by Beth Kassab | Apr 16, 2024 | City Commission, Election, Uncategorized
Craig Russell ekes out victory in close race for Seat 2 on the City Commission
The results put Jason Johnson at just 34 votes behind Russell
April 16, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Craig Russell won Seat 2 on the City Commission on Tuesday by 34 votes, a victory that fell just over the threshold that would have triggered an automatic ballot recount.
Russell, who will become the first Black commissioner in Winter Park in more than 130 years, tallied 2,869 votes or 50.3% while Jason Johnson received 2,835 votes or 49.7%. The totals were separated by .6% and it takes under a half percent to cause a recount.
Craig Russell, a football and wrestling coach at Winter Park High School, is running for City Commission.
The numbers are unofficial until the canvassing board meets on Friday, but a spokeswoman for the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office said the results are unlikely to change because only eight ballots are in question.
Russell, a 43-year-old teacher and coach at Winter Park High School, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
His historic win comes on the heels of another landmark election last month when Sheila DeCiccio became the city’s first woman to ever be elected mayor. Russell will serve out the remaining two years of her commission term.
Johnson said he wanted to wait for the official results after the canvassing board meets on Friday to see if any overseas or other ballots come in, but thanked his supporters on Tuesday night.
“I am proud of the race I have run and am very proud of how we closed a sizeable gap in the past four weeks,” he said. “Mostly, I am very grateful for the support, encouragement and friendship of both my longtime family and friends and the many wonderful people I have been blessed to meet through this campaign.”
Russell ran on a message of “a new generation of leadership” and will be the youngest elected official on the current City Commission by 10 years.
He was the only candidate endorsed by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce and significantly outraised and outspent Johnson with the help of high-profile landholders, developers and a political action committee affiliated with the chamber. He said during the campaign that he was open to revisiting the original Orange Avenue Overlay plans as well as the super majority charter amendments that voters passed by a wide margin in 2022.
Jason Johnson, candidate for Winter Park Commission Seat 2.
Russell raised more than $100,000 and Winter PAC raised nearly $30,000 on his behalf compared to Johnson’s $71,000.
Debate over development philosophy dominated the differences between Russell and Johnson, who said he was comfortable with the current OAO that calls for smaller buildings and less density and who supported the amendments that require four votes on the commission for certain zoning changes.
Russell and Johnson, both first-time candidates and both registered Democrats, also sparred over their voting records.
Public records show that Russell, who mostly grew up in Winter Park and graduated from the high school he teaches at now, did not vote in a municipal election until he was on the ballot this year.
Johnson, an attorney who emphasized the need to protect the charm and character of Winter Park, voted in nearly every election he was eligible to vote in.
Turnout in the run-off dropped from about 30% on March 19 to 26%. A total of 5,704 people cast ballots, down from 6,565 in the initial three-way race held the same day as Florida’s presidential preference primary.
While Russell’s victory marks the first time a Black commissioner will be seated on the dais in more than a century, numbers from the March 19 vote show Black voters made up just a fraction of the electorate as the city’s historically Black west side has undergone significant redevelopment and gentrification in the past two decades.
Statistics from the supervisor’s office show only 215 people who identify as Black voted in Winter Park on March 19.
Winter Park voters are largely white. The March election also saw only 229 voters who identified as Hispanic and 344 who identified as “other.”
The current commission includes Kris Cruzada, who is Filipino American, and DeCiccio, whose father is Indian and mother is white.
Demographic statistics from Tuesday’s voter turnout won’t be available until after the results are finalized.
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by Beth Kassab | Apr 13, 2024 | City Commission, News, Orange Avenue Overlay, Uncategorized, Zoning and Development
New Mayor Sheila DeCiccio sworn-in as development projects stack up
The city is busier than ever with major projects in the works
April 12, 2024
By Beth Kassab
As Mayor Sheila DeCiccio was sworn in as Winter Park’s first woman mayor last week, the number of significant commercial projects in the works continued to grow.
While the pro-development versus anti-development debate has shaped much of the discourse during this election cycle, particularly in the heated contest for City Commission Seat 2 that will be decided on Tuesday, the number of projects in the pipeline now may be overlooked.
