The Gainesville City Commission approved construction of a 14-story apartment complex on West University Avenue, increased business taxes and purchased smart trash cans at a meeting Thursday.
Housing development
The commission approved a rezoning request to build a 14-story property on West University Avenue.
The zoning change passed in a 4-3 vote, with Commissioners Ed Book, Cynthia Chestnut and Desmon Duncan-Walker in dissent.
The development, proposed by Portman Residential, will be on Northwest 16th Street across from Library West. The development plans detail the construction of 240 units, 750 bedrooms and 13 parking spaces.
Community members questioned the development in the meeting’s public comment session, debating the height of the building and limited parking spaces.
Robert Mounts, an 83-year-old Gainesville resident, said the scale of the development was “anything but spot zoning.”
Spot zoning designates a specific property for different use from surrounding land. Mounts believed the development is catered towards students and said it won't be suitable for commuters due to its lack of parking.
“With six stories, if you had units that were actually built for sale to faculty, staff and young people and professionals, you could provide parking on the first floor for those residents,” Mounts said. “That’s a far better and much more needed building.”
Mayor Harvey Ward said the development isn’t as “new and different” as it seems. Although the building is taller than nearby buildings, nearby dormitories have higher density than the development, he said.
“[The property] has not had anything on it since about 25 years ago when a Burger King burned down,” Ward said. “I don’t feel like an empty former Burger King space is the highest and best use of the property.”
Commissioner Casey Willits was concerned the parking didn’t consider the location’s density. An area popular among students due to its proximity to campus, he said UF and the Florida Department of Transportation spent countless hours improving the area’s walkability after some parking was removed from the area in recent years.
“It is a Gainesville urban myth that every single student brings a car,” Willits said. “It’s a stubborn lie.”
Although it’s not a perfect development, he said it fits the city’s comprehensive plan and offers affordable housing that a parking garage or shorter building design could jeopardize.
Smart trash cans
The commission unanimously approved a proposal for 75 upgraded city trash and recycling cans.
The Bigbelly cans are designed to collect data about capacity. Once they reach 80%, they send requests to be emptied to city workers. The bins are designed to keep waste inside the can to reduce insects and visible waste.
The city already has 44 active bigbelly cans, bringing the new total to 119.
Jarod Lloyd, the operations manager of Gainesville Public Works, said the Bigbelly cans have low maintenance costs and decrease the frequency of trash pickups by more efficiently compacting the garbage. The city’s open-top garbage cans are nearly 20 years old and due to be replaced, he said.
The new trash cans, funded by the city’s solid waste fund, will cost over $590,000. The software that tracks the trash will cost $115 per year for each unit, with the first five years included in the total.
Commissioner Desmon Duncan-Walker said she was skeptical of the software and the data it would collect. Some community members wondered if the cans would have surveillance cameras that could provide information to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, she said.
Lloyd said he wasn’t aware of the cans containing surveillance technology. The cans don’t collect personal information on who is throwing trash away, he said.
Business tax increase
The commission unanimously voted to increase business taxes by 5%. Business taxes are fees paid by businesses to the local government and are based on the business’ location.
Gainesville financial services said it estimated the change would raise the tax to about $6.50 per year on 60% of local businesses. The local business tax hasn’t increased since 2000, its representatives said during the meeting.
The increase is expected to raise $43,000 for the city in an effort to bolster its general fund, which goes towards law enforcement, fire services and public works.
Commissioner Bryan Eastman said Gainesville’s tax burdens have been consistently lower than other major cities in Florida despite Gainesville having one of the state's largest populations.
“Orlando’s per capita business revenues are $31.74 per person, Tampa’s is $27.50,” Eastman said. “Ours is $5.71. I can’t find another city in the top 20 populations that’s anywhere close to that. I don’t know how we’ve gotten away with [the low tax].”
The next commission meeting is on July 31.
Contact Logan McBride at lmcbride@alligator.org. Follow him on X @logandmcbride.
Logan McBride is a journalism junior and the Summer 2025 city commission reporter. In his free time, he enjoys watching TV shows or playing basketball at Southwest Rec. He is also a big football fan and will die for Dak Prescott.
