Local

GAINESVILLE ‒ The public is invited to the Sunshine State Book Festival, to be held Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 29-30, in Gainesville.

This annual event brings readers and writers together. No reservations or tickets required. Saturday’s festival takes place in the Oaks Mall on West Newberry Road near I-75. It runs from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Attendees will have an opportunity to meet and engage with 100 authors, purchase books and have them signed. There will also be hourly drawings for free books. Bring the kids or grandkids. They will enjoy the children’s area with storytellers and activities.

Sunday’s program will take place at the Matheson History Museum, 513 E. University Avenue in downtown Gainesville from 1 – 5 p.m. Attendees will enjoy four presentations by well-known authors. The festival is sponsored by the Writers Alliance of Gainesville.

For full details, visit SunshineStateBookFestival.com. Since the festival is completely indoors, it will be held rain or shine.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

NEWBERRY – An item that garnered the most attention at the City of Newberry Jan. 3 Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board meeting was a proposed amendment to the Land Development Regulations (LDR) to allow small-scale rural event centers by special exception in the City’s Agricultural Zoning District.

Triggering this LDR amendment was a request by Shabnam Rumpf-Monadizadeh to allow her to run a small-scale (300 participants or less) event center which may include a petting zoo, a beer garden, an urban vegetable garden, a small wedding venue, a yoga studio or a number of other educational or entertainment-related events.

Planning and Economic Development Director Bryan Thomas pointed out that allowing this type of use by special exception rather than by right allows the City’s Board of Adjustment (BOA) control over whether they choose to approve applications. He pointed out that a list of examples of allowable uses did not mean that the BOA had to allow all of those uses in all cases. The ordinance allowing for this amendment could be written to sunset at a certain time, could follow the land or could follow with the applicant.

P&Z Vice Chair Gavin Johnson expressed strong concern that allowing this use in an Agricultural Zoned District may constitute a burden for neighbors. He also voiced concern that allowing one person to obtain the special exception might mean the City couldn’t deny someone else under the same circumstances.

According to Thomas, under a special exception process, the City would be able to deny a different application for the same type of business if there was a compelling reason not to approve a second business. He also explained that the approval of one special exception application does not set a precedent for the approval of a similar subsequent application. A special exception application allows the City to review each application on the merits of the intended use.

“If we’re not willing to allow any commercial use in an Agricultural Zoned District, then we need to say we’re not going to allow anything,” said City Manager Mike New. “However, I think our citizens want to allow us to make opportunities for people to do things, but they expect us to control it enough so they aren’t a burden on their neighbor.”

Board Member Linda Woodcock said, “We can’t put everything in an ordinance. We can’t possibly address everything.” She added that approving the ordinance and seeing how it works would also allow time for the citizens to provide input on how it’s working.

By a 4-1 vote, the P&Z Board recommended approval of Ordinance 2022-18/LDR 22-01 to the City Commission. Johnson casting the dissenting vote.

In other business, a quasi-judicial hearing on Ordinance 2021-74/LDR 21-27 was conducted for property owned by Shabnam Rumpf-Monadizadeh.

The City Commission originally adopted Ordinance 2017-18 on Nov. 13, 2017, approving the voluntary annexation of several contiguous parcels including an approximately 4.27-acre parcel identified as Tax Parcel 04370-001-000. The annexations were in dispute, but have since been resolved, which is why they were addressed by the Planning and Zoning Board on Jan. 3.

The Board gave unanimous approval to recommend approval to the City Commission on this property, located on the south side of State Road 26/West Newberry Road along both sides of a portion of Southwest 174^th Street, as well as several others.

To bring the property into conformance with the City’s Future Land Use Map and with the City’s Official Zoning Atlas, LDR 21-27 was addressed by the Board to amend the City’s Official Zoning Atlas by changing the zoning from Alachua County Agriculture (A) to City of Newberry Agricultural (A).

The proposed rezoning is contingent upon approval of the associated Application CPA 21-29 by the City Commission, which proposes to change this property’s Future Land Use category from County to City.

