by Beth Kassab | Sep 4, 2026 | Arts and Culture, City Commission, Taxes, Tree Canopy
Commissioners Propose Cuts and New Spending Ahead of Budget Vote
The first vote on the total $247 million budget is scheduled for Wednesday
Sept. 4, 2026
By Beth Kassab
In response to political pressure from state government to reduce expenditures, the Winter Park City Commission appears poised to spend less money maintaining its tree canopy as well as on code enforcement and parks programs and reduce a proposed increase to the library. But it is considering a new $45,000 payout to a local nonprofit called Men of Integrity that aims to mentor youth.
The commission is also in favor of raising more revenue for the city by adding red light cameras, starting a new program to charge non-residents for parking at the dog park at Lake Baldwin and Dinky Dock and charge credit card convenience fees on transactions with the city based on discussion at a recent work session.
The $247 million all-funds budget will be heard at the next commission meeting on Wednesday when the board is scheduled to take it’s first of two votes on the spending plan for the financial year that will begin Oct. 1. The city is expected to adopt the same property tax rate for the 19th consecutive year, though revenues from taxes have increased as a result of growing property values.
In addition to the threat of tax cuts if Amendment 3 passes in November, Winter Park leaders say they are also facing soaring costs related to police, fire and maintaining roads.
At least one commissioner pushed for more cuts to spending. Commissioner Warren Lindsey said he would prefer to reduce raises for city employees from 4% to 3.5%, but did not get consensus from other commissioners.
A photo of what parking signs could look like when the city begins charging for public parking in select areas to raise more revenue. The photo was included in city documents related to the program that will look to charge non-residents for parking.
Lindsey said he viewed a smaller raise as part of the “painful reality” of local governments facing significant reductions in property tax revenue if Amendment 3 passes in November.
“My recommendation is that we do it this coming year and not wait until November,” he said. “I feel it’s the responsible thing to do.”
But Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and others said they didn’t feel comfortable with reducing staff raises and pointed to an ongoing hiring freeze that will help conserve funds.
The group agreed to keep open a vacant code enforcement position ($75,000), freeze two vacant fire positions ($200,000) and cut back winter hours at city pools, which would reduce part-time parks staff ($100,000).
Commissioners said they would review the open positions mid-year and determine if there was a need to add any of them back into the budget.
In addition, the city appears poised to cut back significantly on its tree program by removing from the budget a vacant tree specialist position ($73,680); axing the vacant tree permitting position ($60,000) and cutting a watering truck as well as new tree plantings (approximately $270,000).
City Manager Randy Knight said the city is no longer saving many trees on private properties that owners or developers want to cut down because of changes lawmakers made to state law. It’s another example of pre-emption by state government to limit how local governments can make decisions.
While the city forestry department typically plants hundreds of trees per year on city right-of-way, the city is running out of public land for those plantings, Knight said.
This graphic, included in city budget documents, shows how the city’s nearly $95 million general fund will be spent in the coming financial year to begin Oct. 1. The Winter Park Voice’s coverage of this year’s budget deliberations also includes the following stories linked below:
Also on the chopping block is $25,000 in funding for the library, $12,000 for an appreciation event typically held for people who serve on city boards, some Halloween and Easter events put on by the parks department some postage and printed materials that go to utility bill customers.
Even with a $25,000 reduction, the Winter Park Library is still slated to receive nearly $50,000 more than last year in support from the main city budget as well as the Community Redevelopment Agency budget for a total of $2.5 million.
Each year the city spends a quarter of one percent of gross revenues from the general fund, electric utility fund and water utility fund — or about $480,0000 total — on nonprofit community groups. This year those expenditures are proposed as:
- $105,000 for Mead Botanical Gardens, a $3,000 increase over last year
- $99,900 for the Winter Park Historical Association, also about a $3,0000 increase
- $43,800 for Winter Park Day Nursery, a $1,300 increase
- $20,000 for United Arts representing no change from last year
- $28,900 for the Polasek Museum, a $900 increase
- $0 for Blue Bamboo, a $12,500 decrease after discussion by the City Commission
- $45,000 for Men of Integrity, which had not received any funding since $18,000 two years ago
Men of Integrity is a nonprofit that operates out of the Winter Park Community Center and serves about 24 boys, including 10 in high school and 14 under the age of 12, said Antwon Carter, the group’s leader. Many of the kids attend Winter Park schools but some travel from outside the city to attend the weekly program.
