by Beth Kassab | Dec 11, 2023 | City Commission, Election
Ballot is set: Two candidates for mayor; three for Seat 2
As qualifying ended at noon on Monday, two more candidates turned in the required petitions
Dec. 11, 2023
By Beth Kassab
The ballot is set for the March 19 election with two candidates qualifying for the mayor’s race and three running for Seat 2 on the City Commission.
City Clerk Rene Cranis confirmed Monday afternoon that the Orange County Supervisor of Elections office has now verified petitions for all of the candidates. The qualifying period ended at noon on Monday.
Vice Mayor and attorney Sheila DeCiccio is running for mayor along with real estate school owner Michael Cameron Sidawi. Cranis said he filed the necessary paperwork for his name to appear as Michael Cameron on the ballot.
DeCiccio sent an email to supporters on Monday with a holiday message and emphasized her priorities.
“If I’m elected Mayor, I will continue to focus on the same important priorities: putting residents first at City Hall, ensuring fiscal responsibility, and retaining the charm and character of our wonderful City – making Winter Park the very best place to live, work, and play,” she said.
The email included a list of the names of more than 300 supporters of her campaign, a who’s who of Winter Park, including Mayor Phil Anderson, Commissioner Todd Weaver, developer Alan Ginsburg, former gubernatorial candidate Chris King and Craig DeLongy, owner of John Craig Clothier on Park Avenue.
Cameron did not immediately return a message seeking comment on Monday afternoon. When reached by the Voice on Friday, Cameron declined to answer questions about his campaign.
Seat 2 is an open seat because DeCiccio was required to resign effective after the election in order to run for mayor.
The three candidates competing for the seat are Jason Johnson, an attorney; Stockton Reeves, director of the Center for Public Safety and Craig Russell, a teacher and coach at Winter Park High School.
Candidates for both races will be required to turn in their first financial reports in January ahead of the March 19 election.
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by Beth Kassab | Dec 9, 2023 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized, Zoning and Development
Winter Park Commons, Ravaudage incentives and Seven Oaks construction
This week’s City Commission meeting will bring potential resolutions and updates on several major projects
Dec. 9, 2023
By Beth Kassab
This week’s City Commission meeting, the final one of the year, is likely to bring some answers to questions about several major projects including a proposed townhome complex on the west side, a large mixed-use development and the construction of Seven Oaks Park.
Here’s an overview of what to expect at Wednesday’s meeting:
- Winter Park Commons. Commissioners tabled in November a decision on a 53-unit multi-family housing project near Winter Park Village over concerns from residents that the multi-story townhomes were incompatible with neighboring smaller, single-family homes. The developer’s revised plans will go before the commission this week. The project remains 53 units, but now includes more single-family homes in place of some of the townhome units. Plans now also include five on-street parking spaces and a revised driveway on Webster Avenue.
- Ravaudage incentives. The city originally agreed to reimburse the developer of of Ravaudage, a mixed-use project, a maximum of $1.2 million for road improvements. The developer is now seeking an additional $300,000 for improvements that weren’t included in the first agreement because the land was not yet annexed into Winter Park. The commission tabled a decision on the new reimbursement in November, questioning the justification. According to city documents, two new businesses along the stretch in question — Bank OZK and Lifetime Fitness — would pay enough in mobility fees to cover the cost of the city’s reimbursement to the developer.
- Seven Oaks Park. The cost of the city’s newest park increased by about $800,000 to $5 million since the city first estimated the price a few years ago. With construction now slated to start on Dec. 18, city staff is recommending the City Commission postpone wifi upgrades to reallocate $220,000 use another $320,000 that had been set aside for planning studies. Staff also recommends another $250,000 come from the city’s contingency fund to make up the deficit. If approved, construction would begin this month and the park would be finished in the Fall of 2024, according to the staff memorandum.
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by Beth Kassab | Dec 8, 2023 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
New candidate enters mayoral contest as qualifying deadline nears
First-time candidate Michael Cameron Sidawi opened a campaign account to run against Vice Mayor Sheila DeCiccio
Dec. 8, 2023
By Beth Kassab
Vice Mayor Sheila DeCiccio drew an opponent in her bid for mayor with real estate school owner Michael Cameron Sidawi filing to run against her.
Reached by phone on Friday, Sidawi told the Voice he wasn’t yet ready to discuss his campaign and declined to answer questions.
He has until Monday at noon to turn in the required petitions to secure a spot on the March 19 ballot.
