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Sorority house plans approved
By DWAYNE ROBINSON
Alligator Writer
Delta Zeta Sorority members likely will open the doors of a new sorority house in August.
A 5-1 vote by the City Plan Board allows the sorority to continue vying for a house without adhering to certain building restrictions that normally are placed on buildings in a historic Gainesville neighborhood.
Because of the vote, the sorority will not have to follow certain guidelines such as the size of a porch or height of the house. Had the vote not passed, they may have been required to redraft plans for the home.
The three-story house is expected to be situated near Southwest 13th Street and Southwest Eighth Avenue, near Beaty Towers.
The decision came despite concerns about the board’s voting process.
“We [have] broken procedure for the first time in my experience on the planning board,” said board member Peter Polshek, the only member to vote against the plan.
Usually, petitions to the board are submitted to its staff, who examine and analyze them, but that was not done in this case, Polshek said.
The sorority had to look for the housing exemptions because the house will be in the historical University Heights area directly west of campus.
The housing standards that were exempted partially stem from efforts to preserve historic neighborhoods, but the construction of the sorority house will require that three buildings be demolished.
Shelagh Forrest, a Gainesville resident and homeowner, disagrees with the demolition.
“I think that it’s terrible. Those beautiful old stone cottages is what gives Gainesville its charming, small-town appeal,” she said.
“I think it’s disgraceful for developers to participate in the destruction of Gainesville’s most historic buildings.”
She said the meeting’s notice didn’t specify three houses would be affected by the permitting, but she added there could be legitimate reasons for the action.
Sorority members would not answer questions for this story.
we've always learned that a building MUST be saved if it is in a federal or local historic district. If DZ owns the cottages now, they can tear them down. If the University owns them, chances are they are using state monies to tear them down--a huge no-no. If the building is significant--not just old, but has some historic significance, it isn't going anywhere. I think a lot of people fail to understand Historic Preservation--we're not trying to save every old building--just the ones that make a positive contribution to the urban fabric. There are plenty of eyesores that everyone wants to have torn down.
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