GAINESVILLE – “You are the first to see this,” Gainesville Community and Economic Development Director Rusty Ligon told members of the Gainesville City Council at Thursday morning’s city council work session.
Ligon was referring to the “City of Gainesville New Construction Activity Map”, an interactive web page on the city’s website. With it visitors to the site will be able to learn about citywide construction projects either underway or soon to begin. “It gives you all the details about development going on within the city,” Ligon said.
Ligon said, “All the calls that you guys probably get and that we get about, ‘Hey, what’s being built here and what’s going on there, and what’s it going to look like, and who is doing it?’, now you can send them to our website…and there’s tons of information right there.”
He added that the online tool, which is now active and available on the city’s website, would be updated regularly as projects are completed and new ones are approved. This week’s initial launch of the web page features 52 projects currently underway including private projects, municipal projects and school projects.
City Councilwoman Barbara Brooks, who said she is constantly being asked about development projects in the city, was especially excited about the new feature. “I can’t wait to tell people…to go to the website…it takes something off our plate. We don’t have to worry about remembering what to tell people.”
Caleb Davidson, Urban Designer for the City of Gainesville, said use of the map portion of the website will be familiar to most people. “You can move around, scroll around, zoom in, click, and basically do whatever you want to do, kind of like Google Maps.”
Davidson said site plan layouts and architectural renderings of the completed buildings are viewable for most of the listed projects and are available for the public’s use as necessary.
Gainesville City Manager Bryan Lackey said the site might be expanded in the future to include other features and information about the city.
To view this new feature click here and scroll down to the “New Construction Activity Map” icon under the “City Spotlights” heading.
ANNEXATION PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED FOR NEXT WEEK
The Gainesville City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday evening regarding an annexation and rezoning request from Optum Development pertaining to 7.77-acres along Limestone Parkway just to the east of Cleveland Highway.
A total of 36 residential townhomes are proposed for the location. They will all be constructed on the north side of Limestone Parkway, between Limestone Parkway and Tapawingo Drive. The multi-story units will range feature 2241 to 2549-square feet and have a price point of $550,000 to $650,000 according to information provided by the applicant.
The gated community was recommended for approval by the Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board in a split vote on August 10, 2021, with eighteen conditions.
The Tuesday, September 21, city council voting session and public hearing begins at 5:30 p.m. and will be held at the Gainesville Civic Center rather than at the Public Safety Complex as that location is undergoing renovations.