Thomas introduced Resolution 2022-01/SE 22-01, which was brought by Jayne Tate, Agent for GPS Newberry East LLC, owner. In a quasi-judicial public hearing, Thomas said the request was for a special exception to allow Greenfield East Pre-school to expand on its 1.03 acres at 21805 W. Newberry Road, which is located at Newberry Road and 218^th Street.

The expansion will allow the facility to increase student levels from 58 to 101 children. Thomas said that staff will likely double as well.

Concern about increased trips, which may possibly require a turn lane or traffic study, was discussed. A motion to approve recommending approval to the BOA at their Jan. 11 meeting was made with the caveat that the applicant make contact with the Florida Department of Transportation to discuss whether further traffic studies would be required. The motion received unanimous approval.

The Board also voted to recommend the following items to the City Commission:

Ordinance 2022-04/CPA 21-30, a large-scale amendment consisting of approximately 133.12 acres, Ordinance 2022-05/CPA 21-31, a small-scale amendment consisting of approximately 38.2 acres, Ordinance 2022-06/CPA 21-32, a small-scale amendment consisting of approximately 7.38 acres, Ordinance 2022-07/CPA 21-3301-06-22, a large-scale amendment consisting of approximately 194.44 acres, Ordinance 2022-08/CPA 21-34, consisting of approximately 4.27 acres, Ordinance 2022-14/LDR 21-41, consisting of several contiguous parcels totaling approximately 133.12 acres and Ordinance 2022-15/LDR 21-42, consisting of 4.27 acres.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Every Wednesday a group of volunteers gathers at the High Springs Farmer's Market to distribute food to those in need. Known as the High Springs Mobile Pantry, the group of 20 volunteers pass out fresh meat, vegetables, fruit and bread to residents waiting in a long line of cars. Volunteers are a diverse group from various churches, residents who want to help, and even individuals who, themselves, have been in that line needing food at some point and then deciding to help others in the same situation.

“The volunteers that distribute the food are very dedicated to helping others and many of them know what it feels like to be in that situation because they have been in need at some time,” said Mobile Pantry director Anna James.

“Before the COVID pandemic, most of our clients were elderly, living on a small fixed income and would occasionally be in need.,” said James. “Volunteering with the Mobile Pantry is their way of giving back to the community.”

James started the program 11 years ago when she was working with Fellowship Baptist Church to offer food to those in need. At the time, James also worked with Bread Of The Mighty Food Bank, Inc., a non-profit organization that collects, stores and distributes donated or purchased fresh food. Over 35 years they have built a network of 170 non-profit agency partners with over 500 volunteers such as food pantries, churches, homeless shelters and other organizations that distribute the food to those in need.

James connected the church with Bread of the Mighty and continued the food distribution program. The church and other volunteers would contribute money to help purchase the food and cover expenses. Over the next few years, the program spread beyond the church and James had volunteers from multiple sources.” I couldn't have continued this program without the dedication of the volunteers,” James said.

James was also responsible for getting the City of High Springs involved, providing the Civic Center as a long-term location to have people come and pick up what food they needed.

“We would typically serve about 250 individuals and families each week with about 80 percent of the customers being elderly,” said James. “That was prior to the COVID Pandemic which radically changed everything.” James says that the need for food assistance increased as people lost income, and she saw a large increase in families in dire situations. “I had a number of people who came in reluctantly, claiming they never expected to be in this situation,” said James. “At the height of the Pandemic last year we were distributing food to 2,000 people each week.:

James says numbers are down now, but they are still are averaging 600 to 1,000 people a week and distributing over 35,000 pounds of fresh food.

COVID also changed the way they distributed the food and the location. For health safety they moved it outdoors to maintain social distancing and avoid crowded indoor spaces that could cause cases among volunteers and clients, who already had enough problems without endangering their health.

“Our mission is to help those in need, not jeopardize the,” said James. “The city offered us the Farmers Market where we could have cars drive by and put the food in their trunks to keep everyone safe.”

This method has been adopted by many charity food organizations and it works well, so James doesn’t see it reverting back to indoors with close contact.