Planning Director Jeff Briggs said even more plans are in the beginning stages, though official applications haven’t been filed yet.
DeCiccio and commissioners voted Wednesday to form a new committee to set design standards and give developers more specifics on what types of architecture and design the city is looking for through the business corridors, including the Orange Avenue Overlay.
Here’s a look at what’s on the horizon:
Winter Park Playhouse
Winter Park Playhouse. This came up at DeCiccio’s first meeting as mayor, reviving a conversation that started last year about how to keep the local theater in the city as its landlord put the building up for sale. City Manager Randy Knight said Wednesday that the city will ask for Tourist Development Tax money to purchase and renovate the building on Orange Avenue and allow the playhouse to operate there. He said the city is looking for a grant in the range of about $8 million with about $4 million going toward the purchase.
Rollins Faculty Housing. The liberal arts college is looking for a way to provide attainable housing to newer faculty who can’t afford home prices in Winter Park. The project on Welbourne and Virginia avenues was tabled earlier this year and is now coming back before the commission with some major changes. The new proposal is reduced to 33 apartments and no longer fronts New England Avenue, which means a retail component to the project no longer exists. The project, which was initially opposed by residents in a neighboring condominium building, is set to go back before the Planning & Zoning Board and then the City Commission in May.
Rollins Residential Village
Rollins Residence Hall. Unlike the above faculty apartments, this new 300-bed dormitory will be on the Rollins campus. Commissioners approved the project in January. It will replace the 80-bed Holt Hall and a portion of the Tennis Center. The building will be about 140,000-square feet and is intended to provide more opportunity for students to live on campus. Rollins officials say the college will continue to have the same number of undergraduates.
Storyville Coffee rendering
Storyville Coffee. This project is slated to come before the City Commission on April 24, which will be the first meeting with both the new mayor and a newly elected Seat 2 commissioner. The proposal calls for a 3-story, 11,000-square-foot building at 111 S. Knowles Avenue across Morse Boulevard from First United Methodist Church. The first floor will be used as a coffee shop and retail and the second floor will contain office space. The third floor will house a single residence.
Winter Park Commons. In December, commissioners approved 53-unit project, including 15 single-family homes and 38 townhomes, in west Winter Park near Winter Park Village. The project will replace the now vacant Patmos Chapel Seventh Day Adventist Church on xxx. The project underwent extensive revisions with single-family homes now along the perimeter after residents complained the multi-story complex did not meld with the neighborhood. The historically Black area has undergone extensive redevelopment during the last two decades and a group of residents known as West Winter Park Neighbors is working to preserve what’s left.
McCraney building.
McCraney office building. Commissioners unanimously approved the three-story building in February, the first new build within the Orange Avenue Overlay. The project will stand at the six-way intersection of Orange and Minnesota avenues and Denning Drive. Developer Steve McCraney’s concept was approved after he agreed for at least 25% of the building would include other uses such as a less than 12-seat restaurant, furniture store, personal service provider such as a fitness center or salon to comply with the mixed-use requirements in the code. “If we capitulate to you on this issue the entire OAO is out,” Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said at the time. “We will be open to endless lawsuits for those who do not get their way.”
More on the way in the OAO. Architecture firm Schenkel Schultz is planning to move its corporate headquarters from downtown Orlando to Winter Park later this year. The move, expected as early as the fall, would involve renovating the single-story building at 834 North Orange Avenue, across from the Rollins College baseball stadium. The 12,000-square-foot open layout would accommodate the 65 employees who now work in the firm’s office near Lake Eola. In addition, city officials have said they expect Orlando Health to renovate the existing Jewett Orthopedic office also along Orange Avenue.
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by Beth Kassab | Apr 12, 2024 | City Commission, Election, News
Chasm in development support widens as money flows into Seat 2 run-off
The debate over how Winter Park will look in the future continues to dominate the race that will be decided on Tuesday
April 12, 2024
By Beth Kassab
The attacks continued in the final days of the run-off for Seat 2 on the City Commission with Craig Russell and Jason Johnson each trying to convince voters they would would be the best defender of Winter Park’s unique character.
