Local

NEWBERRY – A request for a large-scale Future Land Use Map Amendment to change 128 +/- acres from Agriculture to Planned Development was considered and approved on first reading by the Newberry City Commission at their April 24 meeting. The property is located at the southeast corner of State Road 26/West Newberry Road and Southwest 242^nd Street. The proposed project specifies 150,000 square feet of commercial use and 350 dwelling units.

The project, known as Newberry Plaza, was brought before the Commission by CHW Professional Consultants on behalf of Glenn Thomas Arpin, Senior, Jennifer Gray, Johanna Yarborough, Mary Jane Schofield James, Michael Gray and Robyn E. Bond, owners.

This item was heard by the Planning and Zoning Board on April 3 along with a request that conditions be included for the rezoning application as it contains the development order. Those conditions require that the developer shall determine the financial feasibility of adaptive reuse of the historic house on the property or the developer should separate the land and house from development for inclusion to and/or access from an adjacent property.

Also, prior to the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy for the 151^st home, the developer should have the infrastructure in place for the planned commercial properties.

Newberry Principal Planner Jean-Paul Perez reminded Commissioners that as this request is a large-scale amendment, approval of the amendment on first reading should also include direction for staff to forward the application to the state for review.

In a quasi-judicial public hearing, the Commission considered a request on the same 128 acres to rezone the property from Agricultural (A) to Planned Development (PD) for Newberry Plaza.

Although the rezoning application was approved by the Commission, approval is contingent upon state approval of the large-scale amendment to the Future Land Use Map.

In other business, Newberry is looking at its inventory of unpaved, rural roads. Recently, there has been an up-tick in conversation about paving a 2.6-mile segment of Southwest 30^th Avenue between U.S. Highway 27/41 and Southwest 202^nd Street, although paving this segment of Southwest 30^th Avenue is not in the City’s work queue for this fiscal year. Staff has considered the necessary steps and solicited a proposal to get the project started and has become aware that Southwest 30^th Avenue is a road that the City maintains via “prescriptive rights,” which complicates the City’s ability to improve it.

The City does not have sufficient land rights to improve the road and also make it wider, which would be necessary to accommodate stormwater. City staff believes that the road needs to be a minimum of 60 feet wide to pave it and transition it into a collector street, which it is intended to be.

The City solicited a proposal for the Phase 1 work to survey the road and prepare deeds to convey the property from the adjacent landowners to the City. The work totals $125,600, or 2.8 percent of the estimated total construction cost of $5.3 million, which includes planning, survey, land acquisition, design, permitting, stormwater and road construction at $385 per linear foot.

City Manager Mike New said the project is anticipated to take 1 to 1½ years to survey, obtain land rights, plan, permit and design and an additional 9 – 12 months to construct. New said that obtaining land rights can be protracted if the adjacent property owners object and hold out, requiring the City to undergo a condemnation process. City staff indicated there is no intent at this time to compensate residents for land that is used for the project.

“Staff has unallocated $120,000 ARPA funds that could be utilized for this work,” said New, “but Commission direction/approval is required.”

The Commission approved moving forward with the project using ARPA funds.

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ALACHUA ‒ An 18-year-old Alachua man was killed on Sunday, April 23, in a collision between a motorcycle and a pickup truck crash. The 8:36 p.m. crash occurred at the intersection of West State Road 235 and County Road 237.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP), the pickup truck driven by a 45-year-old man from Lake Butler was pulling a trailer as he traveled north on CR 237. The truck collided with the motorcycle, which was traveling west on West SR 235.

The motorcycle rider, who was wearing a helmet at the time of the incident, sustained fatal injuries. According to FHP, the driver of the pickup truck was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash and sustained minor injuries.

The crash is currently under investigation by FHP.

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NEWBERRY – Newberry City Clerk Judy Rice was presented with the 2023 Municipal Clerks Week Proclamation by Mayor Jordan Marlowe at the April 24 City Commission meeting.

Rice obtained the Certified Municipal Clerk (CMC) designation in 2008 and the Florida Certified Records Manager (FCRM) designation in 2016. In 2019, she received the highest accomplishment of Master Municipal Clerk (MMC) designation and in 2022 was awarded the Certified Supervisor Manager (CSM) designation from the Florida Center for Public Management, Florida State University.

Municipal Clerks Week is April 30 – May 6, 2023.

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Image courtesy Minde O’Sullivan

BY JENNIFER CABRERA/Alachua Chronicle

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Minde Prince O’Sullivan is relieved that other families will not have to endure media coverage of autopsy reports of their children, now that the Rex and Brody Act has been passed by the legislature.

O’Sullivan’s sons, Rex and Brody, grew up in Gainesville and were killed by their father in a murder-suicide in Dixie County in May 2021; O’Sullivan was forced to relive the trauma of their murders when media outlets acquired the autopsy report later that year and ran stories about the findings.