Carter’s group is the only nonprofit commissioners proposed adding to the budget after wrote to the city in August and asked for the money to support his mentoring program that provides help with college readiness, STEM activities, financial literacy, fieldtrips and a hot meal during weekly meetings among other services.
An administrator for the program provided the Voice with a copy of Men of Integrity’s most recent tax form that show’s the group’s revenues are typically less than $50,000.
The group said it mostly relies on volunteers and out-of-pocket expenditures by Carter.
“This mission is also deeply personal to me,” Carter said in an email to the Voice. “I grew up in Winter Park, and I understand firsthand what can be produced when a young person is given a strong foundation. For generations, programs centered around the Winter Park Community Center have played an important role in youth development. Whether young people came directly from the surrounding neighborhood or were brought there by their parents, the Center provided a place where they could experience mentorship, structure, opportunity, and the positive influence of the broader community.”
Carter, who said he now lives in Apopka, appeared at the budget work session and told commissioners the $45,000 would provide a needed infusion of dollars to reduce the group’s need to ask for more in the future.
Some commissioners, including Lindsey and Kris Cruzada, questioned if the group should receive the full amount of its request without providing more information to the city.
But there appeared to be enough commissioners in favor of the expenditure to move it ahead to a vote on Wednesday as part of the overall budget.
The nonprofit organizations slated to received money from the city’s CRA budget are:
- $14,000 for the Enzian Theater, a $4,000 increase
- $51,500 for the Heritage Center, a $1,500 increase
- $44,300 for the Welbourne Day Nursery, a $1,300 increase
- $50,800 for the Winter Park Playhouse, a $1,500 increase
- $398,610 for the library, part of it’s overall $2.5 million in city funding
When it comes to raising more funds for the city government, red light cameras and credit card convenience fees are among the top projected generators.
Police Chief Tim Volkerson said the city is still considering where additional cameras could be placed and, if they are approved by the state, they likely would not be up and running until May or so and could generate some $750,000.
Credit card convenience fees could yield $1.2 million for the city when people buy permits, pay bills or conduct other business at City Hall.
And a pilot program to charge non-city residents to park at Dinky Dock or the dog park at Baldwin Park could bring in an estimated $100,000 or more when it begins as early as the spring.
Paid parking has long been a controversial topic in Winter Park, which offers free parking throughout the city including along busy Park Avenue. If the pilot is successful, city officials said program could expand to other areas and, once again, be aimed at non-residents.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 3, 2026 | Arts and Culture, City Commission
Blue Bamboo Looks to Lease Space to Visual Artists
The performing arts venue has hit multiple obstacles as its rent for the old city library building increases
Sept. 3, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Beset by the death of its founder last year, construction delays and increasing rent, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts is now facing the loss of $12,900 in annual funding from the city as it presses forward with a new plan to lease space on its second floor to visual artists.
City Commissioners appeared in agreement at a budget work session last week to end its yearly contribution to Blue Bamboo, one of seven local nonprofits that has traditionally received dollars from the city in recent years.
“Why are we funding Blue Bamboo if they are paying us rent?” asked Mayor Sheila DeCiccio at the work session called for commissioners to evaluate potential cuts to the budget as financial pressure intensifies on local governments as voters prepare to vote in November on property tax reductions.
The commission is set to take its first budget vote next week.
The day before that meeting, Todd Weaver, a former city commissioner who is now vice chairman of Blue Bamboo’s board, appeared before the group to ask for a month-long extension to secure a certificate of occupancy for the second floor of the old library building that the group leases from the city.