The election is Tuesday.
Russell accused Johnson on Thursday of failing to defend the city’s code through his role as chairman of the Board of Adjustments, which considers requests for variances from property owners who are seeking to build a larger pergola than typically allowed or who want a smaller setback from the edge for their land.
Craig Russell, a football and wrestling coach at Winter Park High School, is running for City Commission Seat 2.
“Make no mistake, Craig Russell is the only candidate we can trust to protect Winter Park’s character,” the note to voters stated. “While on the Board of Adjustment the other candidate in this race, Jason Johnson, voted for zoning exceptions over 90% of the time. This record does not back up his talk about preserving our charm!”
Johnson said his votes on the Board of Adjustments “align exactly with my public comments on variances.”
“I recognize that the variance code exists for a good reason,” he said. “I know that not every eventuality is contemplated by the land development code, so variances are sometimes appropriate … But too many commercial developers abuse the process and view the variance and conditional use ordinances as their ‘grab bag.’ Those interests know I will not allow that, so they are throwing a lot of money behind my opponent in the hopes of having a friendly vote on the City Commission.”
Russell’s campaign is largely funded by people who own large commercial properties or have other development interests. The most recent campaign finance report shows Russell collected $5,000 from companies associated with the Holler family or their attorney. Holler companies already contributed $8,000 in the round of fundraising leading up to the March 19 election, which led to the run-off between Russell and Johnson.
Jason Johnson, an attorney and candidate for Winter Park Commission Seat 2.
Russell has raised more than $17,000 for the run-off, according to the most recent report available, bringing his total for the entire election cycle to more than $80,000.
One of the Holler’s companies also contributed another $3,000 in the most recent report from Winter PAC, the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce’s political action committee that has raised $25,000 in support of Russell.
Dan Bellows, known for redevelopment projects on the historically Black west side and for the mixed-use development Ravaudage at Lee Road and U.S. 17-92, contributed $1,000 and his two children contributed another $200.
A recent mailer sent by Russell to voters’ homes said he opposes “irresponsible, high-density overdevelopment.” It also said he would “defend property rights from government overreach.”
Russell, who also announced an endorsement from the Orlando Regional Realtors Association, did not respond to messages from the Voice seeking comment.
“Craig Russell knows that Winter Park is growing, and we need to be focusing on fiscal responsibility for the future and promoting residents-first smart growth,” said the Realtors’ endorsement.
Johnson raised nearly $14,000 for the run-off, bringing his total to slightly higher than $50,000.
His recent contributors included former mayors Phil Anderson and David Strong, who each gave $1,000, and have preached a more scaled back approach to new development. Developer Alan Ginsburg, also gave $1,000, and Belle Isle Mayor Nicholas Fouraker, who operates and commercial and residential real estate brokerage, wrote the maximum check as well.
Johnson also touted endorsements in recent days, including a blurb from Rick Frazee, operator of the former Mt. Vernon Inn.
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” the message read. “The Carlisle, Combank, the Langford Hotel ‘pyramid’ addition were ‘history lessons’ that cost the city millions of dollars to avert. Jason Johnson will maintain Winter Park’s quality of life and proper scale.”
More than 6,500 voters or about 30% turned out in the March 19 election and Russell led the pack by 540 votes. Turnout often decreases for run-offs, though Winter Parkers bucked that trend the last time the city saw a run-off for a commission seat in 2019, when more than 700 additional votes were cast.
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by Beth Kassab | Apr 6, 2024 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Phil Anderson leaves mayor's job with legacy of shaping city's future
The mayor, who will hand off the title this week to Sheila DeCiccio, took a few minutes recently to reflect on his time in office
April 5, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Phil Anderson came into office in the spring of 2021 as the tumult of a global pandemic took the lives of thousands of Orange County residents and upended commerce from New York’s Wall Street to Winter Park’s Park Avenue.
For months at the start of his term, the City Commission was still meeting via video. Shops and restaurants struggled to bring back customers. And uncertainty hung over the markets that affect the city’s key streams of tax revenue such as real estate and new development.
