by Beth Kassab | Jan 22, 2025 | City Commission, News, Zoning and Development
Dispute over lake view comes down to single palm tree
The commission also applauded the service of Jeff Briggs and heard an update on the negotiations over school resource officers
Jan. 22, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Jeff Briggs, retiring planning director, received a standing ovation Wednesday from the City Commission and those in the audience as he capped 47 years at the city of Winter Park.
Briggs, who is officially retiring this month after a year-long consulting stint with the city, is known for helping to define Winter Park’s unique look and feel through 11 mayors and 32 commissioners.
Jeff Briggs speaks to the commission chambers as Mayor Sheila DeCiccio looks on.
He said Wednesday marked his 1,126th City Commission meeting and joked, “How much suffering can one person take?”
Briggs thanked the commission and the city staff and noted that planning and development tends to be the most controversial topic in the city, an observation that was evidenced later in the meeting when he defended — and the commission upheld — one of his final acts on the job — enforcing landscaping conditions on a lakefront homeowner who neighbors said is detracting from their own water views.
Can a palm tree block a lake view?
The debate over landscaping on Virginia Drive recieved the most air time Wednesday with commissioners ultimately denying an appeal from a homeowner who argued his palm tree did not violate a condition by the Planning & Zoning Board to keep landscaping under 6 feet. The special conditions came about for the property in 2021 when the P&Z board allowed the homeowner to construct his home closer to the lake shore than typically allowed.
Hedges on the property line are also taller than 6 feet, but the homeowner said he would shorten those if he can keep the palm tree in question.
A neighbor two doors down says the tall palm shoots straight through the wider view of Lake Virginia from near the lake’s southeast tip where the shoreline bends around into a small cove.
Michelle Randolph said if someone holds a finger directly in front of you, yes, you can see around the finger.
“But how much of a distraction is the finger?” she asked. “It definitely impairs the view.”
Homeowner Jonathan Cole and his attorney argued that he never agreed to the conditions and that the impact of the tree is minimal, particularly for neighbors who are two doors down. They also argued that the part of the city code that relates to lake views only covers buildings, not landscaping.
“I’ve tried to be neighborly … I’ve tried to have discussions,” Cole said in response to Commissioner Craig Russell, who asked if neighbors tried to simply work out an agreement among themselves. “I’m shocked that I’m here talking about palm trees.”
Ultimately, the commission voted 5-0 to uphold the P&Z decision that the palm tree should be removed.
SRO negotiations continue
City Manager Randy Knight told the board that the city and Orange County Public Schools continue to negotiate a new price tag for the city-provided school resource officers.
He said the cities that did not agree to the districts terms are making progress in moving toward a new deal that would go into effect at the start of next school year.
OCPS, the 8th largest school district in the nation, pays the city about $72,000 a year per officer. That agreement is set to expire at the end of this school year.
Winter Park — along with Apopka, Ocoee, Winter Garden and Windermere — say that’s not enough to cover the true cost of supplying officers to the schools such as health insurance and benefits, the pension fund, equipment and overtime.
The Winter Park Police Department provides officers for Lakemont and Brookshire elementaries and Winter Park High School’s main campus and ninth grade center.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 21, 2025 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Warren Lindsey walks into Commission Seat 4 without opposition
Incumbent Kris Cruzada draws opponent Justin Vermuth for Commission Seat 3 as qualifying ended Tuesday ahead of the March election
Jan. 21, 2025
By Beth Kassab
First-time candidate and local defense attorney Warren Lindsey was automatically elected to the Winter Park City Commission on Tuesday after no other candidates qualified by the noon deadline.
Lindsey will take Seat 4 in the place of Todd Weaver after a swearing-in ceremony set for late March. Weaver opted not to run again.
He said he looked forward to getting to know more city staff and preparing to start his term.
“The polestar of my service will be to always put the interests of our citizens first and to promote our local businesses,” said Lindsey, a registered Democrat, on Tuesday afternoon.
