Commission Turns Down Interim Planning Services: Stopgap Measure Would Have Utilized Engineering Firm

ALACHUA – Alachua City Commissioners on March 24, 2025, failed to adopt a staff recommendation that would have resulted in the City contracting with an independent engineering firm to fill in the gap in the City of Alachua’s planning department. In a narrow vote of 2-3, commissioners did not approve of securing professional services from Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. to support the Planning & Community Development Department.

With recent retirements and resignations in the City of Alachua’s Planning & Community Development Department, the City finds itself short staffed with only one city planner. According to city staffers, the City currently has 31 development review applications under the purview of the Planning & Community Development Department. Of those 31, 11 applications are in the project assistance team review stage and being circulated to other departments for input, four are on hold, three are incomplete and awaiting resubmittal, nine are scheduled for upcoming public hearings, two are currently in review for completeness, and two have only been received but not undergone any review.

City Manager Mike DaRoza emphasized to commissioners that the assistance of an outside firm would be temporary, until adequate and qualified planning staff could be onboarded.

The City is under statutorily mandated guidelines for at least some of the projects currently under review, which is why DaRoza requested the commission provide relief to the department.

Assistant City Manager Rodolfo Valladares presented the commission with the plan that would have engaged Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc., a global professional services firm, to review building permits and planning applications for compliance with city regulations and alignment with the Alachua Comprehensive Plan.

Both Valladares and DaRoza said the hiring of the outside firm would help bolster the City’s commitment to maintain a level of services expected of the City. The terms of the contract called for Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. to commit at least two American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), including one onsite and one of whom also hold a law degree.

As part of their role, Jacobs would have evaluated a variety of planning applications, including Comprehensive Plan Amendments, Infrastructure Plans, Lot Splits, Minor Site Plans, Minor Subdivisions, Rezoning Requests, Site Plans, Special Exception Permits, and Variance Permits. Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. would not have been permitted to conduct reviews of plans they have prepared themselves.

Although not passed by the Commission, the contract would have cost approximately $160,000 over six months, similar to the salaries, retirement, benefits, and taxes that would have been paid over that same period of time to the staffers who retired and resigned.

As a result of the Commission’s failure to approve the staff’s recommendation, the city manager will likely have to go back to the drawing board for a new plan to fill in the staffing gap.

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