Now three years later, as Anderson prepares to turn over the gavel on Wednesday to new Mayor Sheila DeCiccio, the city just hosted the 65th Winter Park Sidewalk Arts Festival packed with hundreds of thousands of people and at least four new commercial development projects are in the works.
“When you look at where we were coming out of COVID, it’s remarkable,” Anderson said. “We finished three years later with a lot of initiatives started or in progress.”
Anderson said millions of dollars in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds played a major role in smoothing the city’s recovery.
But then, about halfway into Anderson’s term, the city confronted another historical challenge when Hurricane Ian dumped more than a dozen inches of rain on the region and caused record flooding in Winter Park and beyond.
As a result, the city is now taking the first steps toward drainage projects that DeCiccio has highlighted as a major priority.
Anderson’s term also saw the purchase of the 18-hole Winter Park Pines Golf Course, which this year turned a small profit, according to financial documents; the opening of a more than $40 million Library & Events Center and the start of construction on Seven Oaks Park.
He also led some policy initiatives such as a long-term effort toward renewable energy at the city-owned electric utility, voter approval of charter amendments that require a supermajority on the commission for certain zoning changes and a plan to expand the Community Redevelopment Agency.
“I ran to really make life better and to keep the charm of our neighborhoods and the downtown in tact,” said Anderson, a civil engineer whose career eventually lead him into finance and development. “And I think we did that.”
Mayor Phil Anderson presents Mary Daniels with the Mayor’s Founders Award at the 2024 State of the City Address.
The most recent financial reports show the reserve fund at more than $20.5 million.
While the day-to-day operations are led by City Manager Randy Knight, the mayor plays a large role in setting both the agenda and the tone of the public meetings.
At his final meeting in March, Anderson reflected on his time on the dais and the sometimes contentious comments from residents who would show up to speak for or against policies or projects.
“I want to thank everyone who has stepped up to the mic to speak,” he said. “We may not always agree, but this is what America’s about.”
Listening to those comments, he said, was one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
For example, residents of west Winter Park played a significant role in changes to a proposed rental development known as Winter Park Commons. The project, which will replace a now vacant church in the historically black neighborhood, will have more single-family homes and fewer townhomes as a result of people showing up and speaking out at the meetings.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “It does make a difference. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it makes a difference, but over the long run it does.”
Anderson made a habit during meetings of summarizing in real time what he was hearing from fellow commissioners or speakers as a way of building consensus and and steering the debate. And he rarely lost sight of the fact that not everyone in the commission chambers understood the history or nuances of every policy measure, often pausing to provide context or demystify the discussion for everyday residents who stopped in — in person or via live stream — to watch their local government in action.
Jeff Briggs, longtime planning and zoning director, shared a story at Anderson’s final meeting that also captured his penchant for connecting with residents.
Anderson, like many mayors, is often asked to appear at community events. And one morning in Central Park he was giving the opening remarks before the start of a 5K. After he spoke, the DJ was supposed to play the National Anthem before the race started.
But a technical failure resulted in silence.
“There’s this dead pause and then the mayor says, ‘Well, I can sing it!” Briggs recalled.
The former high school choir member of son of Southern Baptist missionaries — his dad was a minister of music — led an acapella rendition of the anthem.
“I happened to have a clear voice that morning, which doesn’t always happen, and I thought, you know, if I start low enough I think I can do this,” Anderson recalled. “There were probably 200 people who started singing it with me.”
For now, there are no new singing gigs in his future. When Anderson’s term officially ends on Wednesday he said he plans to spend more time with his wife, children and grandchildren as well as his parents, both now in their 90s.
“I’m hoping I can find the right path to continue to serve the city,” he said.
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by Beth Kassab | Mar 29, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Commission approves CRA expansion
Sinkhole discussion could lead to more parking at Library & Events Center and leaf blower decision delayed again
March 28, 2024
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission approved a major expansion of the Community Redevelopment Agency, which will generate extra dollars from Orange County to spend on projects and programs in the special district across much of Winter Park’s major commercial corridors.
