vann said.
The Gainesville City Commission will vote on the change in about a month.
For more on this, see Friday’s Independent Florida Alligator.
