by Beth Kassab | Feb 8, 2024 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Candidates offer views on parking and development at Chamber forum
Two candidates failed to show (again) to face voters
Feb. 7, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Mayoral candidate Sheila DeCiccio and Commission Seat 2 candidates Jason Johnson and Craig Russell met Wednesday afternoon at the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce to answer questions that largely centered on future development. (You can watch a recording of the debate here.)
Michael Cameron, a candidate for mayor, and Stockton Reeves, a candidate for Seat 2, declined to attend. Both also failed to show up for public forums for their races at the Winter Park Library.
Reeves told the Voice this week he does plan to attend forums at the Mayflower and Westminster senior residential complexes, but those are not open to the public. Turnout among senior voters is reliably strong and considered crucial in Winter Park elections.
The Chamber forum offered an opportunity for Johnson and Russell, two first-time candidates for the seat vacated by DeCiccio because she is running for mayor, to draw some clear distinctions about what they would bring to the office.
Topics that highlighted those differences included the Orange Avenue Overlay, a special zoning district that was put into place by a previous commission and overturned in 2020 after DeCiccio was elected. The district allowed for taller and denser development along Orange Avenue roughly between Rollins College and U.S. 17-92.
The effort to overturn the OAO became the subject of a contentious lawsuit brought against the city by major property owners Mary Demetree and the Holler Family. The city prevailed in the lawsuit last year.
Forum moderator Fred Kittinger asked the candidates if they had any appetite to revisit the original provisions to help encourage investment along the corridor.
Russell, a teacher and coach at Winter Park High School, was the only candidate who said yes and the only candidate on Thursday whom the Chamber announced it would endorse this year through its political action committee known as Winter Park PAC.
He noted a lot of time and taxpayer money was spent on the original overlay and then a new commission said, “never mind.”
“I’m not OK with that,” Russell said, calling it “careless” to not at least take another look at a “great project.”
Johnson, though, emphatically stated he was not in favor of returning to the original OAO and wondered aloud if the large property owners along the strip were waiting for the makeup of the City Commission to change before moving ahead with redevelopment plans.
“I’m not sure I’m going to be their guy if that’s what they want,” he said.
DeCiccio, who was instrumental in overturning the OAO, said that without that decision Seven Oaks Park — the city’s newest open space under construction at Orange and Denning — would instead be a new tower and pointed out that badly needed road alignment and drainage projects could not have gone forward as they are today. She said she is open to tweaks in zoning along the corridor, but that the vast majority of residents did not want the kind of development the original OAO would have allowed.
Another question that showcased differences in the candidates related to parking. Candidates were asked how they might change the city’s rules about how many parking spaces developers must provide for different types of development — a code some chamber members consider antiquated and wasteful because they say too much land is set aside for parking that goes unused.
Again, only Russell appeared open to the types of changes the Chamber has advocated for, noting that he doesn’t mind “parking and then walking to where I need to go.” He didn’t offer specifics, but suggested the city look to other municipalities and experts for solutions.
Johnson said he would be OK with making some changes to the code, but he noted the challenges residents face finding parking along Park Avenue and other busy areas.
“I’m open to making those tweaks, but I’m not in favor of eviscerating the parking code as it stands,” he said.
DeCiccio added that the city is building parking along with Seven Oaks Park to help merchants on that end of Orange Avenue where parking is scarce.
The moderator also asked candidates what they would do to “generate charm” in the business areas such as Fairbanks Avenue and Lee Road.
DeCiccio pointed out that those roads are controlled by the state and said working with business owners is key to a solution.
Johnson suggested additional trees, wider sidewalks and offering incentives for businesses to redevelop their properties would be part of the answer.
For his part, Russell said, “I just have a problem with the word ‘charm.’ “I’m charming,” he joked. “This city is rich with history and tradition and we need to preserve that.”
Johnson used his closing statement to rebut that sentiment.