Kris Cruzada
City elections are technically nonpartisan, but party politics historically bleeds into the campaigns and, in turn, some city issues with local party officials providing funding and campaign help.
Records show Lindsey raised nearly $35,000 for his campaign, including a $20,000 loan from himself. Contributors included prominent Democratic donors such as former Mayor Phil Anderson and Jennifer Anderson and former Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel, also a registered Democrat.
Lindsey currently serves on the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission and played a role in pushing Rollins College to agree to make partial tax payments on an apartment project the liberal arts school proposed as a way to provide a more affordable housing option close to campus for its early career faculty. In August, the City Commission approved the project, including the first-of-its-kind PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes agreement between the city and a tax-exempt nonprofit, after multiple revisions to the apartments’ architecture.
“I thought that project represented a constructive and collaborative effort by the city, Rollins and the surrounding neighbors,” he said. “It resulted in a quality project with less density and more parking than originally proposed.”
Justin Vermuth
Joining Lindsey on the dais for a new term in March will be the winner of a two-way contest for Seat 3 between incumbent Kris Cruzada, an attorney, and newcomer Justin Vermuth, an attorney who works as a lobbyist for the timeshare industry. The election is March 11.
Cruzada, a Republican who was first elected to the commission in 2022, grew up in the area and said he wants to continue to serve the residents for another term to “focus on infrastructure, keep our milage rate low and partner with nonprofit institutions on arts and culture,” among other issues.
“Between 36 months ago to today, I’ve learned a lot,” Cruzada said. “I think the record of the commission with Seven Oaks Park, the redevelopment of Winter Park Village, the redevelopment of the former Bank of the Ozarks property has all laid a good foundation for how we would like to develop moving forward.”
Records show Cruzada has raised $1,700.
He said he doesn’t know Vermuth well, but did appoint him to the Lakes and Waterways Board in 2022.
“I look forward to hearing what he has to say and I hope it’s a collegial race where the residents will have the ability to fully discern and decide who will be best for the city of Winter Park,” Cruzada said.
Vermuth did not return messages seeking comment for this story. Because he just entered the race he has not yet filed a campaign finance report. His LinkedIn profile lists him as the senior vice president for government affairs for the American Resort Development Association, which represents the timeshare industry.
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CORRECTION: This story previously listed the wrong party affiliation for former Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel. She is a registered Democrat.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 9, 2025 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, News
New fines for historic preservation demos delayed
The commission also decided against a mail-only vote on gas-powered leaf blowers and recognized the Winter Park High volleyball team as state champs
Jan. 9, 2025
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission put off for 60 days a decision on new penalties for historic properties that are demolished without approval after residents spoke out against the new rules and called for more opportunities to give input.
Speakers included Charlie Clayton, who owns a construction company involved in the unauthorized demolition of 965 Lakeview Drive in the historic College Quarter neighborhood, which is bordered by Rollins College and Lake Virginia.
He stepped to the podium and referred to himself as the “scourge who created this” and called for additional workshops about the new rules before they are put into place.
A photo from the Orange County Property Appraiser shows how the home at 965 Lakeview Drive looked in 2023. The above image shows what the home looked like last year after demolition.
Winter Parkers have long tussled over historic preservation rules with some in the camp of preserving the architectural contributions of often smaller homes built 50 or 100 years ago and others looking to maximize square footage on high-priced lakefront lots and other valuable property with more modern builds.
Suzanne Brandon, who lives in College Quarter, said she was in favor of the new rules to preserve the neighborhood, but also asked for more communication with the residents.
“I am in favor of this … we do need the 30% fine to prevent developers from bypassing the historic preservation board,” she said. “We need to make sure what is being built maintains the historic aesthetic.”
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio expressed disappointment that over time the rhetoric turned “nasty” and caused “divisiveness.” She noted that people move to Winter Park because of its charm and the unique historic homes that add value to the city — “that’s what keeps our housing prices so high.”