DeCiccio turned her petitions in earlier in the week and said she is focused on getting her message about maintaining Winter Park’s charm and fixing infrastructure needs in front of voters.
Sheila DeCiccio talks with residents at a meet-and-greet event. (Courtesy of DeCiccio’s campaign.)
“I am looking forward to running a positive campaign and highlighting the accomplishments of Mayor [Phil] Anderson and the commission, discussing the issues, answering questions and, most importantly, listening to the residents and giving them a voice at City Hall,” DeCiccio said.
She announced her campaign in October and resigned from Commission Seat 2 effective after the election in order to run. That triggered an election for Seat 2, which has drawn three candidates so far.
Jason Johnson, an attorney, and Craig Russell, a teacher and coach at Winter Park High School both submitted their qualifying petitions to run for the seat.
Stockton Reeves, director of the Center for Public Safety, is also running for Seat 2, but has not yet submitted his petitions.
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by Beth Kassab | Dec 8, 2023 | City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
P&Z board approves new 300-bed Rollins dorm
The proposal to increase an existing dormitory from 80 to 300 beds comes as the college is also seeking approvals for a faculty and staff apartment building
Dec. 7, 2023
By Beth Kassab
The Planning & Zoning Board this week green-lighted a new student housing project on the Rollins College campus, which would increase the existing Holt Hall from 80 to 300 beds.
The project at 1000 Holt Avenue next to the Tennis Center was unanimously approved by the board and plans for the up to 6-story and 139,000-square-foot building are expected to come before the City Commission in January.
Sam Stark, Rollins’ vice president for communications, said the new dorm along with a proposed faculty and staff housing complex on New England Avenue are the latest ways the college is offering more students the opportunity to live on campus and more faculty the chance to live nearby.
Rollins is not growing, he said, noting that the number of undergraduates will remain at about 2,200 along with about 230 faculty and 500 staff.
“We’re not in a growth spurt,” he said. “Our real value proposition is student engagement with faculty and staff so the idea is to be able to have those faculty and staff closer so they can attend clubs and games.”
Stark said the college knows anecdotally that professors are driving to campus from everywhere from Winter Garden to Winter Springs and beyond. The median home price in Winter Park, where many neighborhoods and the campus are nestled on expensive lakefront property, are consistently higher than much of the rest of the region.
Rollins already offers faculty the opportunity to rent a small number of college-owned townhomes near Mead Botanical Gardens, but is looking to expand that program with 48 units just west of Central Park between New England and Welbourne.
A rendering shows a faculty and staff apartment project proposed by Rollins College.
A small number of graduate student units exist there now.
Rollins already owns the five parcels of land and does not pay property taxes on the highest-valued parcel at 273 W. New England where grad student housing stands now. Stark said he expected that the college would continue to be exempt from property taxes, including on the other four parcels that are currently vacant, once the new project is built. Nonprofit educational institutions are exempt from certain taxes when land is used to advance their educational mission.
The faculty housing project, which is expected to be rented at about market rate, is expected to go before the Planning & Zoning Board in January and then will go before the City Commission.
Stark said the hope is that both projects will take more cars off the roads since more faculty and students will be able to walk or ride bikes to class.
He said concerns that the faculty units would eventually be rented to students and essentially become a dorm that hops Fairbanks Avenue from the main campus are unfounded.
“That’s not happening,” he said. “There is no interest, no desire … it would remain as staff and faculty housing exclusively.”
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by Beth Kassab | Dec 1, 2023 | City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
Rollins seeking to build apartments for faculty west of Central Park
The three-story project proposed between New England and Welbourne avenues would provide affordable housing for people who work on the campus
Dec. 1, 2023
By Beth Kassab
Rollins College is asking the city for approvals for a three-story apartment project west of Central Park that will span more than 80,000-square-feet and hold 48 units.
Affordable housing is a challenge in Winter Park, where the median list price is $600,000 or more than $100,000 higher than the median for all of Orange County, according to Realtor.com.
“This project allows Rollins to attract and retain faculty and staff by providing quality, affordable housing close to campus,” Rollins spokeswoman Lauren Bradley said in a statement. “This workforce housing initiative is another way Rollins can stay competitive in recruiting talented individuals who educate and support our students.”
The request for changes to the city’s comprehensive plan will go before the Planning & Zoning board Jan. 9 and the City Commission on Jan. 24, according to a city notice.
Rollins already owns the land along Welbourne, New England and Virginia avenues. Some of the land is vacant, but an apartment building stands on one of the parcels.
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