Weaver said construction was nearly complete and the group would begin paying the new higher rent amount this month. The commission granted the extension for the group to bring the space into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and other city codes.
Weaver told the Voice the second floor will be partitioned into 21 visual art studios that artists can rent.
The plan comes about three months after a contentious meeting between Blue Bamboo Chairman Jeff Flowers and the City Commission in which Flowers was seeking changes to the group’s lease because, he said, he was having trouble finding an arts group that could afford the rent in the wake of the original tenant walking away and construction delays as well as the death last year of founder Chris Cortez.
The commission did not agree at the time to grant the group any rent reductions or allow it to deviate from keeping the building as an arts hub.
So far, the group has invested about $1.5 million into the building, including more than $900,000 in grants from Orange County’s Tourism Development Taxes.
The music venue on the first floor opened more than a year ago and boasts a calendar full of events most weeks from Thursday to Sunday.
Weaver said he could not speculate on when the visual artist spaces will open on the second floor.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 2, 2026 | City Commission, Police and Public Safety
Winter Park to Remove Flock Cameras Per State Order
“The cameras have value in terms of investigative and security uses, but the issue is whether or not people’s privacy rights and concerns over surveillance outweigh those legitimate and positive uses,” Commissioner Warren Lindsey told the Voice
Sept. 2, 2026
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park Police Chief Tim Volkerson said all three of the Flock cameras operating in Winter Park will be taken down in order to comply with a state order to remove the license plate readers from state roads.
Volkerson said the cameras will come down within 30 days as required by the order from the Florida Department of Transportation.
“… The recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways, coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns and surveillance schemes merit immediate action to preserve Floridians’ sovereignty and quality of life,” read the memorandum dated Aug. 31.
An example of how a camera appears on the road. (Photo courtesy of Flock Safety)
Winter Park has operated the cameras on Lee Road, Fairbanks Avenue and Aloma Avenue for about five years. All are on state-owned roads and must be removed to comply with the state’s order revoking permits for the devices.
Volkerson said it’s possible the cameras will be placed on city-owned roads, which would not be impacted by the state’s order. He said the original locations were selected because they cover the major roadways that lead in and out of the city of 30,000 people surrounded by Orlando, Maitland and neighboring Seminole County.
The Voice reported last month that Volkerson made changes to the way the police department used the cameras in response to increasing concerns about privacy and growing awareness about instances of law enforcement in other jurisdictions abusing the database created by the cameras. He ended direct access to Winter Park’s cameras by outside agencies and also said he planned to more strictly audit how his department was using the database.
Flock cameras, which get their name because they are manufactured by an Atlanta-based company called Flock Safety, are mounted along roadways and photograph vehicles. They create a searchable database of license plate numbers and other details such as the vehicle’s make, model and distinguishing characteristics. Police can search by inputting a description such as a blue Toyota RAV-4 with damage to the back bumper or by a tag number as part of an investigation.
A chart from Flock Safety’s website attempts to address some concerns about the camera system.
Officers can also program the system to alert them if a vehicle with a specific description or tag number is captured by one of the cameras.
In July, his officers conducted between 50 and 60 searches using the cameras, which cost the department $7,500 a year to lease.
Volkerson previously told the Voice the network of surveillance provides a “huge benefit” for safety as a tool for solving crimes.
As an example, Volkerson said the cameras proved helpful earlier this year when there were some residential burglaries along Phelps Avenue. He said his officers pursued a suspect but lost him. About 20 minutes later, they received an alert for the vehicle from a camera near South Orlando Avenue and pursued it again but did not capture the suspect. Eventually a different agency’s camera alerted that the vehicle was near Apopka and the suspect was arrested.
But in recent months, the network of cameras has prompted nationwide backlash among people concerned about data collection and the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
Commissioner Warren Lindsey, who is also a well-known criminal defense attorney, said he has concerns about the cameras and wants to consider the risks and benefits before the city decides to continue to use them in other locations not governed by the state order.