“Lots of people I’ve been talking to have asked me what’s the difference between you two?” he said referring to himself and Russell. “Craig, I appreciate anybody who puts his name on a ballot. I certainly appreciate Craig for showing up here tonight. But you heard one of the contrasts between us. Craig doesn’t like the word charm. I embrace it. It is my north star for running in this election. I’m not a politician, I’m just trying to do some public service for a city I love. The whole reason I’m running is to preserve the charm and village feel that we all love about Winter Park.”
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 8, 2024 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Sen. Jason Brodeur files -- then immediately withdraws -- preemption on leaf blowers
The amendment would prevent local governments from banning the gas-powered devices
Feb. 6, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Sen. Jason Brodeur launched a stern but fleeting attempt to prohibit cities like Winter Park from banning gas-powered leaf blowers.
In a short exchange during a meeting of the Senate Committee on Community Affairs on Tuesday, Brodeur said Winter Park was the impetus behind the idea, but immediately withdrew the amendment he filed on an unrelated bill. He warned he would “keep the language” and potentially make a harder push to preempt local governments from mandating electric leaf blowers another time.
“I intend to keep working with the city of Winter Park to show them if they keep doing nonsense like this to hurt their small businesses it’s going to be a lot worse later,” he said.
Brodeur, the Republican who represents Winter Park and Maitland along with Seminole County, called the city’s ban on gas-powered leaf blowers “preposterous” and “akin to mandating that you screen in pools.”
(In fact, Florida statutes do require new pools be enclosed, fenced or meet other safety measures to pass a final inspection.)
State legislators have responded to local officials in recent years with an increasing number of preemptions — measures that take control away from from elected city and county leaders.
The idea of “local control” was once the mantra of many Florida Republicans. But that has evolved into cheerleading a heavier-handed state government, particularly when the topics resonate as the ideological battles or culture wars popularized by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Florida Legislature has removed the ability of local governments or school boards to have a say in matters such as setting renewable energy standards, gun ranges, tenants’ rights, affordable housing projects and the books on the shelves at public schools.
Vice Mayor Sheila DeCiccio, who is running for mayor, said during a forum at the Winter Park Library on Thursday that she understood the reason Brodeur pulled the amendment is because of the number of cities in South Florida who “complained bitterly” that they are very satisfied with their bans on gas leaf blowers.
She noted that Winter Park adopted the gas leaf blower ban in 2022, joining cities such as Naples and Bicayne Bay, because of noise complaints during the pandemic. She said city officials believed at the time that waiting 30 months — or until July 1 of this year — to enact the ban was enough time for landscape companies to transition to new equipment.
In addition to regulating noise, the ban takes an incremental but significant step away from the emission-producing devices.
“This decision reflects the city’s dedication to prioritizing environmentally conscious practices as well as its commitment to sustainability, reducing noise and air pollution, and protecting the water quality of its lakes,” according to a recent city press release. “Gas-powered leaf blowers are known for their noise and significant environmental impact, emitting harmful pollutants into the atmosphere. These pollutants contribute to air quality degradation and pose health risks to both residents and the environment.”
In January, commissioners approved a $50 utility bill rebate for any resident who purchased an electric leaf blower. That move sparked debate over the ban, originally passed in 2022 but with a 30-month delay before it begins in July.
Landscape companies complained about the cost of high-grade electric models, the duration of the batteries and the weight of the equipment on workers’ backs.
Mayor Phil Anderson proposed an additional six-month delay of the ban, but commissioners voted 3-2 in a special meeting called on the topic to keep the July 1 start date.
A city web page is now devoted to the reasoning behind the ban as well as this comparison of gas-powered vs. electric leaf blowers.
The city’s comparison shows that the upfront cost of the electric devices and their batteries are far higher than the gas-powered models. But the cost of operating each model per hour is lower for the electric blowers when the cost of electricity vs. gasoline is factored in.
The city says its Parks & Recreation Department has replaced 98% of its leaf blowers with electric models and 100% of its trimmers. It’s also invested in two zero-turn lawn mowers and three utility carts.
