Updated: Hearing postponed on repeated code violations at School Board Member McGraw’s property

Updated at 10:20 a.m. on April 13 with response from the City of Gainesville.

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The City of Gainesville has removed Diyonne McGraw’s property from today’s Special Magistrate Hearing agenda. A spokeswoman from the City told us, “This property was brought into compliance with the City’s Code of Ordinances in advance of today’s hearing.”

Alachua County School Board Member Diyonne McGraw was previously scheduled to come before a City of Gainesville Special Magistrate after the City documented that she held multiple events at her office building after she was told that the building is not zoned for after-hours events. The previous version of the agenda can be viewed here.

McGraw’s business, MBM Properties, Inc., purchased the building in November 2021. On April 4, 2022, McGraw, as the owner/agent of Mpire Events, LLC, submitted a Zoning Verification Form. A note on the application states that a City employee spoke with McGraw on April 5 about a “small event center not being allowed in U4 per Juan and she said to remove that portion and leave only office suites.”

Neighbors who live near the property told Alachua Chronicle that McGraw ran an after-school program for youth at the building, starting in May 2022, that extended through the summer of 2022 with weekend parties that featured loud music. The parties reportedly grew larger in August and September, with cars parking on neighboring streets and even in neighbors’ yards. Neighbors told us they began communicating with McGraw about the noise and parking problems, and she reportedly told them she would handle it.

However, the parties continued, and neighbors told us McGraw stopped responding to them. They began calling the Gainesville Police Department (GPD) with complaints about the noise and the parking issues, but the issues did not improve.

Neighbors began submitting complaints to Code Enforcement on January 27, 2023. A summary of the case provided to Alachua Chronicle by the City states that a representative from the City of Gainesville spoke to McGraw on February 6 and February 8; the representative noted, “She indicated that it is her property and she can hold an event if she wants to (she gave the example of a baby shower for her daughter or an event for her sorority or an office event for her employees). I explained to her that events after hours are not allowed on the property due to the zoning.”

The employee wrote on February 14 that she advised McGraw to contact the City Planning Department and request an amendment to her zoning, but McGraw said she would call the Mayor and the head of the Planning Department. The employee also noted that two other neighbors had complained since the original complaint on January 27 and that the complainants had provided photo and video evidence of the events, including a Super Bowl party on February 11.

An inspector visited the property on January 27 and posted a Notice of Violation at the property on February 15. The notice ordered McGraw to “Cease and desist from hosting events and/or allowing events to be held on this property. Any event held on this property may be shut down by GPD and the event holder cited. Any further violation will result in a hearing before the Magistrate.” The notice gave a deadline of March 1 for correcting the violations and warned of fines up to $1,000 per day per violation.

On Monday, March 6, the City received complaints that an event had been held from Thursday through Saturday of the previous weekend. The police were called and responded to the property on Saturday, March 4. The inspector formally requested a hearing on March 6.

On March 10, a City employee went to the property and saw tables with decorations, some brochures from a college in Massachusetts, and “small token giveaway items.” Two men came out of the building, and the employee asked if they were preparing for an event; they reportedly gave the employee McGraw’s phone number. The employee noted that when McGraw returned his call, “she told me that they were decorations for a staff retreat. She was elusive on giving information, but kept telling me that she has baby showers and birthday get-togethers for her family and employees at the locations. She also stated that it is her building and she can do what she wants to at her building.” The employee wrote that he explained to McGraw that the zoning limits the building use to “office-related functions.”

Brooksie McGraw, Diyonne McGraw’s daughter, responded to our request for comment and said she is the owner of MBM Properties, not her mother; she said they are in the process of updating the Sunbiz documents to reflect that. She said they were “in compliance” when GPD officers were called and that the neighbors have approached her and yelled at her. “They’ve been served as well with warnings to stay off the property,” she said. “We’ve done everything we can to mitigate the situation, and it’s really not a problem. This article is nothing but click-bait.” Brooksie McGraw also said she hoped to see “more positive articles with substance and articles with substance in general from [Alachua Chronicle].”

One neighbor told us McGraw had served her family with a cease-and-desist letter.