by Beth Kassab | Aug 3, 2024 | City Commission, News, Orange Avenue Overlay, Uncategorized, Zoning and Development
Rollins faculty housing proposal returns with big changes
The apartment building and other projects such as a retail and restaurant development along Fairbanks and zoning for the new Blue Bamboo to be considered at upcoming P&Z meeting
Aug. 2, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Rollins College is back with a new version of its plan to build a downtown apartment building designed to give faculty and staff an affordable option in a city where the median home price was nearly $600,000 in June.
The revised proposal, which will be considered at Tuesday’s Planning & Zoning Board meeting, includes a new look as well as additional conditions for the 45,842-square-foot project with 30 units.
Also new: signals of a potentially warmer reception to the concept by some residents of the nearby Douglas Grand Condominium building who previously panned the architecture and, along with some City Commissioners, called the project incompatible with the neighborhood.
“Attendees praised the new appearance,” reads a summary of a meeting this summer between college representatives and Douglas Grand owners.
Though some condo residents continued to offer suggestions such as adding real or etched stone along with the textured stucco on the building’s facade to enhance the Mediterranean architectural theme.
Rollins “already made significant and costly revisions and does not intend to revise the architecture again,” college representatives noted in the same document included in the meeting materials.
The college also addressed calls from the community to opt out of its property tax exemption as a nonprofit educational institution and contribute to city funds to help cover the cost of police, fire and other services.
“It should also be pointed out that Rollins pays approximately $1.2 million annually property taxes,” according to the summary of the meeting with Douglas Grand residents submitted by Rollins. “In addition, for the demographic occupying the units, it is unlikely there will be an excessive or frequent burden on police or fire departments.”
An earlier rendering of the Rollins faculty housing project shows how the design as changed in comparison with the latest rendering shown at the top of the page.
There does appear to be new consensus, however, when it comes to another sticking point: parking.
According to a staff report as well as the summary of the meeting with condo residents, there is support for an option that would require Rollins to provide 58 parking spaces for the 30 units rather than the code-mandated 75 spaces. One of the conditions of the agreement is that Rollins will provide a 5-foot easement along West Welbourne Avenue for the city to create more on-street parking.
“This takes into account the available on-street parking and the additional on-street parking previously discussed,” according to the staff report, noting the option also allows for the creation of a “pocket park” with additional landscaping and tree canopy at the corner of Welborne and Virginia to enhance the appeal of the project for neighbors.
Other conditions include:
- Rollins will prohibit student housing and classroom instruction in the building and commit to using the land for faculty and staff housing for 30 years.
- Units will be leased for a minimum of 6-months and only plants and patio furniture are allowed on balconies.
- Rollins and the city will coordinate undergrounding nearby powerlines and there will be some kind of solar power installation on the roof.
New retail and restaurant space on Fairbanks
The P&Z Board on Tuesday will also consider a request to build a 26,210-square-foot building for retail shops and restaurants at the corner of West Fairbanks Avenue and Capen Avenue.
The agreement is significant for multiple properties, owned by companies controlled by the Holler family and once involved in a lawsuit against the city over zoning rules brought by changes to the Orange Avenue Overlay.
Plans call for a one-story development and 106 parking spaces on the lots at 805, 801, 771 W. Fairbanks Ave. and 555 S. Capen Ave.
The development would not only improve those lots, but would provide a new future turn lane at Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive, land for a flood control project and allow the city to purchase a residential lot for $250,000 that could be used to build affordable housing.
A rendering shows what the development at Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive could look like.
City staff is recommending the board approve the conditions for the development, including that the owners landscape and maintain a 10-foot land donation on the north side of West Fairbanks Avenue until a turn lane can be constructed there to improve traffic flow. In addition, the property owner will donate three vacant lots on Comstock Avenue for stormwater retention and to help with flood control near MLK Park and Lake Midget and sell a vacant residential lot to the city for $250,000.
In exchange, the city will waive transportation impact fees for the owner on some additional properties, including 860 W. Fairbanks, the former Orlando RV dealership.
Blue Bamboo zoning change
The City Commission approved a lease earlier this summer for Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts to take over the old library building as a new performance venue and office space.
In order for the new plans to move forward the city must approve new zoning for the property, which is technically designated for multi-family housing, though the land has long been used as a public library.
City staff is recommending the zoning be changed to a category known as PQP or Public, Quasi-Public District and that the board approve a change to the permitted uses for that category to include “performance art venues together with ancillary gallery, educational, rehearsal, recording studios and offices to support the like, within a city-owned building.”
If approved by the P&Z board the change will go before the City Commission for final approval.
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 1, 2024 | City Commission, News
Winter Park will likely ditch plans to make Park Avenue a one-way street
Closing two-way traffic would add more parking. But more spots might not be necessary.
Aug. 1, 2024
By Zoey Thomas
Winter Park city staff recommended scratching an idea to turn Park Avenue into a one-way street to increase parking options after a study revealed the area already has a surplus of spaces.
The change would add 41 parking spaces, converting one side of the street from parallel to diagonal spots.