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by Beth Kassab | Feb 1, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Commissioners don't budge on gas-powered leaf blower ban
The debate over how to keep leaves off lawns provoked angry outbursts
Feb. 1, 2024
By Beth Kassab
A proposal by Mayor Phil Anderson to delay the start of a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers by six months failed to gain traction Thursday morning as commissioners held a special meeting to discuss the change that is rivaling brick streets, the new library and multi-story buildings for controversy in Winter Park.
Instead, the board voted 3-2 to keep the July 1 start date, but delay imposing any fines until Jan. 1, 2025. Commissioners Kris Cruzada and Todd Weaver voted against the fine delay. Cruzada said his main concern was specifying regulations related to noise from the machines. Weaver argued that the 30-month delay in enforcing the ordinance since it was passed in 2022 was enough time for residents and landscape companies to comply.
The outcome is essentially the status quo because commissioners already acknowledged at a meeting last month that fines and aggressive enforcement weren’t the intent of the ordinance. City Manager Randy Knight said he did not expect code enforcement staff to actively patrol for violations, but rather respond to questions and reports of problems.
The debate surrounding how residents or their hired services should remove fallen leaves from their lawns grew louder in recent weeks since the commission approved a $50 utility bill rebate for residents who purchased electric versions of the devices.
Representatives from landscape companies have said they didn’t know about the new rule and told Anderson and City Manager Randy Knight in a meeting last week at City Hall that the cost of the electric blowers would crush their businesses.
Thursday’s meeting turned loud at times with Anderson twice pausing the meting to call on the audience twice to follow basic decorum. A dozen people spoke against the ordinance during public comment, including owners of landscape companies.
“We’re a small business and operate with historically small margins,” said Eric Kobb, the owner of one company, who estimated it would cost him about $100,000 to transition his crews to electric blowers and another $50,000 or more in additional yearly costs. “Where does this money come from?”
Chad Carter, another owner of a landscaping service, said his crews require about 20 blowers. He estimated the cost of each one would go up from about $500 to $2,000.
“How am I going to pay for that?” he asked. “The customer is going to have to pay for it.”
Another speaker criticized the commission for the ban, calling it “fascist,” and attempted to discredit the commission by pointing out that Winter Park’s electricity utility purchases its power from fossil fuel sources. Commissioner Todd Weaver attempted to point out that the commission recently passed a long-term plan to move to at least 80 percent renewable energy sources.
Yet another person even likened the policy to “Hitler.”
Anderson said the idea behind the 30-month pause after the ordinance was first passed in 2022 was to give companies time to naturally upgrade their equipment under the premise that the gas-powered machines would need to be replaced every two years or so.
“We naively felt the market would work,” he said.
Weaver defended the ordinance as an improvement for environmental and public health.
“For me, this is about exceptional quality of life,” he said. “We could have done something more harsh like implement it sooner … we could have done what California does and ban all gas-powered tools.”
He said there is misinformation circulating about how the devices must be charged, which he said can be done in workers’ vehicles. He also noted the batteries are recyclable.
Anderson, who will leave office by April after the March 19 election because he is not running for another term, asked for the city to call a check-in meeting or work session with landscape companies and others in April.
Because the commission did not decide to alter the original ordinance, the issue will no longer appear on the city’s next regular meeting on Feb. 14.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 30, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Special commission meeting called on gas-powered leaf blower ban
The City Commission will meet on Thursday to discuss next steps
Jan. 30, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Mayor Phil Anderson has called a special meeting of the City Commission for Thursday at 9 a.m. to discuss how to handle a growing number of concerns about the ban on gas-powered leaf blowers that is set to take effect July 1.
The Commission passed the ordinance in 2022, but approved a 30-month delay in enforcement to give residents and landscape companies time to prepare.
But in recent weeks, landscape companies have said they did not know about the upcoming ban and expect the cost and other impacts of battery-powered equipment to be overly burdensome.
Anderson said a meeting he had last week at City Hall with representatives from landscape companies, equipment manufacturers and one company that is already using all-electric equipment was insightful.