“We need to look at it carefully,” he said. “Where does the data go and where is it used? The cameras have value in terms of investigative and security uses, but the issue is whether or not people’s privacy rights and concerns over surveillance outweigh those legitimate and positive uses.”
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 26, 2026 | City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
Chabad Synagogue Approved in 3-2 Vote
The development will also include townhomes and a daycare that some neighbors said will cause too much traffic and parking problems
Aug. 26, 2026
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission on Wednesday approved a new development near Park Avenue to include a synagogue with a daycare and five townhomes after hearing from residents about the meaning of Chabad of Greater Orlando’s work and the importance of it becoming the first permanent synagogue in Winter Park.
The 3-2 vote followed more than three hours of discussions and comments, including objections from some neighbors who said they worried the project will create too much traffic, noise and parking problems. Commissioners Elizabeth Ingram, Craig Russell and Kris Cruzada voted in favor while Mayor Sheila DeCiccio and Commissioner Warren Lindsey dissented.
“I’m willing to risk parking and I’m willing to risk traffic so people and children can have a better understanding of each other,” Cruzada said just before the vote, adding, “I’m willing to live in a little discomfort” to show acceptance in the community.
DeCiccio and Lindsey supported a motion to postpone the vote, not because they oppose the synagogue, but because they wanted additional conditions on the project such as moving the location of three parking spots closer to the townhomes and an agreement that the synagogue would hold multiple simultaneous events.
“We would welcome a synagogue in Winter Park,” DeCiccio said. “We are with you. We stand with you. Attorney [Rebecca] Wilson can tell you we do this to everybody who comes in.”
Wilson of the Lowndes law firm represents the developer of the townhomes as well as the synagogue and has logged hundreds of hours in front of the Winter Park board over years answering questions about developments down to the smallest details from a commission known to publicly dissect proposals.
When the project passed on the first of two required votes, DeCiccio suggested that before the second vote next month the developer move three parking spaces closer to the townhomes on the 0.6-acre site at the corner of Morse Boulevard and Knowles Avenue where the El Cortez apartment buildings stand today.
The El Cortez Apartments along Morse Boulevard.
Other conditions previously approved by the Planning & Zoning Board include a requirement that child drop-off and pick-up related to the daycare take place in the underground parking area planned for the synagogue as well as prohibiting speakers or amplified music on the rooftop patio; requiring all noise and lights from the rooftop end by 10 p.m.; any expansion of the synagogue or daycare must go back to the city for approval and car lines related to daycare drop-off or pick-up can not spill onto the public streets.
Rabbi Dovid Dubov said most services at Chabad have just 10 to 30 attendees. He also said the location proved the best option for Chabad because other sites proved too expensive or not in a location that people could easily walk to. 
A rendering shows what the synagogue will look like from Knowles Avenue.
The 40-year-old organization lost its Maitland building to a fire in 2024 and has been operating out of a temporary space on the far end of North Park Avenue.
The proposal calls for 80 seats in the synagogue and the daycare is limited to 60 children. The five townhomes on the site are being developed separately and will be sold once completed.
Some residents who live in nearby townhomes and condominiums questioned the accuracy of a traffic study and noted how congested the small roads already become as a result of the Methodist Church preschool across Morse Boulevard and other church schools just blocks away.
Former Orange County Commissioner Ted Edwards attended the meeting on Wednesday and said he represented Frank Santos, who lives next to the site of the project and is chief executive officer of Rosen Hotels & Resorts.
Edwards said concerns centered on the Chabad’s planned rooftop event space that he said was more appropriate for a commercial area than a residential neighborhood.
People who attend the Chabad explained that Jewish law and tradition calls for some meals and events to be held outdoors, which is the reason for the patio.
Wilson pointed out that the Edyth Bush Charitable Foundation, a three-story building just one block down from the synagogue site and across Knowles Avenue, also rents out space for events without major disruptions to traffic or parking.