Before the deal is final, the county commission must OK it as well. A vote is expected this summer.
Mayor Phil Anderson, who was presiding over his final meeting before Sheila DeCiccio is sworn-in as mayor on April 10, said the CRA has been a critical piece of funding projects for “the common good.” The board is planning to use some of the money in the future to address drainage problems in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
“Assuming one agrees that flood prevention is for the common good, then those dollars would have to come from a bond issue, or come from the general fund or it wouldn’t happen,” Anderson said, if the CRA didn’t provide an additional financing option. The commission approved the expansion 5-0.
Several residents, including former Mayor David Johnston, spoke against the expansion, which calls for the CRA to be extended by 10 years — through 2037 — and grow its boundaries by 142 acres by taking in a former industrial area along Fairbanks Avenue west of U.S. 17-92.
Johnston said the CRA has served its purpose and should be allowed to dissolve when it’s set to expire in 2027 if the expansion is not approved.
“It’s time to end the CRA,” he said, noting that he was mayor in the early 1990s when the agency was first created.
But commissioners and city staff noted the success of the district, which has helped brick streets, build a community center, rehab housing and business facades and improve streets among other projects. This year money from the CRA also helped to boost the library budget so that it could open on Sundays again.
With the expansion down Fairbanks Avenue, the agency will generate an estimated $70 million a year from Orange County. The new CRA, which is controlled by the City Commission, is projected to generate between $162 million and $213 million in revenue through 2037.
“It’s a very elegant mechanism to make sure more of our taxpayer dollars stay with the city,” said Peter Moore, director of management and budget.
CRA’s are used across Florida by cities and counties as a way to finance redevelopment and specific projects. It works like this: property values within a CRA’s boundaries are frozen at a certain year — in this case that year would be 2023. Then, as values rise, any taxes on those properties collected above the frozen amount go into a CRA fund rather than back to the city and county that would typically collect them. (The city and county still collect taxes each year up to the frozen amount and school board taxes are not affected.)
Sinkhole risk near the library?
Commissioners heard a report from engineer Jay Casper, who assessed the sinkhole risk near the Winter Park Library & Events Center as the city looks to add more parking for the facilities.
Casper said he found no elevated risk of sinkholes despite the proximity to the large sinkhole that opened up in May 1981 (pictured at top of story) on the corner of Denning Drive and Orange Avenue. The sinkhole is now known as Lake Rose.
He showed aerial photos that demonstrated how the area has changed since then, noting a sharp increase in development.
“You see the threat of sinkholes hasn’t stopped people from building,” he said.
He engaged in a technical discussion with commissioners — Mayor Phil Anderson and commissioners Marty Sullivan and Todd Weaver all have engineering backgrounds — related to the soil quality analyzed from drillings in the area.
He said the soil samples he analyzed “showed no indication of any subsurface erosion going on.”
Commissioners asked why, then, small portions of the library parking lot have crumbled after the facility opened in 2022.
“Those were relatively close to the surface,” said Charles Ramdatt, the city’s director of public works, answering that the problem was caused by “construction methods.” “We went in and fixed them. It has nothing to do with the underlying geology and our staff actively monitors that site.”
Leaf blower referendum
Commissioners decided to delay a vote on whether voters should have a say on the gas leaf blower ban until April 24.
The Commission was set to take up the issue on April 10, but there will only be four commissioners in place for that meeting after Sheila DeCiccio is sworn in as mayor earlier that day. A run-off to fill Seat 2, which DeCiccio occupies today, won’t be decided until April 16.
As a result the new commissioner is likely to face a vote about whether to put the ban on the ballot next year at his first meeting.
B&B request
The owners of five of six units at Villa Vienda Condominiums (221 Holt Avenue) opted to delay a vote asking to convert the condos into a bed & breakfast in order to use them as Air B&B or VRBO properties.
The building was historically occupied by Rollins students and the owners are no longer happy with that arrangement because of frequent maintenance issues and the location near the campus makes it difficult to find other renters. As a result they are requesting to comply with the city’s B&B rules.
The matter is now also expected to appear on the April 24 agenda.
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