Keep the Bowling Alley Property - Expand MLK Park
Yellow Signs are Back
Final Decision June 12
The final vote will likely be at the Commission meeting on June 12. The meeting begins at 3:30. Public comment is usually taken around the 5:00 hour. Click here for the meeting agenda.
Bowling Alley Background
The old bowling alley property has a checkered history. In late spring 2013, Rollins purchased the property when it looked like Harper-Shepherd Field would become a Minor League baseball stadium and no longer would be available to Rollins teams. Being contiguous with Martin Luther King, Jr., Park, the property was ideal for Rollins to expand their playing fields.
Editor’s Note: According to Communications Director Clarissa Howard, Rollins purchased the bowling alley property for use as a lacrosse practice field. She said the purchase was unrelated to Minor League baseball at Harper-Shepherd Field.
When it became clear that baseball would not be coming to Winter Park, however, Rollins no longer needed expansion room and put the property up for sale. UP Developments, LLC, contracted to buy the property from Rollins.
But the City wanted the property, too. At the time, they had their own ideas about expanding MLK Park and mitigating some of the traffic problems on Fairbanks and 17-92. In the fall of 2014, Scott Fish of UP Developments, LLC, agreed to assign his contract with Rollins to the City, so that the City could buy the property from Rollins.
That deal didn’t work out, and Rollins ended up keeping the property until 2016, when the City bought it for $2.9 million.
Editor’s note: Ms. Howard pointed out that the City did not use park acquisition funds, but instead took money from the CRA and general fund reserves, thereby avoiding any requirement that the land be used as a park.
People Want Trees & Grass – They’re Being Ignored
In the meantime, plans for the new library-event center took shape, the City created yet another vision of itself and the Comprehensive Plan underwent its seven-year cycle of massage and manipulation. The City organized plenty of public discussion around each of these activities.
Missing in these discussions was a consideration of the city’s assets as a whole – as a system. This was nowhere more evident than in the discussions about the City’s parks and greenspace — which brings us back to those yellow signs.
MLK Needs a Plan?
While the City was visioning and planning, the turf and facilities at the playing fields on south end of the MLK Park were deteriorating, and the bowling alley property stood vacant. Since the bowling alley was creating something of an eyesore on a major gateway artery, someone decided the City should have a plan — so GAI Consultants were retained to create one.
At the April 10 meeting of the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which is made up of the Commissioners and a representative from Orange County, Hal George, GAI made a presentation about their plans for creating a Master Plan. At that meeting, the Commissioners also decided to sell the bowling alley property, retaining only a right-of-way for a turn lane on Fairbanks.
Well, Part of MLK Needs a Plan
In light of the fact that the City was in the process of retaining an architect and landscape architect for the new library-event center, and they were now planning to dispose of the bowling alley property, GAI was advised that their MLK Park Master Plan should include only those parts of the park that did not include the library-event center or bowling alley areas.
Why Sell the Bowling Alley?
According to Commissioner Peter Weldon at the April 10 meeting, “Selling the bowling alley property now gives us the opportunity to do things that are much more tangible and beneficial to the City,” – like a third story on the new library-event center parking garage, or a parking garage downtown. “For one-third the money we have into [the bowling alley] land today, we could provide 100 parking spaces to expand the parking for MLK Park,” said Weldon.
Property Sale on Consent Agenda
At the next Commission meeting, April 24, the bowling alley property sale appeared on the Consent Agenda as Item C. Items on the Consent Agenda do not require discussion or public comment. Commissioners Seidel and Cooper pulled Item C off the Consent Agenda for discussion.
Commissioner Greg Seidel said the proposed sale needed more public discussion. Commissioner Carolyn Cooper agreed, requesting the item be tabled until there had been opportunity both for public discussion and for consideration by the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, which had not had a voice in the decision to sell.
She pointed out that the City seldom had access to land contiguous with an existing park – and in this case, the City already owns the land. Once the land is gone, we can’t get it back.