James adds that despite the huge increase of people in need, they were able to keep up with the demand, thanks to the great efforts by Bread of the Mighty and the people who volunteer with the High Springs Mobile Food Bank. “Their continued dedication to helping others is amazing,” said James. “Even in the worst of the Pandemic they still came every week to distribute the food.”

James believes that everybody deserves to be able to have enough food to feed their families despite their income, and the need is greater than ever. “It's all about helping others,” James said.

The High Springs Mobile Pantry mainly serves High Springs but James says they also go to other communities in the surrounding counties if needed.

The Mobile Pantry is at the High Springs Farmer's Market at 23517 N.W. 185^th Road, High Springs, Florida, every Wednesday to distribute food from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. or whenever all the food is gone. More information or to volunteer can be found by visiting their Facebook page — Anna High Springs.

#     #    #

Email rcarson@

alachuatoday.com

The High Springs Garden Club has selected its new Board of Directors for 2022 to 2024.  L to R: – Vice President Carole Tate, President Billie Jo Benedict, Secretary Ginger O’Loughlin, and Treasurer Vickie Cox.

 #     #     #

Email editor@

alchuatoday.com

ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ The Alachua County Criminal Courthouse will be renamed in honor of the late Judge Stephan P. Mickle. On Jan. 14, at 12 p.m. an event will be held to honor the life and legacy of the late judge. The event is at the main entrance of the Criminal Courthouse located at 220 S. Main Street, downtown Gainesville. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The event will feature speakers from Alachua County, the City of Gainesville and the Judiciary, as well as music, a color guard and words of inspiration. Alachua County middle and high school students participated in an essay/poetry contest based on a theme pertaining to Judge Mickle’s impact on history, society and the future. The winner of this year’s contest will share their essay during the ceremony. The contest, promoted through the Alachua County school system, will be an annual event.

A prolific barrier breaker, Judge Mickle’s legacy includes:

• The first African-American to practice law in Alachua County since Reconstruction,
• The first African-American County Court judge in Alachua County,
• The first African-American judge in the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida,
• The first African-American and only lawyer from the Eighth Judicial to serve on the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee,
• The First African-American federal judge in the Northern District of Florida and
• The First African-American Chief Judge of the Northern District of Florida.

“It is a tremendous honor to see the courthouse named after my father,” said his daughter, Stephanie Mickle. “It's important for others to be able to see themselves in his life. His sacrifices and triumphs will inspire others for generations to come and impact our youth early in their lives and education.”

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com

ALACHUA COUTY ‒ Join library staff for outdoor stories and songs as Story Time on the Green begins again on Jan. 11.

Librarians and library staff will read tales and lead activities perfect for infants through five-year-olds at library green spaces and parks throughout Alachua County. Join in songs, finger plays, and story boards to spark your child's imagination and communication and reading skills.

Parents and families can bring blankets and chairs to spread out. Story Time on the Green will be held at 10:30 a.m., weather permitting (at least 50°) at various library location.

On Tuesdays, activities will be held at Lois Forte Park, 120 N.W. 260^th Street, Newberry, with the Newberry Branch team.

On Wednesdays, activities will be held in Hawthorne, Archer and High Springs. The Hawthorne Branch is located at 6640 S.E. 221^St Street, Hawthorne, Wilson Robinson Park, 13975 S.W. 174^th Street, Archer, with the Archer Branch team and High Springs Farmers Market, 23517 N.W. 185^th Road, High Springs, with the High Springs Branch team.

On Thursdays, activities will be held in Waldo and Alachua. The Waldo Branch is located at 15150 N.E. US Highway 301, Waldo and Alachua’s location will be at the Legacy Park Multipurpose Center playground, 15400 Peggy Road, Alachua, with the Alachua Branch team.

On Saturdays, activities will be held in Micanopy. Park by the fire station, corner of Northeast Cholokka Blvd. and Northeast 7^th Ave., Micanopy, with the Micanopy Branch team.

#     #     #

Email cwalker@

alachuatoday.com