Newberry City Commission receives free city planning advice from UF, moves forward with Stormwater Assessment Fees

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN
NEWBERRY, Fla. – At their December 11 regular meeting, the Newberry City Commission heard proposed changes to the downtown area from a UF Planning Professor and his graduate students. They also heard a presentation about proposed Stormwater Assessments slated to begin next November. Other topics discussed included approval of the annexation of 190 acres into the city.
Following some Christmas carols sung by the Newberry Elementary School choir, Acting Mayor Monty Farnsworth introduced the first presentation: “The UF Economic Development Planning class project on redevelopment opportunities in downtown Newberry.”
Bryan Thomas, Director of Planning and Economic Development for the City of Newberry, introduced Abhinav Alakshendra, husband of Newberry’s Senior Planner, Uma Sarmistha, and Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at UF. Alekshendra said the project started with a conversation in September, and he was impressed with Thomas’s passion for and dedication to Newberry. He stressed the low-cost aspect of the proposed solutions: “Today’s presentation discusses some of the possibilities which can transform Newberry’s downtown without utilizing a lot of resources. And when I say it, I’m very serious. I have a PhD in economics, and trust me, I do care about the resources.”
Alakshendra explained how hard his students have been working: “We started working on this project in early October. My students only had six to seven weeks to complete what should have taken at least 16 weeks. With focused work, they have worked day and night, on weekends, and have successfully navigated the complexities, in general, (that) we have in urban planning. Their energy and dedication were contagious.” He introduced the nine students individually.
Master’s student Ari Rabinovich spoke for all the students: “We spent the past semester collaborating as a group and have created this proposal to highlight the unique small-town charm that attracts people to Newberry while providing some recommendations to create a more vibrant and thriving downtown space.” He stressed the need to balance Newberry’s small-town charm and character with its growth and economic evolution. The following slide gives an overview of the project’s goals.

At the corner of Hwy 41 and Newberry Road, Rabinovich suggested improving the crosswalk visibility with paint and adding a watermelon statue to commemorate Newberry’s 78-year Watermelon Festival and a pickaxe statue to commemorate Newberry’s mining history. He also suggested painting murals and adding additional hedges on the sides of the road and small plants in the medians.
Rabinovich continued, “Our next objective is to capture traffic by building a central downtown gathering space through the heart of downtown. Newberry Road sees high volumes of commuter traffic that pass through every day… [The Farmers Market land is sometimes used for events, but] when it’s not in use, the land sits vacant, which presents a unique opportunity to capitalize on some very valuable land. How do we draw attention, create a gathering hub in downtown, and give back to the community? Our strategy is Downtown Newberry: A Namesake Plaza. Built in a well-known central space ready to host market days, concerts, or just a few friends, a family reunion, a lunch break.
“We’ve identified this City-owned parcel as a way to both boost local economic activity and spend development dollars efficiently. (See the slide below.) A plaza like this is the cornerstone of combining modern amenities with a small-town feel. It preserves historic buildings by bringing more visitors downtown, and it creates a core gathering place which strengthens the community’s connections to each other. You can see some key features… We have a stage that’s ready to host concerts, Christmas choirs, or ceremonies. There’s a large… downtown Newberry sign at the top of that stage which turns the plaza into a landmark. There’s a prominent American flag which fosters a sense of civic pride and connects the space to the adjacent City Hall building that I believe is planned for construction. There’s a clock tower to create another visible landmark.” He mentioned making NW 254th Street a key development corridor, with space for food trucks and some upscale businesses for visitors.

To address future growth, Rabinovich suggested modifying the current “one-way pairs” plan for Newberry Road to include wider sidewalks and on-street parking spaces on both sides of each road instead of on one side only.
Rabinovich continued, “And our final objective of strengthening and giving back to the community, with a park, some sidewalk improvements, and a microbrewery. When leveraging public funds, land, and staff resources, it’s important that the result creates value for the entire community. What we build, we’ll leave behind for our neighbors, our families, and our children. No matter what changes occur in the Newberry of the future, we can start to create spaces that people will love today. Our proposals are a park for a community that places high value on quality time spent outdoors and in nature; a microbrewery for a fuller Newberry experience, a place to celebrate, make friends, get to know your neighbors; and some associated sidewalk and pedestrian improvements.” The students’ proposal for the Newberry Railway Park is shown in the slide below.

Introducing the slide below, Rabinovich said, “Finally, the Power Plant Microbrewery across from the Lois Forte Park. On the Public Works compound is an opportunity to combine community and nightlife by repurposing an abandoned power plant building. The Power Plant Microbrewery will elevate the historic district and showcase unique architecture.”

To finish the presentation, Rabinovich gave some case examples from other cities where similar urban features exist with excellent results. Most people applauded, and Farnsworth added, “Thank you. It was a great presentation. If I was your professor, I’d give you all A+’s.”
Stormwater Assessment
Assistant City Manager Dallas Lee introduced a Stormwater Assessment presentation, in preparation for moving ahead with a Stormwater Assessment resolution in January. Sandi Neubarth of Anser Advisory showed the following slide, which gives a state overview.

Neubarth pointed out that the fee could be applied to the entire city or only a certain area, such as the CRA district. She said fees must be fairly imposed based on costs incurred by various properties, and this is normally calculated by considering the effective impervious area and other factors such as on-site drainage or other local drainage. The implementation is similar to a Fire Assessment Fee, she said, and it must be renewed annually by the Commission. The slide below shows the proposed timetable. Lee added that currently they are looking at only the CRA area for Stormwater Assessment Fees.

Responding to Mayor Jordan Marlowe, who had recently arrived, Neubarth said, “Your stormwater infrastructure, as it sits now, is at capacity, so it can’t take any more run-offs.”
Marlowe said, “Right now, you can’t build any new buildings, any businesses, downtown, because of this issue without it costing you $200,000 to handle your own stormwater. So it’s kind of a choke point right now… A lot of the questions we have, we just won’t know until we run some more data.” Other commissioners agreed they would like staff to bring back more information.
190 acres annexed into the city on second reading
On second reading with no presentations, the Commission quickly approved items 2023-34 and 2023-35, annexing approximately 190 acres into the city. See our original story here for more details.
What’s the status of Springs County? The current boundaries are too vast. Start with NW 202 (where the new Newberry sign is) and go west.
So now the UF and its students are partners to pushing the Newberry style massive sprawl development. UF is just another tool of the Republican goal to sprawl develop and ruin the entire state. UF, you suck.