Commission Votes to Sell the Bowling Alley
The motion to table, or postpone the sale, failed on a 3-2 vote, with Cooper and Seidel dissenting.
Cooper made a second motion to approve the sale contingent upon completion of the designs for the library and for MLK Park. That motion also failed on a 3-2 vote.
The motion to approve the sale of the property, minus the right-of-way for the turn lane, passed on a 3-2 vote, with Cooper and Seidel dissenting.
MLK Master Plan Rolls Out the Next Day
The next night, April 25, close to 100 people gathered at the Rachel Murrah Civic Center to discuss the Master Plan for part, but not all, of MLK Park. The GAI consultants explained that the bowling alley property and the new library-event center were not part of the discussion. Groups of people gathered around tables and used maps of the park and construction paper cutouts representing different types of public spaces to illustrate their visions of the park.
“Fix the Park and Don’t Sell the Bowling Alley”
As the various tables prepared to report out to the group as a whole, two things became clear. First, each table said they wanted the existing park facilities, especially the playing fields and water features, to be cleaned up and repaired. It would be okay, they said, to leave the rest of the park alone – just fix what’s there. “And don’t fill it up with shiny new stuff,” they said.
Second, participants opposed the sale of the bowling alley property. “Wait,” they said. “We don’t even have a completed design for the new library. What if we need that land? It’s too soon to decide what to do with it.”
Did the Master Plan Take a Wrong Turn?
GAI held a second meeting at the Civic Center on May 2. Only 25 to 30 people came, many of whom had attended the April 25 meeting. Again, the over-arching themes included the desire to repair existing park facilities and opposition to the sale of the bowling alley.
Asked if the outcomes of the two meetings would be reported back to the City, the GAI consultant replied that they “hadn’t heard from everyone yet.”
Additional meetings were to have been held in May, with a final plan due in July. According to Communications Director Clarissa Howard, the schedule for public meetings has been revised, and the next public meeting will be sometime in July.
Howard reported that GAI has, however, held focus group meetings that included “moms, sport coaches, daycare nurseries, realtors, staff and other professions.” These meetings were not public, said Howard, nor was public notice required.
“GAI will compile this input from the public forums and the focus group meetings into preliminary conceptual rendering to be presented at the meeting and on site walk planned in July,” wrote Howard.
Plans Minus Funding = Toothless Tigers
Comments opposing the sale of City land are too numerous to count, but there were some articulate ones on the subject of MLK Park and the bowling alley sale. While commenters were respectful, their comments indicated an underlying disconnect between Winter Park’s citizens and their elected officials.
In a letter to the Mayor and Commissioners dated May 10, Winter Park resident Bob Bendick wrote: “Winter Park has tended to discuss each of its parks in isolation . . . . Far more functional, and a characteristic of communities with the most successful public open spaces, is to think in terms of a system of parks and greenways that meets active and passive recreational needs and forms a green framework for the city’s future.”
Bendick went on to propose “that Winter Park move quickly to integrate its parks, lakes, greenspace, pedestrian and bicycle planning into a single document that describes a connected network . . . .” The plan will only be worthwhile, wrote Bendick, “if there is reliable funding to carry it out. And this is where Winter Park can do better.”
Bring Parks & Rec into the Loop
It is worth noting that at the May 24 meeting of the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board, Vice Chairman Julio de Arcos asked Parks & Recreation Director John Holland if anyone had sought his input on selling the bowling alley property. Holland replied that no one had. Advisory Board members expressed their opinion that the land should not be sold at this time.
Members of the public attending the Parks & Rec meeting requested the board write to the Mayor and Commissioners to express their concern about the sale of the property. According to an email from John Holland to one of the attendees, “The Parks and Recreation Board Chair has written a draft letter to the City Commission and we are currently getting approvals on format and verbiage.”