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 19, 2026 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, Zoning and Development
Merrywood Sold for $15 Million to New Buyer
A city official says the request for a lot split will likely be tabled instead of heard at next week’s City Commission meeting
Aug. 19, 2026
By Beth Kassab
The historic home known as Merrywood was sold this week for $15 million to a company called Lake Osceola Holdings LLC, which is tied to an Orlando attorney and an estate advising firm called Cypress Row Advisors.
A deed dated Aug. 18 was filed with the Orange County Comptroller’s Office naming Raymond and Cathleen Gilmer as the sellers and the new company that was just created in June as the buyer for $15 million.
Winter Park Planning Director Allison McGillis said she spoke with Tara Tedrow, who previously had the property under contract for a reported $12 million and was requesting a lot split, and said she now expects Tedrow to ask for the lot split discussion to be tabled. The discussion had been scheduled for next week’s City Commission meeting.
Winter Park’s land development rules generally prohibit subdividing lakefront lots. Tedrow was seeking special permission through a change to the city’s comprehensive plan that governs development.
That prompted an outcry from historic preservationists who wanted to save the 90-year-old estate that is among the last remaining examples of the influence architect James Gamble Rogers II left on Winter Park.
The buyer, Lake Osceola Holdings LLC, filed notice of the new company with the state of Florida on June 10, according to state records. That was a week after the Planning & Zoning Board recommended that the City Commission approve the lot split and about two weeks before the first hearing regarding the house in front of the City Commission.
Carla Deloach is listed as the manager of the company and it’s Orlando address is the same as Cypress Row Advisors where Deloach is a senior attorney.
The sales deed was prepared by Jason Williams of the Lowndes law firm, where Tedrow is also a shareholder.
Tedrow began seeking the lot split last year, which she has said would allow her to build a family home on the vacant portion of the nearly 4-acre property and sell the other portion with the Merrywood house. Undeveloped lakefront lots are scarce in Winter Park.
Tedrow said at multiple public meetings that she hoped to find a buyer to preserve Merrywood, but said the house was in a state of severe disrepair.
Tedrow and Mick Night, the Sotheby’s real estate agent handling the transaction, said no one had come forward to preserve the home despite months of marketing the property because it was in such rough shape. As a result, they said at the June 24 City Commission meeting, there was little choice but to demolish the property.
Tedrow said her contract was contingent on the city approving the lot split.
The City Commission voted 3-2 that night to change the comprehensive plan to allow for a split that would only apply to the home at 1020 Palmer Ave. but added conditions: the combined total of two new homes that could be built on the lots would not exceed 30,000 square feet and at least one be fashioned in a style adjacent to architect James Gamble Rogers II, the local architect who built Merrywood and is known for helping to shape the city’s aesthetic character.
Attorney Matt Morgan, who also lives in Winter Park, then came forward with a $10 million offer, later upped to $12 million, to preserve the home. But he never heard a response from the sellers.
“I don’t know what to think because nobody knows what the intention or the plan is,” Morgan told the Voice on Wednesday morning after hearing word of the sale. “I think it’s a wait and see thing.”
McGillis said she doesn’t know who the buyer is, but that she heard from Tedrow that it’s a couple who emerged after the first hearing related to the lot split request.
“What she told me is that [the new buyers] are comfortable enough to close on the property without any guarantee,” of a lot split, McGillis said, adding that she understood all options are likely on the table from preserving the house to demolishing it.
While a permit is already in place would allow for the home to be bulldozed any day now, the owners and Tedrow verbally agreed to hold off on demolition until the second reading of the comprehensive plan change — which had been scheduled for next week and now is likely to be delayed or even cancelled all together.
Tedrow said she facilitated the demolition permit in an effort to bring the conversation about the house in front of the Historic Preservation Board. The 1938 Merrywood property is listed the Florida Master Site File, which means the demolition permit received a 90-day hold. The current permit is good through the end of August.
