by Anne Mooney | Apr 23, 2022 | Uncategorized
WP Village to Get Post-COVID Facelift
Regal Cinema Could Light up the Night
by Anne Mooney / April 23, 2022
Winter Park Town Center, Ltd., (“Casto”) owner of Winter Park Village, plans a major facelift for the 25-year-old open-air retail village, one of the first of its kind in the country. Like other retail and restaurant establishments, Winter Park Village tenants have suffered during the pandemic. All struggled; some failed altogether. But Casto promises brighter days ahead.
Casto to invest $40M+
In a letter to the Winter Park City Commission, Casto’s Brett Hutchens stated, “As we move out of the pandemic, we . . . have made the decision to invest over $40 million in upgrading Winter Park Village. This will include . . . rebranding; updating architecture and facades; enhanced lighting and landscaping; enhanced outdoor spaces . . .; new outdoor furnishings along with exterior and interior enhancements to Regal Cinemas.”
Regal Cinemas enhancements
If the Village is getting the complete Mommy Makeover, Regal Cinemas is asking for the Plastic Fantastic which would, of course, require a Conditional Use approval or two.
Lighted Tower marks the entrance
The first Conditional Use request is construction of a 63-foot-high central architectural tower which requires a variance of eight feet above the permitted 55-foot height. The tower would be located at the main entrance to the cinema. It would be covered on the north, west and south sides by an ornamental grill and illuminated from within. The fourth side would be opaque to prevent casting illumination to the east where there are residential properties.
No flashing lights
Despite some confusion among Commissioners at the April 13 meeting, Casto assured the City that the lights inside the tower are not neon, and they will not flash or change color. Instead, they will provide a steady, constant illumination behind the decorative grill that will cover the lower part of the tower that rises to meet a pointed, opaque roof. Someone at the meeting likened the lighted tower to a jack-o-lantern.
Exterior animated screens entertain visitors to the Village
The other request for Conditional Use, which promises to bring a little bit of ‘Vegas right here to Winter Park, is for three large digital animated screens on the exterior of the cinema.
The proposed central sign over the entrance is 1,275 square feet and measures in excess of 70 feet in width. It will have lighted, moving images advertising movies being shown at the theater.
The main sign would be flanked by two smaller screens of 141 square feet each – also with moving digital images displayed on them.
P&Z weighs in
As is customary, Casto presented their requests to Planning & Zoning (P&Z) before going before the Commission. Staff brought the requests forward with a recommendation for approval of the 63-foot tower, but did not take a position on the electric signage request, advising that the Commission should be “the recommending body for this specific type of request.”
P&Z voted 7-0 for approval to construct a central architectural tower at a height of 63 feet.
On a 5-2 vote, P&Z voted to approve the installation of three electronic signs, with the following conditions:
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- There must be no offsite advertisements displayed on the electronic screens.
- The lighting must only be on during theater business hours.
- The electronic screens should have no sound.
- Movie trailers only are allowed to be shown on the electronic screens.
Dissenting votes were cast by Michael Spencer and Alex Stringfellow.
Commission votes to Table
While the April 13 Commission meeting featured a lengthy and sometimes wandering discussion, no conclusion was reached. Casto agreed to go back to Regal to see if they would consider reducing the size of the exterior lighted screens. Commissioners seemed inclined to go along with the lighted tower, but as the discussion gradually ran out of steam, the Commissioners voted unanimously to Table the requests to the April 27 Commission meeting.
Be sure to tune in this Wednesday evening.
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by Anne Mooney | Apr 2, 2022 | Events, News
Top Young Composers Coming to Steinmetz
by Geri Throne
After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, the National Young Composers Challenge will return April 10 to Orlando. The Composium – part concert, part competition, part seminar – will be largest in the NYCC’s 17-year history. It will be held in the new Steinmetz Concert Hall at Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Admission is free. Winning compositions will be rehearsed, discussed and recorded before the live audience. The NYCC receives submissions from throughout the United States for the event. A panel of judges selects the top three orchestral and top three ensemble compositions to be performed. Because of the Covid hiatus, twice as many composers as in past years will be featured.
The national event is billed as a chance for audience members to connect to the orchestra and view the inner workings of orchestral composition. Christopher Wilkins again will serve as maestro and audience guide. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, expanded this year with 11 more string players, will perform the works. It also will perform winning compositions from the 2021 national challenge and from the previous two years.
Founded in 2005, the NYCC is a non-profit charitable organization whose goal is to promote the creation of new orchestral music and foster the careers of the next generation of American composers.
The Composium begins at noon and continues through 6 p.m., followed by a reception. Attendees can come and go during the day, but they are encouraged to register online in advance at www.drphillipscenter.org.
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by Anne Mooney | Mar 28, 2022 | News, Zoning and Development
Partnering for Parks
by Geri Throne / March 28, 2022
A unique alliance between the city and a local non-profit group could mean extra money for city parks.
In a deal thought to be a first for Winter Park, the city and the Winter Park Land Trust have agreed to share the cost of hiring a grant writer focused exclusively on pursuing parks funding. The city and the non-profit each will contribute up to $30,000 a year toward the position.