Still Time for Action
The sale of public land requires two votes by the Commission. The bowling alley sale will likely come up at the next Commission meeting on June 12. Any one of the Commissioners on the winning side of the vote to sell – Leary, Sprinkel or Weldon – can re-introduce the matter for the purpose of changing their vote. Click the email address to let your elected representatives know how you feel about stewardship of public land. MayorandCommissioners@cityofwinterpark.org
Why stop there? With Weldon’s wisdom, every $1,000,000 buys 100 garage parking spaces, why not sell all the parks, and while we’re at it sell City Hall, the fire stations, the police station, the sewage and water plants, the electric company, and fire all City employees.
And with all that money build thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even 100,000 parking spaces! Pave over everything in town! Damn the green space! Give us more parking! Bring in the cars, the traffic from Bithlo, from Miami, from Jacksonville, from Sanford, from Orlando, from Mississippi, Louisiana and every everywhere else.
Jam up our streets with so many cars that it will take a crow bar to separate them.
Bring in the cranes, the concrete spinning trucks, the bulldozers. Get rid of the trees – all the trees. And build, build, build! There are political favors to be repaid after all. Screw the residents. Give us development!
To many of us, responding is a waste of time. The Winter Park government no longer listens to the people. This is sad. Elections are becoming our only hope.
We need to start putting the park back into Winter Park.
Property rights! YES!
Public spaces! NO!
Big box retail and franchise restaurants from border to border! YES!
Let’s form a task force with our neighbors from the north to find out how to get more high rise stick built multifamily ASAP! They seem to have found a winning formula.
Canyonize 17-92 now! Fight global warming by blocking out the sun with shoddy construction.
Public discourse? Blasphemy!
Residents’ quality of life? Overrated!
Don’t you folks have some TV shows you should be watching? (Big Brother, anyone?)
Ignore the folks on the dais. They know what’s best for you. Trust them.
Whatever you do, don’t ask questions or follow the $.
An anonymous source, citing political insiders familiar with the matter, confided that a political battle is heating up within the political faction favoring the new MLK Park library. This time the infighting is about the parking assignments within the yet to be built MLK Parking Garage. One plan reportedly is for a 300 parking space garage, 100 spaces on each of three levels. The point of contention is how the politicos will allocate spaces among competing users.
The source said one draft, later rejected, had the first floor dedicated entirely to restaurant and retail patrons of businesses located along 17-92, with the exception of one handicapped space and one reserved space for each of the three Winter Park commissioners who support developing MLK Park. The draft plan also called for the three commissioner reserved spaces to transfer to them personally in perpetuity upon leaving office. The second floor in the since rejected plan would have allocated an additional 66 spaces to 17-92 businesses, 33 spaces for the new MLK Events Center, and 1 handicapped space.
The plan for the third floor would have reserved 93 space for Phase II of the MLK Park master development, a secret plan for a $33 million public Art Museum in the park. There would have been one handicapped space, and only six spaces for the library at the end of the garage farthest away from the stairway. One of these six library spaces would be reserved for the Library Director. A second space would be reserved for the Library Employee of the Month. And the remaining 4 spaces would be “Compact Car Only” spaces designated by small signs on each that said “Library Patron 15 Minute Limit.”
Again, our source said while some political insiders liked this plan, it was later rejected due to the possible appearance of impartiality or cronyism in what is an election year for mayor in Winter Park.
I’m all for expanding MLK Park but I wish one of the landscape architects among the residents wishing to stop the sale of the bowling alley property would present a rendering on how best to incorporate the additional land into the rest of the park.
I think it would give those who can’t visualize how much better MLK would be if it were to have property fronting Fairbanks Avenue as part of MLK’s future plans. Such a proposed design would include the large tract lost to new Winter Park Library, 6,000-plus Event Center and parking garage.
“large tract lost to new WP library” is speculation. Early plans envision the NW corner to essentially stay the same. According to one analysis less than 1% increase in lot coverage. Let’s see what architect proposes.
that darn cat! He gets up on keyboard. I thought he was walking back and forth. He was responding. Anyway, I agree with him!
