Attorney signals challenges to the City of Alachua’s denial of Tara developments
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
ALACHUA, Fla. – Attorney Jeff Childers, representing Tara Forest, LLC, has sent demand letters to the City of Alachua and Alachua County, requesting public records related to the City of Alachua’s consideration of several Tara Forest developments.
The letter to the City of Alachua questions several invoices, totaling about $90,000, in which the City passed on the cost of outside legal counsel and outside environmental and geotechnical consultants who worked on the Tara April Special Exception and the related Tara April Infrastructure Plan. In the letter, Childers states that the City is conditioning any further development approvals on payment of these invoices in full, but “a substantial portion” of the charges are related to litigation or described as “opposition research,” rather than impartial review of Tara Forest’s application. The geological consultant’s work was initially described as “Expert Consultation” but then became “Expert Witness” billing, at a higher rate, which Childers calls “a designation that is conclusive of litigation purpose.”
The letter requests a long list of public records regarding the City’s relationship with law firms and consultants, along with records related to the City’s decision-making process.
The letter also argues that the City, through voluntary actions, has waived any attorney privilege that could be used as a basis to withhold some of the requested records, and Childers states that Tara Forest, LLC does not waive any future remedies in law related to the City’s handling of the developer’s applications.
A portion of the letter to the City mirrors Childers’ second letter, which is directed to Alachua County and questions the “sustained coordination between the City and Alachua County concerning Tara,” including Zoom meetings in October and November 2025 and “repeated calls between the City’s Special Counsel and the Alachua County Attorney through February 3, 2026.”
That letter continues, “Tara Forest, LLC is not aware of any interlocal agreement, joint planning area agreement, Section 164.1041 conflict-resolution proceeding, or other written authority that authorized the County to participate substantively in the City’s quasi-judicial review of development applications inside the corporate limits of the City.” Both the City and the County are asked to provide public records related to this “sustained coordination.”
Childers runs ads in the Chronicle, and the Chronicle makes Childers (more than his client) the feature of an article with very little apparent independent newsworthiness, and without disclosing any Childers ad buy / sponsorship details. What am I missing?
Childers is obviously acting as legal counsel to Tara Forest, LLC.
Ambulance chasers run ads on 95% of RTS buses — what’s your point?
Yet another “stalling” tactic.
Go away: it’s painfully obvious that you’re just not wanted here.
Remind me, did the city of Alachua want this land developed? Or did Tara bully the city into letting them develop it.
The county wants to devalue the land by burdensome regulations, so they can buy it cheap for a preserve, later. Bet you that’s what meeting mins and zoom calls will show.
Mill Creek Sink – see map – is a mainline connection through limestone to the springs on the nearby Santa Fe River. The sink sits downhill from the hillside on which this project was proposed. It would have regional impact including damage to the springs which are state property not to mention the neighboring county on the other side of the river where some of those springs sit. If we had state oversight including scientists and board members not part of the business community which doesn’t want environmental restrictions, this project would have been shut down more than a year ago by the state. This is part of what GOP control of the state for decades looks like.
You meant to say it never would have made it out of the development stage if it were run by a bunch of tree-hugging radical environmentalists who have managed to secure their properties and now don’t want anyone else to encroach on them.
There is such a thing a responsible conservation of natural resources.
Gotta love how all the people that claim they want more affordable housing always try to stop new housing from being built, thereby inflating the cost of housing due to the limited supply. Of course I wouldn’t expect communists to understand how economics actually works.
The county is a little late to be worried about the groundwater quality after approving all the sprawl west of I 75 the last 50 years. Even the new UF golf course and subdivision over a sinkhole off Parker Road recently. Now suddenly they’re worried about Alachua?