She supported a 60-day pause on the new rules and fines to allow staff to hold a workshop with historic home owners and other interested residents to provide more feedback on the changes.
No mail-only vote for leaf blower question
After urging the commission to move to a mail-only ballot for upcoming vote on whether the city should keep its ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, City Manager Randy Knight on Wednesday put a halt to that concept.
Turns out, he said, that a mail-only ballot would cost the city an additional $20,000 or so compared to an in-person vote.
As a result, commissioners opted against moving to the mail-only method if the two seats up for grabs on the commission remain unopposed by the Jan. 21 deadline. The election will be held March 11.
Good news for Winter Park Playhouse
The board gave official approval for a contract to by the building occupied by the Winter Park Playhouse. The nonprofit professional musical theater has spent nearly two years trying to secure a home after the building’s owner decided to sell and told the group it would lose its lease.
The deal is made possible through an $8 million grant from county Tourist Development Tax dollars. The Playhouse has pledged to raise $2 million toward the project.
“I hope you are able to hear the applause that erupt at the playhouse every time we announce that we will be able to stay at our location,” playhouse board member Judith Marlowe told the commission.
Volleyball team recognized as state champs
Winter Park High Volleyball is honored Wednesday at the City Commission.
Commissioners took a moment on Wednesday to celebrate the Winter Park High School volleyball team, which won the state title in November, it’s sixth championship in the program’s history.
“We played the toughest schedule we could find,” said Coach Stephanie Gibson, who was recognized last month as Florida Dairy Farmers girls volleyball coach of the year, making her what the Orlando Sentinel called a “36-year legend and the first coach to claim that honor five times.” “I’m so proud of the work we do on the court, probably the more impressive thing is each and every athlete also received” honors related to their academic performance.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 8, 2025 | City Commission, Historic Preservation, News
Todd Weaver tables own request to add his home to city's historic register
A state senator on Wednesday intervened in the matter and called the request by a sitting commissioner ‘a little weird’
Jan. 8, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Commissioner Todd Weaver withdrew his request on Wednesday to add his 1957 home to Winter Park’s historic register after complaints — including from state Sen. Jason Brodeur.
Weaver prefaced his remarks at Wednesday’s City Commission meeting by noting concerns that he called unfounded “by a few dissenters who don’t offer any positive ideas.”
Todd Weaver
Former Commissioner Pete Weldon, who Weaver unseated in a heated 2019 election, sent an email this week to residents accusing Weaver of failing to pull the proper permits when he converted a detached workshop behind the house to a small living space among other issues.
Brodeur sent an email Wednesday afternoon with the subject line, “Does this look historic to you?” and a photo of a house that does not belong to Weaver. The email from Citizens for Solutions, Brodeur’s political committee, went on to say that adding Weaver’s “lakefront ranch” to the historic register, “two months before his term ends, despite allegations from community members that there was unpermitted construction work to add a rental unit onto the property, raises red flags and serious concerns to me. I urge you to contact the mayor and commissioners if you, too, are concerned about this rushed consideration for Commissioner Weaver’s personal benefit.”
Weaver announced last fall he is not running for re-election and will leave office by April.
Brodeur told the Voice on Wednesday that he included a photo of the wrong home intentionally because he didn’t want to provide an image of a fellow elected official’s house. He said the photo he used is similar to the look of Weaver’s home.
“It’s up to the city,” he said. “I’m just raising the concern … a sitting commissioner doing this two months before he’s out of office looks a little weird.”
Brodeur said concerns were brought to him by constituents in his district, which covers Seminole County and a small piece of north central Orange County that includes Winter Park.
Jason Brodeur
The Republican also involved himself in a city debate last year when he advocated against Winter Park’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers and threatened to take away the ability of cities statewide to create such bans if Winter Park commissioners did not put a referendum on the matter to voters this year. That question will now appear on the March ballot.