This is not rocket science. A logical plan to take us forward:
1. Defer the Sale of the Bowling Alley until we do our homework
2. What homework? Update the Parks Masterplan (dated 2008, Wade Trim). It’s TEN years old.
3. Start w/ the macro-view: Green space, ball fields, etc. Are we in deficit mode? Keeping pace? Is there a vision?
4. Bottom line: what’s our plan? Has the public been invited to comment?
5. How will we acquire more CONTIGUOUS green space for existing parks?
6. the MLK Park/Bowling Alley property is such an opportunity. Are we taking advantage? What do our citizens say? When is the next opportunity to add a contiguous parcel? 30 years from now?
7. Put more Park in Winter Park!
8. MLK Park is already suffering loss of green space on the north end w/ the addition of a trifecta: library, events center and parking garage.
9. New word: “viewshed” look it up. Go back to Number 8.
10. I am not seeing any signs in Winter Park that say “We want to be more like Maitland”
I’m going to go “full monty” like the Vice-Mayor and say I feel like I’m living in an episode of Melrose Place or the movie Mean Girls…………..thinking 20 acres in Marion County looking better and better by the minute.
Fellow Winter Park Residents,
Please share with friends and neighbors.
NEW POST: A Few Trees, Lots of Concrete, Little Expanded Park, Lots of Your Money (click to read on-line)
June 02, 2017
The editor of Winter Park Voice, Anne Mooney, has stopped her pretense of providing “news” and has gone public with her true purpose, that being to use her blog and Facebook page to promote her policy prescriptions for Winter Park. Notably, these prescriptions are underpinned by conspiracy theories and based not on fact, but on suspicion that those who actually spend their time serving the city must have some unjust ulterior motive, because they don’t share her views.
I am going “full monty” on this because the people of Winter Park deserve to understand the manipulation. I expect, and believe you deserve, city policy driven by full and thoughtful debate, not driven by political manipulation from people for whom a political agenda supersedes respect for the facts and respect for those who serve our community.
Ms. Mooney’s latest piece exposes her efforts as a significant disservice to Winter Park.
Please read: “Keep the Bowling Alley Property – Expand MLK Park,” and then go here for some facts.
Sincerely, Pete Weldon
Vice Mayor of Winter Park
Mr. Weldon,
Is this your personal opinion or an “official” communication?
Does the City condone your use of the “Vice Mayor” title on hit pieces distributed via “SPAM” e-mails?
Perhaps an ethics investigation is appropriate.
Your speech and opinion as a private citizen is one thing, but to accuse Anne of being a propagandist and a conspiracy theorist while flaunting your “Vice Mayor” title (granted by Lord Leary, not WP voters) seems to be crossing the line of good taste, at a minimum.
Why don’t you stop reading this “trash” and focus on doing your job (which is whatever the Chamber of Commerce and developers decree)? The WP Voice seems to really set you off and punctures your obviously thin skin.
Your Humble Serf,
John Dough
Go here, where?
A very good man. Just a very bad wizard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZR64EF3OpA
Hey Anne Mooney. I am mortified that you don’t show more respect for Mayor Larry. And you should also show more respect for Vice Mayor Moe and Commissioner Curley!
Perhaps Vice Mayor Weldon can learn a thing or two from Rodney Dangerfield who built his show biz career on “No Respect.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSlFhUzskks
What makes a city an attractive place to live? Nice, safe neighborhoods, good schools and PARKS. While a little green space with a bench and a tree is nice, it’s not a park. We have a lot bench areas that the City designates as parks but few real PARKS. A park is where families go to spend hours excercising and enjoying outdoor activities. A park is where you go to play baseball, basketball, soccer, raquetball or any other sport. Every neighborhood needs Parks like MLK. Go to MLK any night of the week August – April and you’ll see 100 kids running around on the playground and sports fields. The teams playing on those fields rent them from the City of Winter Park. They can’t get enough field space. If there were 5 more fields they would rent those also. We can’t even argue that there is not a business component. It’s a business that makes this a more attractive place to live and we need more of it. KEEP THE PARK IN WINTER PARK!!!! Let’s hold our elected officials accountable for every action. They are elected to serve the city residents and I believe residents choose parks over parking lots. Make it known that green space and parks are a big reason we love living here. The zero lot lines and high density projects are enough!! KEEP THE PARK IN WINTER PARK!!!!