The home is not on the city’s historic register, leaving city officials without any power to stop demolition. McGillis recommended that a historic designation be one of the conditions of the lot split approval — a condition the city has required and approved before — but the commission rejected that after they heard no one was willing to preserve the home.
Betsy Owens, executive director of preservation group Friends of Casa Feliz, said the group would still like to see the home maintained.
“Until the house comes down we remain hopeful that a preservation option exists,” she said. “It would be a terrible loss if the house were demolished given that there is a known vetted buyer in Matt Morgan, who was willing to preserve the house.”
For now, the future of the estate remains in limbo.
“The saga is to be continued,” Morgan said.
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 14, 2026 | City Commission, News, Police and Public Safety
Commissioners Want Safety Class and Other Rules for Kids on E-Bikes
Winter Park is still considering exactly what rules to put in place and how to enforce them
Aug. 14, 2026
By Gabrielle Russon
Winter Park is considering imposing new regulations aimed to crack down on people driving electric bikes and motorized scooters dangerously around town.
The City Commission held a workshop Thursday to discuss how they want to craft a future city ordinance although they did not take an official vote. No public meeting date has been scheduled yet for the City Commission to vote on the final ordinance, spokeswoman Clarissa Howard said afterward.
The issue of e-bikes and e-scooters has been a hot topic in Central Florida. Just ahead of the new school year, Orange County Public Schools banned the devices for all students unless they have a valid driver’s license or learner’s permit. School officials expressed frustration that state and local governments have not acted sooner to pass any safety reforms.
On the workshop’s agenda, draft language of the ordinance proposed a 10 mph speed limit for any electric bicycle or motorized scooter traveling on sidewalks, shared-use paths, trails and parks. E-bikes and e-scooters would be banned on sidewalks within the central business district, Hannibal Square Neighborhood Commercial District or Orange Avenue District just like bicycles are.
But city officials questioned whether to include a specific speed limit at all.
Winter Park Police Chief Tim Volkerson said he was hesitant about the challenges of enforcing a 10 mph limit.
“Conceptually, I like the 10 miles an hour, but the reality is if you set a speed limit of 10 miles an hour, I’m going to have a line of people at my door wanting to know why we’re not running radar on sidewalks and giving kids tickets for going 11 and 12 mph on the sidewalks,” Volkerson said. “If it’s in ordinance, there is going to be an expectation that we are going to enforce it.”
He also warned some electric vehicles young people are riding don’t have speedometers.
“It’s hard to hold a 13- or 14-year-old kid accountable for going 10 miles an hour when he doesn’t have any method of determining that he’s going 10 miles an hour,” Volkerson said.
City officials suggested not having a specific speed limit at all but crafting the ordinance to say “unsafe speeds” or “carless” driving was prohibited on e-bikes and e-scooters.
However, Commissioner Elizabeth Ingram said if the city left it “broad like that, everyone’s going to have their own opinion of what is careless.”
Under the proposed ordinance, e-bike and motorized scooters would need to yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian.
Winter Park officials nixed a proposed provision to require e-bike and e-scooter drivers to carry a government-issued photograph ID.
Anyone under 16 will be required to take a city-approved safety education class to ride in city limits.
“I absolutely love the idea of requiring kids to attend the class. I think it’s very, very smart,” said Volkerson, who added that young people are already required to take a class to ride dirt bikes.
Volkerson balked at the idea of the city issuing a card to prove young people took the course. He preferred they get a certification of completion.
“They blow through stop signs,” Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said of young offenders she has witnessed. “They need to just learn the basic rules of the road.”
The proposed ordinance said parents or legal guardians would be held responsible for minors who get cited for violating the ordinance. City officials did not discuss how much the fines would cost.
“This is about accountability,” Commissioner Craig Russell said.
Other city officials acknowledged the city had limited leverage to handle repeat offenders since the city would not be giving licenses although Volkerson pointed out the city can impound e-bikes and e-scooters
“Tow company doesn’t care if it’s a bike or a car. You are going to pay a high impound fee for that,” Volkerson said.
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