Weaver, a Democrat who was a leading proponent of creating the ban because of the noise and health and environmental impacts of the gas-powered machines, is one of the commission’s most vocal environmentalists.
Longtime planning director Jeff Briggs, who is set to officially retire this month, said owners can voluntarily apply to add their homes to Winter Park’s historic register, which includes some 400 properties. The homes must be at least 50 years old and include distinctive characteristics of a type, period or method of construction or architecture. Structures can also be added if they are associated with historic events or people.
The Historic Preservation Board recommended approval of Weaver’s application last month after a staff report made the case for adding the home and noting that it’s common for those like it, especially on a lake, to be demolished.
“When one sees many other homes of similar mid-century modern architectural styling in a neighborhood, then the misconception is that such is
not worthy of a historic preservation status,” said the report. “This home is of mid-century modern architectural styling. Many of these low-sloped roof, one-story homes from the 1950s are what the City routinely sees for tear-downs and rebuilds. Especially in lakefront locations. What this historic designation will do is to maintain the scale and look of the original homes built in this neighborhood.”
Owners of homes on the historic register are allowed a special perk of renting out garage apartments or, in Weaver’s case, a detached “cottage” for a minimum of 30 days. Such rentals are not otherwise permitted in the city.
Weaver said he rented out the cottage previously until 2018 when he learned it was against city code and before he took public office.
He denied any wrongdoing related to permits for work he did on the unit and said the structure already contained plumbing for a toilet and a sink as well as electric when he used the space as a workshop before his neighborhood was annexed into the city in 2004.
The cottage is used today at no charge by traveling artists who are in town for the opera or other events, he said. Weaver told the Voice he did not plan to rent the unit for money even if the home is added to the historic register. He plans to bring his application forward again later this year when he is no longer in public office.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 8, 2025 | City Commission, News, Taxes, Uncategorized
News outlets in Central Florida will collaborate to examine impacts of homeless camping ban
The Voice joins 10 outlets in providing reporting on an important topic for local residents, taxpayers and the homeless
Dec. 8, 2025
Staff Report
The Winter Park Voice is joining 10 local news outlets in a regional collaboration to report on the local impact of Florida’s new Unauthorized Public
Camping and Public Sleeping bill (House Bill 1365), set to be enforced Jan. 1. For six months these news outlets will share and cross-publish their reporting to work toward creating a more informed and engaged Central Florida community. This collaboration is an ongoing effort, which additional news organizations may join over time.
The Voice is contributing reporting to examine how the law will impact residents and taxpayers in Winter Park and beyond. Through its coverage, the Voice aims to provide readers with timely and trustworthy reporting on this critical issue.
“This project will, in part, help examine how laws passed in Tallahassee ripple out to city halls and local taxpayers where the true impacts, costs and consequences are often most acutely felt,” said Voice Editor Beth Kassab. “We are excited to be a part of this first-of-its-kind local collaboration and provide information that we hope will help engage our community on the important issue of homelessness and the steps needed for real solutions.”
This collaboration was formed at the Central Florida Journalism Ecosystem Summit, created last summer by Central Florida Public Media, Central Florida Foundation and Oviedo Community News. The Summit served as the first strategic alliance of local news organizations looking to change the course of civic engagement in Central Florida.
Following the Summit, a nine-member task force facilitated by Mark Brewer, president and CEO of Central Florida Foundation, met to fine-tune the collaborative’s goals and select a pilot project – choosing House Bill 1365 as the first major issue to address together.
This collaboration highlights the power of regional news outlets unifying under the same goal.
“As the only local nonprofit news organization serving all of Central Florida, we believe we have a responsibility to unite the community’s news outlets and prioritize public service over competition,” said Judith Smelser, president and general manager of Central Florida Public Media. “Gone are the days when one single media outlet could meet the region’s needs alone. By working together, we can strengthen and preserve local journalism.”