Thank you Ms. Mooney and all at WP Voice for your outstanding citizen journalism. Many US communities have been similarly hijacked by carpet bagger-style politicians forcing unwanted ecological and cultural heritage destruction in the name of “growth” and “development.” Many in my neighborhood thought the traditionalists who love WP would prevail, but we are all moving to other towns in other states where refined, sustainable, quality-of-life values still mean something.
Throughout his long and angry tirade against Anne Mooney, isn’t Pete Weldon engaging in a melodramatic “shooting of the messenger”? Commissioner Weldon appears to have decided that if only everyone was as smart as he is and if only everyone knew everything that HE knows, then we would all AGREE with him and his analysis. Therein lies the rub.
Sometimes value and worth, as with beauty, lie in the eye of the beholder. Reasonable people can look at the very same land and the very same facts and see very different things.
Despite his verbal caning of Anne Mooney, it is a FACT that Rollins College bought the bowling alley site at 1111 W. Fairbanks for use as a college athletic/college sports purpose. At the time of the purchase Rollins determined that the land possessed at least $2,850,000 worth of value to them as a sports venue because that is what they paid. Presumably, it only had this value to Rollins precisely because it was contiguous to MLK Park. Does the actual sport for which they intended to use it truly matter for the purposes of the current discussion?
It’s also a fact that the commission has discussed sale of the land during at least two recent meetings. Weldon, Sprinkel and Leary are on record in favor of selling the land. Cooper and Seidel wish to approach the land sale much more cautiously after far more info gathering can take place.
I consider that the Winter Park Voice and Anne Mooney perform a real service to citizens of Winter Park. I feel it is unfortunate that Commissioner Weldon has determined that the WP Voice is a vehicle for Mooney to further her own “policy prescriptions” and for no other legitimate purpose. Can citizens feel confident, as this discussion about what to do with 1111 W. Fairbanks proceeds, that Weldon possesses an open and objective mind? Will he be able to even “hear” citizen input or the input of the relevant citizen boards if the opinions they express differ from his own? Or, might he only hear the voices of those who share his views, attributing to those who don’t “some unjust, ulterior motive” as per the accusations he lodged against Mooney?
The Parks & Recreation Advisory Board has written to the Commission asking that the land be incorporated into MLK Park. Signs asking for the same are popping up around the city. Will Weldon listen? Will the Commission listen? Anne Mooney is but the messenger: she is not the message.
We have an opportunity to expand MLK Park. The possible uses for the land are numerous.
We got our expanded turn lanes. Now let’s get some more park in Winter Park.
Thank you, Beth. Good summary.
signs and comments is not the way we run our government. If every decision was made by the loudest voices, the number of signs (or the largest website news magazine) then we’d holding referendums on every issue, large and small. I voted for Pete and I disagree with him on some issues. I assume you didn’t vote for him and I’ll bet you agree with him on most issues. The “sign” issues, aka the ones that bring out the crazy, anonymous comments on this site, are legit differences of opinion. I’d be disappointed if any elected official made a vote based on emails, signs or critical comments. There are 18,000 voters, 29,000 residents. I hope our elected leaders think of all of us and not the loudest.
Pitt, where is your civility? You know the rule: It’s uncivil of you to say that you disagree with Pete Weldon on anything. You know the rule: the group never publicly criticizes one of its own. Do better next time.
If you hadn’t followed up by swearing allegiance to the official ruling dogma, “Pay no attention to residents,” we may have wondered if you were still on the same page, or if all your time reading The Voice caused you to become one of “them” (the same 12 angry people).
Thank you, Beth.
