Paul Pritchard has been involved with wildlife conservation for decades. He served as deputy director for the U.S. Department of the Interior under former President Jimmy Carter and founded the National Park Trust.
Pritchard lives on Lakeshore Drive overlooking Newnans Lake. When he heard of a proposal to add 149 single-family homes to the area, he and other neighbors formed a group of about 60 members to defend the property.
The Local Planning Agency and Planning Commission voted 3-2 against the 82-acre rezoning in April. The development is being led by Adams Homes and Garden Street Communities.
When the issue reached the Alachua County Commission, the planning commission’s recommendation was overruled when the commission unanimously approved the development near Newnans Lake in late May.
Two months later, community members close to the property are still fighting the proposal.
“There was a pretty strong presence of Chamber of Commerce and other representatives who want more roofs on the ground, more houses, more construction,” Pritchard said. “They brought quite a few people who were not a part of the community, which was disappointing.”
The group, which Pritchard called “the East Side Greenway,” refers to a 2003 county report protecting the land from development, which consisted of wildlife photographers, a hydrologist and neighbors. Pritchard acts as the group's chairman.
Pritchard’s worried about drainage near the property, which could impact more than just Newnans Lake, he said.
“There are several drainage areas in this property that drain into Paynes Prairie,” Pritchard said. “This is not just a Newnans Lake issue. It’s a regional issue.”
Pritchard felt the county commission was “intentionally deleting” any attention to Newnans Lake, he said. Community members near the property weren’t given advance notice about the development, he said, and the lack of involvement for Newnans Lake in the Forward Focus initiative seemed minimal compared to the attention given to the Hawthorne, Micanopy and Waldo areas.
Forward Focus is a three-year initiative aimed at boosting economic opportunities and infrastructure in Eastern Alachua County.
East Gainesville needs more development, Pritchard said, but he and the group “felt strongly” there are better landscapes to use.
Lesa Holder, a 64-year-old Gainesville resident, lives in Magnolia Estates, a neighborhood on the southwestern side of Newnans Lake. She is also a member of the Alachua Conservation Trust and the East Side Greenway group.
The group met with Green Street Realty and Adams Homes to discuss the development, she said.
The East Side Greenway group suggested adding dark sky lighting, she said, which reduces light pollution and supports wildlife health. The group also supported installing a stormwater drainage system to limit runoff to Newnans Lake.
The group plans to ask the commission to consider its proposals when the rezoning hearing takes place. It is unknown when the commission will receive a response from state officials and hold a rezoning hearing. The group already asked the commission to designate Lakeshore Drive as an Alachua County scenic road, she said, which would protect the land next to it from further development that could harm nearby ecosystems.
Holder believes other developers have seen the approval of the development, potentially acting as an invitation for future developments near natural landmarks and inspiring similar proposals, such as the Maronda Homes proposal adjacent to Paynes Prairie.
“They want to build something that people will be attracted to specifically because of its natural beauty,” Holder said. “Unfortunately, I think building these developments is not necessarily an enhancement to the natural feature.”
Chris Dawson, the principal planner for the Alachua County Growth Management Department, said the proposal aligned with the county’s comprehensive plan and its protections.
“They would be protecting resources on the property, given the protections in our comprehensive plan,” Dawson said. “We don’t think it’s a large change from what’s already allowed for the site.”
The developer offered to amend the comprehensive plan to reserve the eastern 200 feet of the property for a stormwater management facility or a natural buffer area without homes or roads, he said.
The development is within the county’s urban cluster boundaries, which were created to keep urbanization from seeping into natural areas, he added.
When prompted with potential flooding issues, Dawson said Alachua County’s rules dictate new developments can’t allow more stormwater to run off their sites than what naturally occurred before construction. It also requires developments to install retention basins to capture and treat nutrient runoff.
To help the nearby ecosystem, Dawson said the developer proposed adding an invasive management control plan.
A homeowners association on the property would be responsible for removing invasive species from the ecosystem. The HOA would be monitored by the county, Dawson added.
Florida Commerce and other state agencies are evaluating the proposal. If approved, it will return to the Alachua County Commissioners for a final vote. The next commission meeting is Aug. 12.
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.