But parking supply along Park Avenue already exceeds demand by 48 spaces on a typical weekday and 37 on a typical Saturday or Sunday, according to a report from engineering firm Kimley-Horn.
The firm charged the city about $35,000 to update its previous study, conducted in 2013, on downtown parking inventory.
“The one million dollar question … is there a parking problem?” said Hongmyung Lim, the Winter Park Public Works & Transportation engineer who presented the study to commissioners at a July workshop. “Generally, our statement would be no, but it really depends on the perspective.”
Parallel parking spots along Park Avenue can be hard to find during peak hours. (Photo: Zoey Thomas)
Finding a spot becomes more problematic during December, Lim said. During that “peak season” in downtown Winter Park, demand outnumbers available spaces by about 135 spots.
But he emphasized there is never a deficit in parking throughout the total downtown area, which stretches west to Denning Drive, south to Fairbanks, east to Interlachen Avenue and north to Webster. Only spots located right along Park Avenue fill up.
“There’s plenty of opportunities to park and walk to your destination in five to ten minutes,” Lim said. “And during the peak season in December, I’m sure when parents bring their kids over, they would like to walk a little bit further than a typical five to ten minutes to show them around.”
The challenge is to help visitors understand their parking options, said Charles Ramdatt, the Public Works & Transportation director, at the workshop.
Randatt is working with the Winter Park Community Redevelopment Agency to create an app that will direct drivers to available spots. He’s already met with Currus AI, a University of Central Florida-based technology program, about the project.
“The additional demand can be covered by overall parking in the general area — we just need to show people where those spaces are,” he said. “The younger generation, especially, is very accustomed to using apps like these.”
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio pointed out the study, which used the same geographic zones as the original 2013 analysis, didn’t account for new demand from the recent $36 million expansion of the Alfond Inn. The expansion, completed in late 2023, included adding new meeting, boardroom and event spaces to the hotel’s New England Avenue space.
“I go to a lot of luncheons there — there’s over 200 people,” she said. “So, I don’t know where they’re going to park all those people.”
The study area also did not include the old Winter Park Library building, where Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts recently signed a lease to open a multicultural live music venue and education hub. Alfond Inn is currently parking cars in the unused library building lot. Once it can no longer do so, valets will have to park elsewhere, the mayor said.
“I think just watching them for two days after they cannot park and stack cars in the old library site is going to tell you a lot where the valet puts all those cars,” DeCiccio said. “I think that is going to cause a huge deficit.”
Alfond Inn spillover parking shouldn’t be problematic as long as valets use garages like the high-vacancy Truist Parking Garage on Comstock Avenue, rather than parking along the street on Lyman Avenue or Comstock Avenue, said City Manager Randy Knight.
Knight also pointed out the city can’t plan its parking around the one month out of the year when spaces become limited.
“The Church doesn’t build parking for Easter Sunday,” he said. “I think that’s what the study’s saying — on a normal day, there’s ample parking.”
After receiving the updated parking report, which found weekend parking demand wasn’t as high as expected, Knight said he no longer recommended going through with a plan he previously supported: closing Park Avenue to two-way traffic.
Although doing so would add 41 parking spots, it would also create a potential safety hazard. The road would only be about 11 to 13 feet wide, which would make it difficult for emergency vehicles to access the area during an accident.
Typically, a one-way street is 16 to 18 feet, and said city engineer Lim.
“After seeing this, and I understand their report, I was much less excited about the one-way option than initially,” Knight said. “It’s not a staff recommendation that we move forward with the one-way …. I think the safety issues outweigh the benefit.”
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by Beth Kassab | Jul 25, 2024 | Election, News, Uncategorized
Let us hear your questions for County Commission District 5 candidates
The four candidates for the seat that represents Winter Park will appear at a public forum on Aug. 6
July 24, 2024
Staff Report
Voters will have the chance to hear directly from Orange County Commission candidates for District 5, which represents Winter Park, at a public forum on Aug. 6 at Westminster Winter Park.
The event at 7 p.m. is sponsored by the Orange County League of Women Voters and will be moderated by Winter Park Voice Editor Beth Kassab. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. at Westminster, 1111 S. Lakemont Ave.
The public can also tune in live to watch the forum or watch a recorded broadcast on the League’s Facebook page. 
What questions do you have for the candidates who will be on the Aug. 20 ballot? You can leave them in the comment section below or email WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com.
Vying for the technically non-partisan seat are: Former Maitland City Council member and former legislator Joy Goff-Marcil; former Winter Park Mayor Steve Leary; attorney Joel Antonio Montilla and Kelly Semrad, a UCF associate professor of tourism economics.
Key issues in the race include how to spend the county’s Tourist Development Tax, a levy on hotel beds; how to protect rural lands; policies for improving the region’s overcrowded roads and other transportation woes and more.
The winner will replace Emily Bonilla, who has reached term limits for her seat.
If none of the four candidates receives 50% plus one of the vote in August, then the top two vote getters will face off in November.
What else is on your Aug. 20 ballot? Take a look here.
Requests to cast a mail ballot must be made by Aug. 8 at 5 p.m.