City commissioners unanimously approved the alliance at their last meeting.
“It’s kind of a historic thing,” said Steve Goldman, chair of the Land Trust’s board. Formed in 2018, the Winter Park Land Trust is an independent 501c3 dedicated to making sure the city has sufficient parks and open spaces. Like other public land trusts, it seeks to identify, acquire and preserve land for the benefit of the public. The United States has more than 1,200 of such organizations, but relatively few are in Florida.
Grant writers not only research the availability of funding from a variety of sources, but also write grant applications.
Under the agreement, the city and Land Trust will identify properties they both agree would be worthwhile to add to the city’s green space or to improve for better public use. That list will serve as a foundation for the grant writer’s research. The grant writer must have the city manager’s and Land Trust chair’s approval before applying for any grant.
At their meeting, several city commissioners stressed that for this alliance to work, good communication about the city’s priorities will be essential. Goldman agreed on the need for mutual consensus. “The city and the Trust have to come to agreement on each individual project.”
Grants for parks can come from a wide variety of sources. For example, Goldman said, “there’s a lot of federal money available for stormwater and transportation” that could also benefit parks. Several commissioners made that same point at their meeting. Commissioner Todd Weaver noted that the city of Orlando received grants for its Dubsdread Golf Course from the Florida Department of Transportation because the course’s improved ponds now serve as stormwater retention for the expanded Interstate 4.
Commissioner Marty Sullivan later expressed similar optimism. “This is a new kind of venture. City staff has worked on this and the city commission has looked at it and said, Yeah, let’s do it. I think there’s lots of county, state and federal opportunities” for money for green space improvements.
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by Anne Mooney | Mar 9, 2022 | Election
Charter Amendments Win Big
by Geri Throne / March 9, 2022
Winter Park voters sent City Hall a clear message Tuesday: They want the city commission to be more cautious in approving major zoning and land-use changes.
Voters approved all six amendments to the city charter by an average of more than 20 percentage points. The biggest vote-getter on the entire ballot was the sixth amendment, which requires an additional hearing if a proposed ordinance or zoning change is significantly changed while under consideration. That amendment drew 4,351 votes for approval – more than 62 percent.
The other five amendments will require 4-1 supermajority votes to approve land-use changes involving wetlands, public land and certain density increases. The charter results heartened supporters, who see them as essential for protecting the city’s character. Opponents had argued that the amendments will create overwhelming barriers to development.
Weaver and Cruzada prevail
Voters also re-elected Todd Weaver to a second term over political newcomer Elijah Noel, the only candidate to oppose the charter changes. Weaver won by more than 10 percentage points – 3,885 to 3,139.
In the much closer Seat 3 race, Kris Cruzada beat Anjali Vaya by less than four percentage points – 3,579 to 3,305.
The city’s modest overall 31.6 percent voter turnout bested other Orange County municipalities with elections Tuesday. Neighboring Maitland had a 14 percent turnout.
More Winter Park voters cast their ballots by mail than in person. Mail-in ballots alone did not decide any race or issue, but they widened margins in some cases. Weaver, for example, was ahead by 75 votes until early voting and mail-in votes increased that margin to 746.
Speaking to more than 100 supporters at Mead Gardens on election night, Weaver said he was happy with the results. He apologized for his role in “a rift” that had developed because his supporters were split between Vaya and Cruzada, who ran on similar platforms. Weaver, who had backed Vaya, called on his supporters to get behind her “the next time she runs.”
A disappointed Vaya wasn’t ready to talk about a next time following the vote tabulation. She said she would continue her service to the city as a member of the CRA advisory board.
Cruzada credited supporters and his family for helping him win his close race. He expressed hope that more new candidates will step forward to run for the commission in the future.
Elijah Noel could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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by Anne Mooney | Mar 6, 2022 | Election
Vote This Tuesday!
by Geri Throne / March 6, 2022
With Election Day two days away, 16 percent of Winter Park voters have voted by mail or cast early ballots in the municipal election.
That’s a higher percentage than the four other Orange County cities holding elections this week, but not by much. It amounts to 3,627 votes out of Winter Park’s 22,635 registered voters. More than 19,000 voters still need to be heard from on Tuesday.
Two commission seats and six city charter amendments are on the Winter Park ballot.
For Seat 4, incumbent Todd Weaver faces political newcomer Elijah Noel. In the Seat 3 race, entrepreneur Anjali Vaya faces attorney Kris Crusada.
The six charter amendments deal with certain development decisions. The first five would require a supermajority of 4-1 votes to approve: 1) the sale of city-owned property; 2) the rezoning of parks and public lands; 3) rezoning of lakefront property to higher densities and intensities; 4) rezonings or comprehensive plan changes that would increase existing residential density and intensity by more than 25 percent, and 5) the development of wetlands. The sixth amendment would require an additional public hearing and reading of an ordinance if a substantive change is made during the adoption process.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on March 8. Voters must go to their assigned polling place with photo and signature identification. If you requested a mail-in ballot and did not use it, bring the mail-in ballot to the polls with you.
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