the growth management area amendment was narrowly approved by 64,327 voters, recount at the elections office all day Sunday through early Monday morning, Alachua City filed a lawsuit in September, The Point, Dec. 23, 2020: Coronavirus And Beyond: These Were 25 Of The Top Stories Of 2020, ‘We Aren’t Getting Enough’: Florida Counties In 2020 Again Turned To Voters For Essential Funding, Behind Bars, Florida’s Prisoners Cheer Biden’s Election Victory, Growth Management Area Amendment Heads To Manual Recount. Referring to the county commission, she added, “They are not currently managing their greenspace well at all, so I don’t know what makes them think they can manage ours any better. Tropical Storm Eta temporarily delayed the beginning of the recount, which was previously scheduled to begin on Thursday, Nov. 12. Municipalities could still expand and develop nearby unincorporated lands not protected by a growth management zone, and would still have enough room to grow before annexing those lands, proponents say. The amendment also allows the County Commission, by a supermajority vote, to remove property from the County Growth Management Area. Officials reported then that 64,000 (50.11%) had voted in favor and 63,707 (49.89%) opposed. ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. (WCJB) -High Springs is joining a lawsuit aiming to invalidate the Alachua County Growth Management Area (GMA) that narrowly passed as a charter amendment during the 2020 general election. ALACHUA COUNTY ‒ A manual recount of the Alachua County Growth Management Area Amendment was completed on Friday, Nov. 13, at the Supervisor of Elections Office in Gainesville. If approved by voters, this amendment would establish a “County Growth Management Area.” A map of the proposed County Growth Management Area is available on … The final results: 64,569 (50.1%) in favor of the amendment and 64,304 (49.9%) against. Following the manual recount, total votes counted were 128,873. The Alachua County charter amendment that would create a county growth management area has caused quite a bit of controversy and even led to a lawsuit against the county. The County Growth Management Area was designed as a compromise, providing areas outside existing city borders where cities could still exercise land use control after annexation. That 293-vote margin – .22% – forced a manual recount. About ACT News ; Advertise ; Subscribe ; Calendar . High Springs Commissioner Linda Jones said her city still sees the lawsuit as necessary. High Springs commissioners voted to join the lawsuit unanimously on second reading at Tuesday night’s commission meeting. Natural Resource Protection. He exposed his genitals to the female victim as she was biking in the area. “I think it’s an existential threat to our future,” Marlowe said. Our environment is sacred, but with increasing population there is more and more pressure to develop outside of our cities and into sensitive environmental land. Elimination of Racial and … YES 70.69% NO 29.31%. A week after the election, the fate of Alachua County’s growth management area ballot amendment still hangs in the air due to a razor-thin vote margin. Alachua City filed a lawsuit in September, contending that the amendment ballot title and summary were misleading, contained improper political rhetoric, and failed to adequately inform voters of its chief purposes. If you are an … County Charter Amendment Establishing County Growth Management Area Relationship Between County and Municipal Ordinances for Protection of Certain Natural Resources Identification and Elimination of Racial and Gender Bias in Alachua County Policies County Charter Amendment Establishing Alachua County Affordable Housing Trust Fund Gainesville Commissioner Adrian Hayes-Santos said this week that any court challenges to the amendment would be a waste of taxpayer money and oppose efforts to combat climate change. Archer, High Springs and Newberry soon signaled their agreement with the lawsuit, which was filed in the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Gainesville. He was … – 6 ft. in height and weighing approximately 185 pounds. That 175-margin led to a recount at the elections office all day Sunday through early Monday morning, when a total of 143,614 ballots were recounted using machine scanners. Of those 64,569, or 50.10 percent, voted “yes” to 64,304 voters, or 49.90 percent, who voted against approval of the amendment. ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. — The Alachua County Supervisor of Elections Office is preparing for a likely recount of the County Charter Amendment Establishing County Growth Management Area referenda. After lunch, canvassing board members spent the afternoon counting 377 duplicate ballots – those that had been faxed or mailed in but were damaged. Initial results indicate that 128,479 votes were cast for this issue with 64,327 (50.07 percent) voting Yes and 64,152 … County Growth Management Amendment Recount Results Unchanged. ... Alachua County aims to continually improve the accessibility and usability of its website. Mark Olson (left) and John Durr were among 40 volunteers who recounted more than 15,000 ballots Friday to decide the fate of the Alachua County growth management area amendment. The Alachua County Canvassing Board has rescheduled the manual recount of the Alachua County Growth Management Area Charter Amendment referendum until Friday, Nov. 13, at... November 10, 2020 Cammack calls for ensuring “the integrity of our election process” ... Unofficial results for Alachua County races... November 3, 2020 Unofficial results available following election on Supervisor of Elections’ … And that’s what’s frustrating.”. Proponents say the amendment was designed to prevent the county from overdevelopment, to protect the wetlands, forests and wildlife corridors. After Tuesday, the growth management area amendment was narrowly approved by 64,327 voters, accounting for 50.07% of the total 128,692 cast in the general election. The hotly contested Alachua County Charter Amendment regarding the County taking control of the Growth Management Area was close and may require a recount. Although figures were slightly changed, the result remained the same. We provide information about building department, planning, zoning and development review, trasportation division and Code Enforcement division. … Those of us in the surrounding communities don’t have very much of a voice. Home ; Advertise-Subscribe-About Us . The second recount was to have taken place Thursday, but was delayed a day because of Tropical Storm Eta. Should you have any questions, please call us at 352-374-5243 for building department and 352-374-5249 for all other divisions for assistance. That leaves a margin of .22% which is less than a quarter of one percent. The ballots are still being counted but so far there is just over a 130 vote difference out of 120,000 ballots. Initially, 64,462, or 50.09 percent, voted “yes” during the regular election to 64,230, or 49.91 percent, who voted against approval of the amendment. Christian is a reporter for WUFT News who can be reached by calling 352-392-6397 or emailing news@wuft.org. 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