O’Sullivan said she never wanted to know the details of their final moments, and she was also concerned that Rex and Brody’s friends were able to easily find the details of their murders in media reports because she believes children should be protected from graphic descriptions of violence.

Senator Keith Perry introduced the bill in the 2022 legislative session and Rep. Chuck Clemons introduced a companion bill that passed in the House. The Senate bill was withdrawn a few days before the end of the 2022 session. This year’s bill passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. When signed by the governor, the bill

will go into effect immediately and will be retroactive.

Senator Keith Perry said, “The Rex and Brody Act is a crucial step in protecting the privacy and dignity of minors who have lost their lives. It is heartbreaking to see families endure additional pain and suffering due to the public release of autopsy reports involving their loved ones. We must do everything in our power to prevent such situations from ever occurring again.”

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NEWBERRY ‒ Rakheem Tavares Hoyt, 29, of Newberry, was charged on Saturday, April 27, with possession of trafficking amounts of fentanyl and phenethylamines, commonly known as “bath salts.”

On March 3, an Alachua County Sheriff’s deputy located a truck in Newberry that had previously fled from him. The truck was reportedly partially blocking the road in the 25400 block of Northwest 8^th Avenue and was unoccupied. While waiting for backup, the deputy was approached by a woman who initially said she had been driving the truck and had fled because she was scared. She reportedly changed her story later to state that Hoyt was driving the truck and that one of the handguns belonged to her.

After more deputies arrived, a probable cause search of the truck was conducted based on the plain odor of marijuana. During the search, deputies reportedly found two handguns, an AK-47 rifle, 14 grams of fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills, 135 grams of marijuana and 100 grams of cannabis concentrate.

After a warrant was obtained to search a safe that was found in the truck, deputies found another 19 grams of fentanyl in the form of counterfeit oxycodone pills and 555 grams of substituted cathinones (bath salts).

Hoyt was originally charged via sworn complaint with possession of trafficking quantities of fentanyl, possession of trafficking quantities of phenethylamines, possession of cannabinoids with intent to sell, possession of marijuana with intent to sell and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Formal charges were filed on April 27 on the two drug trafficking charges. No action was taken on the others. Prosecutors recommended $1 million bond for each charge, but Judge James Nilon reduced that to $500,000 for each charge.

Hoyt has three felony convictions and 29 misdemeanor convictions. He was previously arrested on April 10 for selling drugs near two churches and $1 million has been added to his previous bail of $250,100. At the time of this writing, Hoyt remains in the Alachua County Jail.

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HIGH SPRINGS ‒ Around 8 a.m. on Monday April 17, Alachua County SWAT team members (ASO), along with state Florida Law Enforcement (FDLE) and federal DEA agents, executed a search warrant at a suspected drug house on Northwest 240^th Street and 187^th Avenue in High Springs. The suspect, Anthony Rizzotto, 38, initially refused to come out. Knowing that Rizzotto was armed, law enforcement brought in an armored SWAT vehicle with a ram and knocked in two doors. Even with the entrance points available, the police waited the suspect out. “We knew he was armed and didn’t want to initiate a gunfight where either the suspect or our team could get hurt,” said an ASO officer. “We wanted a peaceful resolution and finally convinced him after about two hours to surrender.”

“They started making a lot of noise and telling the guy to come out,” said witness Charlie Brown. “He didn’t come out. Finally, the girlfriend came out...Several hours later after they had pushed down the fence trying to encourage him to come out...they finally opened the sliding glass door with a device on the front of the vehicle.”

Neighbors say they have been suspicious of activity going on at the house. “Lots of traffic, at all hours,” said Mark Bertocci. “Lot of cars coming in, a parade of cars. It’s kind of actually known and kind of not really hidden in a way.”

“All the cars coming and going all the time and they never show their license plate,” said Brown. “They always go around the back of the house.”

Rizzotto's neighbors had expressed their concerns to the High Springs Police Department who kept an eye on the house and notified State and Federal agents who put the house under surveillance. Once authorities documented the behavior, agents raided the house.

When Rizzotto surrendered, he provided the combination to his safe, and agents searched the house. Inside were two pistols, along with a magazine drum, a WWII-era submachine gun, and a 22-caliber rifle. Deputies also found meth in the home, and Rizzotto admitted to putting additional drugs down the drain.

Rizzotto has an extensive criminal history, and in addition to charges for drug production and distribution and resisting arrest, he also faces charges for weapons possession by a convicted felon. Additional information from law enforcement is limited due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.

Only two days after the drug raid, first responders were back at the house—this time it was firefighters putting out a fire in the attic. Around 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, firefighters responded to fire reports at the same house on Northwest 240^th Street and 187^th Road. When they arrived, smoke was pouring from the roof of the single-story home. Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading from the attic to the rest of the home. A man and woman were in the home at the time, but no one was hurt. The cause of the fire is now under investigation by the Alachua County Fire Marshal and no further information was available.

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