The Orange County Supervisor of Elections office reported that it has received more than 90,000 requests for mail-in ballots so far. That is below the 214,555 requests for the primary in 2020 and 195,935 in 2022.
The lagging number this year is the result of a change in state law by the Florida Legislature, which now says that vote-by-mail requests expire after each federal election cycle and voters must re-submit those requests.
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by Beth Kassab | Jul 24, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Winter Park lifts prohibition on Sunday morning alcohol sales
For years, the city has restricted the sale of alcohol on Sunday mornings until after 11 a.m.
July 24, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park grocery stores and restaurants offering a boozy brunch can soon get an earlier start on Sunday mornings.
The City Commission voted 4-1 to allow alcohol sales as early as 7 a.m. rather than 11 a.m., making the time consistent with the other six days of the week. Commissioner Craig Russell was the only dissenting vote.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said the change was prompted by grocery managers who complained about routinely confused and disappointed customers who stopped in early on Sundays to stock up for a day at the beach or a football party only to learn they had to come back later for beer and wine.
Planning & Zoning Director Allison McGillis said Maitland, Orange County and Seminole County all allow sales as early as 7 a.m. Orlando is an outlier with a 9 a.m. start time. A few years back, Winter Park prohibited liquor sales until noon, but the city changed the restriction to 11 a.m. to accommodate the mimosa and Bloody Mary crowd at local brunch spots.
A grocery store manager, who declined to say where he worked, spoke at the meeting in favor of the new earlier time.
“I have personally witnessed friends planning for beach outings, football or Mother’s Day and they can’t do the shopping,” he said. “Many employees and customers have asked why and I haven’t been able to give a good reason.”
Russell, in casting a vote against moving sales up to 7 a.m., said he saw no need for the change.
“I have a belief that Sunday is a day of rest. I say leave it alone,” he said. “… I wouldn’t’ look to compromise my principles on agreeing to something like this.”
Winter Park to keep property tax rate the same
Commissioners voted Wednesday to hold the same property tax rate for the 17th year in a row.
That means the millage rate will remain steady at 4.0923 mills, though tax revenue will increase because of rising property values. The proposed $214.6 million budget includes a 3% or $6 million increase over the current year as property taxes remain the key driver of growth in the city’s general fund.
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by Beth Kassab | Jul 17, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Golf carts are fun, but are they street-legal in Winter Park?
Here’s what to know to about legal low-speed vehicles and how to avoid fines up to $500
July 17, 2024
By Charles Maxwell
Once only used along Central Florida’s fairways and greens, golf carts are now commonplace on Winter Park’s brick roads.
Residents like Jason Bristol find them a quick and easy way to travel to Park Avenue or even to Park Maitland School.
“I bought my first one back in 2005, and I’ve owned a total of five,” said Bristol, who lives in Baldwin Park. “I’ve been using it so long, I know all the backroads and take it everywhere- I’ve even valeted it downtown (in Orlando).”
But not everyone is as educated as Bristol when it comes to using the street legal version of golf carts known as low-speed vehicles.
That left city officials on a years-long campaign to make people aware of the difference and, more recently, for Mayor Sheila DeCiccio to ask the city attorney for a report on potential liability related to golf cart accidents.
Winter Park police chief Tim Volkerson and the department are actively working to remove golf carts from Winter Park roads.
“We went through a period of time where there was an influx of [illegal] golf carts being operated on the roadway,” Volkerson said. “While I do not have specific numbers, the agency did conduct an enforcement/education period, which was successful in reducing those operating golf carts on the roadway.”
The city posted a guide for residents to help them understand the differences between the legal and the illegal versions. Drivers can face up to $500 fines for operating an illegal cart on the roadway.
The street-legal kind must have a Vehicle Identification Number and features such as a seat belt for each seat, brake lights, turn signals, side mirrors and a windshield. Owners are required to have insurance and register the vehicles and operators must have a driver’s license.
They are permitted on city streets with a speed limit of 35 mph or less.
Standard golf carts don’t have all of those features, can be driven by anyone 14 and older and in most cities like Winter Park, can only be used on golf courses. (Some places, like the Villages, allow golf carts on roads.)
Volkerson says there have been no cases of severe injury or death involving a golf cart in Winter Park. But DeCiccio has monitored the situation closely and heard complaints from some residents about golf carts and LSVs.
In an article DeCiccio published last fall, she noted “the most common observation is the reckless driving and age of the drivers and occupants,” with residents claiming to have seen minors operating LSVs, with as many as six people per cart.
Bristol, who owns a street-legal cart and has five kids, said his family now much prefers taking their six-passenger LSV around town over their car.
And he’s noticed plenty of other people seem to have the same idea. Once one of only a few residents with an LSV in his neighborhood, he’s noticed their use on the rise: “Literally everyone has them now.”
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Charles Maxwell graduated from Winter Park High School and Florida Atlantic University with a BA in Multimedia Studies. His work has appeared in the South Florida Sun Sentinel and The Boca Raton Tribune, and he is a contributing writer for Keeping it Heel on the FanSided network. He enjoys watching sports, finding new food spots, and playing pickleball with friends and family.
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