“One of the Central Florida Foundation’s core values is fostering a well-informed and civically engaged community,” said Mark Brewer, president and CEO of the Central Florida Foundation, which is providing operational but not editorial guidance to the budding collaborative. “The Journalism Ecosystem Summit and, subsequently, this first collaboration among local news organizations are excellent examples of Central Florida as a leader in community innovation,
with organizations across sectors that want to work together to achieve shared goals.”
“Looking to best practices around the nation, this group of committed news organizations has been working hard to create a local model that will reach more Central Floridians and dive deeper into issues that matter to our audiences,” Oviedo Community News Editor-in-chief Megan Stokes said. “Accessibility and creating news that responds to local needs have been pillars of Oviedo Community News from the start. We are excited to work with this collaborative to help spread that public service throughout the region.”
You can find more information on all participating organizations below:
- To learn more about Central Florida Public Media, visit https://www.cfpublic.org/about
- To learn more about LkldNow, visit https://www.lkldnow.com/about/
- To learn more about Orlando Sentinel, visit https://www.orlandosentinel.com/about/
- To learn more about Osceola News-Gazette, visit https://www.aroundosceola.com/advertise
- To learn more about Oviedo Community News, visit https://oviedocommunitynews.org/our-story/#
- To learn more about The Community Paper, visit https://www.yourcommunitypaper.com/contact-us/
- To learn more about VoxPopuli, https://www.wintergardenvox.com/about
- To learn more about Winter Park Voice, visit https://winterparkvoice.com/
- To learn more about WKMG-TV/ClickOrlando.com, visit https://www.clickorlando.com/station/
- To learn more about WUCF, visit https://www.wucf.org/about/
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 6, 2025 | City Commission, Election, Historic Preservation, News, Uncategorized
Winter Park Playhouse, a commissioner's home and gas leaf blower ban top first agenda of 2025
Commissioners are slated to move forward on the purchase of the Playhouse building as Blue Bamboo seeks to move ahead with renovations at the old library. Changes to historic preservation rules as well as a designation of a commissioner’s home on the local register also up for consideration
Jan. 6, 2025
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park commissioners will return to the dais on Wednesday for the first time in the new year with an agenda that also highlights some of the issues that are likely to remain front and center through the first half of 2025.
Let’s dive right in:
The arts scene
After a long period of uncertainty about its future, the Winter Park Playhouse appears on a solid path to expanding in the same place patrons have come to love the community theater.
Commissioners will take a vote on the contract to purchase the building, part of a deal use Orange County tourist tax dollars for the acquisition and renovations that would allow the playhouse to stay put. The nonprofit theater was unable to purchase the building on its own and risked losing its stage if the land was bought and redeveloped by another owner.
The city considered multiple options, with some commissioners even angling to help the theater construct a new building in Seven Oaks Park, but ultimately settled on applying for a Tourist Development Tax grant. The county awarded the city $8 million in the fall to move forward on the project.
The city will purchase the building at 711 N. Orange Ave. for $3.8 million following a 60-day inspection period if the contract is approved. The remainder of the grant along with $2 million to be raised by the playhouse will go toward expanding seating capacity by 50% and other upgrades.
According to a staff memorandum posted with the City Commission agenda, the purchase would not impose any immediate costs to the city because it intends to enter a lease with the Playhouse that says the theater is financially responsible for all upkeep. But with the city as the owner of the land, it’s likely that the property will become exempt from taxes that fund city and county services such as roads, parks and schools — an estimated loss of about $15,000 each year to the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency.
At the same time, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts is moving forward on its plans to renovate the old library, which it’s leasing from the city.
A rendering shows the proposed entrance for the new Blue Bamboo, which plans to repurpose the old library. (Courtesy of Blue Bamboo)
Executive Director Chris Cortez said the project is in the second round of permitting revisions and he hopes to start construction work soon. He is targeting opening the first floor of the building as a venue space during the first quarter of this year. Aside from adding stages and seating and making the bathrooms accessible to people who use wheelchairs, his team is looking at other changes such as converting the former book store into a space for records and retail similar to the Blue Bamboo’s old lobby.