Sorry that the majority of the commissioners did not agree to expand MLK
I have to say I am extremely disappointed with the City of Winter Park and its governing body. It seems that the only thing that speaks to three of them these days is money and development. We moved here four years ago because of the city’s charm, yet in January 2016 more demolition permits were granted than in the entire year of 2015. Everything is getting torn down, single lot homes divided into two lot homes, and we seriously lack green space. Just because Rollins says the property is worth $2,850,000 because they paid that, doesn’t make it so. And we are still a democracy that engages in civil discourse (note the word “civil”) which seems to be seriously lacking in all parts of our government from local to state and federal. It is only “them” and “us.” Commissioners Cooper and Siedel are at least willing to listen to both sides and try to not rush things along and come up with a plan of action that will please the majority. What is the rush, anyway? That piece of land has been in limbo since 2013, so why all of a sudden are they in a big hurry to sell it off, take the money and build something else with it? It seems to me that there is a huge disconnect between the city officials and the community, as Anne Mooney states, and I agree. I think we need more discussion about this and not allow something to get crammed down our throats. I know one thing for sure, I have made notes about who I’ll be voting for in the next election, and it certainly isn’t someone who doesn’t listen to their own constituents.
Please don’t fall into the small group of eternally unhappy residents. WP commissioners run on very clear platforms and are very accessible during election season for questions. It’s essentially a volunteer job so unless a person is willing to run for office, every comment on their performance needs to be tempered with these facts. Regarding demolition permits, please investigate the owners, the sellers, the beneficiaries of every sale. I wouldn’t sell a piece of property for less than it’s true market value, and if that means a demolition, then good for the buyer. To control property rights over a buyer’s ability to follow current law is not a winning strategy. There are 2 sides to the demo equation and some times, older homes are ready to be torn down. Following a group think in WP is dangerous. Cheers!
Glad to see the two new comments that were posted. It is very disheartening that 3 Commissioners cannot see how wonderful that piece would be as parkland for our city. Don’t talk to me about how important park land is to you when you vote against an opportunity to expand MLK Park.
Sally Flynn
WP has 11.9 acres of parkland for every 1000 residents. We’re off the charts for Florida and the national average of 9.9 acres/1000 resident. Our Parks and Rec Dept has been recognized as one of only 145 dept’s in the entire US. Thousands of Parks and Rec Dept’s and we are one of 145. I am proud of our city, our Parks Dept. and our commission for Showalter, golf course, Cady Way, Ward Field renovations. We are in great shape.
Pitt Warner and Elie Warner, thank you for clarifying so many issues for Voice readers. You are so right on many issues:
1.Elected officials should not disclose who donates to them They should take all the money they want from people hiding behind LLCs. Politicians are never influenced by this money.
2. Citizens are not so trustworthy. If a citizen donates to a non-profit news organization, they should be identified immediately. Citizens using their own funds in an attempt to spread information to others are very suspect and MUST be identified. Information should be controlled.
3. No opinions should be expressed anonymously. See #1 above…unlimited anonymous money to politicians is okay, but every citizen must fully identify him or herself before expressing an opinion anywhere. This is fundamental to the smooth running of our democracy.
4. We should all be annoyed with those pesky citizens who put up yard signs regarding issues they are passion about. And, since the MAJORITY of citizens do not put up signs… we can only presume that sign-bearing citizens must hold a MINORITY viewpoint and should be ignored.
5. Election season (for Mayor of Winter Park) is upon us. A few loud cranky citizens will criticize a variety of things the Mayor does or says. We should assume that all these comments are politically motivated. Therefore, we should disregard anything but positive and supportive comments about the past and future actions of the Mayor. For example, the MLK/bowling alley issue must be a Trojan horse… this is simply a way to attack the Mayor and his agenda. Allegiance to the Mayor is necessary for a unified city
Thanks to Pitt and Ellie for alerting us to the subversive forces in our fair city. Let’s stop all the juvenile disagreements about what is best for our city — and simply express the same opinions as Pitt, Ellie, Pete, Sarah and our Mayor!