“We love the original design,” Cortez said. “We aren’t proposing very many changes to the building structure at all.”
Historic Preservation
It’s unusual for city commissioners to bring business before their own board, but that will happen Wednesday when Todd Weaver asks fellow commissioners to add his home on Lake Bell to the city’s Register of Historic Places.
Weaver said he’s been contemplating historic designation for the mid-century modern home west of U.S. 17-92 for some time and decided to take action before longtime Planning Director Jeff Briggs retires this month.
Critics have asserted that Weaver has flouted city rules by adding on to the home without proper permits. But Weaver disputes those claims, noting that his neighborhood wasn’t annexed by the city until 2004 and the work he did was permitted by Orange County.
The home includes a 515-square-foot detached space that Weaver calls a “cottage.” He said it started out as a shed and was used as his shop for a time before he made changes to convert it into a living space.
Before he knew it was against city code, he rented out the cottage. But Weaver said he hasn’t done so since 2018 when he learned short-term rentals were not permitted by Winter Park.
He said he now offers the space for free to artists who are coming through town to perform with the opera or philharmonic.
A historic designation would allow Weaver to rent out the cottage for a minimum of 30 days at a time. Owners of historic homes are granted that perk to add value to properties that they have agreed not to demolish and rebuild at a larger footprint.
But Weaver says he doesn’t intend to take advantage of that provision.
“I don’t have any plans of renting it out now,” he said, but will allow the arts community to continue to use the space.
The Historic Preservation Board recommended last month that the home be added to the register.
“Many of these low-sloped roof, one-story homes from the 1950s are what the city routinely sees for tear-downs and rebuilds,” read the staff report. “Especially in lakefront locations. What this historic designation will do is to maintain the scale and look of the original homes built in this neighborhood.”
Commissioners will also consider new procedures and penalties when it comes to unauthorized construction or demolitions of historic properties. The changes are in response to recent violations in historic neighborhoods.
Under the proposed new rules, the ordinance would add a review process of construction plans after the initial approval. The code will also clarify that any authorized alterations or demolitions must be replaced by architectural styling from the era represented in the neighborhood, often from the 1920s to the 1940s.
In addition, if a structure is demolished without authorization, the city can revoke setback variances previously granted on the property in exchange for preservation. The new code also says property owners can propose financial compensation to the city as a way of retaining setback variances.
March elections
So far, the two City Commission seats up for grabs this year, have attracted just one candidate each. Without opposition, those candidates will be automatically elected and there will be no need for poll workers, ballot counting or any of the other related Election Day infrastructure.
As a result, commissioners will vote on Wednesday whether to convert the referendum on gas-powered leaf blowers to a mail-only ballot. The question before voters — if the city should keep and begin enforcing its ban on the lawn tools that generate frequent noise complaints — is the only other item on the March 11 ballot aside from the commission seats.
Commissioners gave initial approval in December to a mail ballot if no other candidates qualify to run for commissioner by the deadline at noon on Jan. 21.
So far Kris Cruzada, the incumbent, has filed to run again for Seat 3. Warren Lindsey, a criminal defense attorney, filed to run for Seat 4 after incumbent Todd Weaver opted not to run again.
The board is required to vote on the change a second time and will also consider revised wording intended to clarify the ballot question.
Up for discussion
Commissioners are also set to approve their own meeting schedule for the first quarter, including a series of discussion-only workshops through March. The topics of those meetings help illustrate the board’s upcoming priorities:
Jan. 23: The concepts for a Park Avenue refresh project
Feb. 13: A debate about the process and criteria, if any, the city should consider when awarding grants to local nonprofits
Feb. 27: Changes to the city’s election code
March 13: The group’s first discussion about the 2026 budget
March 27: The city’s street sweeping policy
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