“That meeting was really productive with some ideas shared,” he said. “So Thursday’s meeting is to sort of process that meeting and decide what we might want to do.”
He said he still expects the issue to be discussed at the next regular commission meeting on Feb. 14.
The ban was passed as an ordinance and any changes to it such as a delay in the start date or a full repeal would require specific public notice and two votes at two meetings.
Thursday’s meeting will allow the commissioners to have an open discussion to decide what changes, if any, they want to make.
Earlier this month, commissioners passed a $50 rebate in the form of a utility bill credit for residents who purchase electric leaf blowers.
But that does little to help the companies that serve thousands of lawns in Winter Park and use industrial level blowers that can cost $1,300.
In addition to concerns over the cost of the new equipment, landscapers have said the battery powered devices will slow down their work because they are less powerful, require charging and are heavier on workers’ backs.
“To comply with this law, more equipment on the trailer means more fuel costs to haul that equipment,” read one flyer that asks people to join in opposition to the ban. “This will result in higher costs to the homeowners and the landscaping companies purchasing and running generators to charge the blowers’ batteries.”
In Florida, Naples and Miami Beach have also approved bans. The Washington Post reported recently that cities across the country have put similar bans on gas leaf blowers into place such as Washington, D.C, and Evanston, Ill. California is set to begin enforcing a statewide ban on the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment. Naples also enacted a ban.
Electric equipment is healthier for humans and the environment because there are fewer toxic emissions and comes without the jarring buzzsaw-like grind of a gas engine.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 25, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized
Commissioners must detail net worth unless lawsuit blocks new rule
Winter Park commissioners will consider at the next meeting whether to join a lawsuit to try prevent the financial disclosure rules from taking effect
Jan. 25, 2024
By Beth Kassab
About 12 miles south of Winter Park in another affluent city centered on a different chain of lakes, four out of the seven elected commissioners in the city of Belle Isle have resigned over new and far more detailed financial disclosures required by the state.
The new law, which beginning this year requires elected city officials to detail their net worth including assets and liabilities valued at $1,000 or more by July, is sparking resignations across Florida and, now, a legal challenge.
While no elected officials have resigned in Winter Park, city commissioners are now mulling whether to join a lawsuit that City Attorney Kurt Ardaman said he expects to be filed in early February.
Mayor Phil Anderson said during the discussion at Wednesday’s meeting that the new requirements appear intrusive.
“Note that no one resigned so come July 1, there’s going to be stuff out there we wouldn’t have normally had to do,” Anderson said. “You care about your community, but you also care about your privacy. This seems to be a pretty big reach into your privacy.”
Form 6, which has been filed by the governor, lawmakers, school boards and other constitutional officers for many years, is a new requirement for city officials as a result of changes by the Florida Legislature last year. Until now, city officials filed a far less detailed disclosure known as Form 1, which asked for sources of income, property and liabilities, but did not require any dollar amounts.
The forms are then added to a Florida Commission on Ethics database searchable by the public.
Commissioner Todd Weaver expressed concerns over potential theft over having to list expensive items in his home.
“I just feel like its an open invitation for theft,” he said. “I think its egregious.”
But the form allows officials to report household items as an aggregate figure without a detailed list. The detail required is related to financial assets, property, business interests and any debts. Liabilities are then subtracted from an official’s total assets to determine net worth.
While a number of elected officials have called the change an overreach, the ethics commission uses them as a way to provide the public with accountability when it comes to understanding any conflicts of interest an elected official might have. The forms could also serve as a check on whether officials appear to be privately profiting from holding public office.
Ardaman said the city would pay a $10,000 flat fee to join the lawsuit. He said multiple cities he represents are considering whether to join.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that in surveyed local governments in Lake, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties, and found that eight elected officials have resigned. They include two in Edgewood, one in Casselberry, and one Windermere, in addition to the four in Belle Isle.
Commissioners set another discussion on the topic for Feb. 14.
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by Beth Kassab | Jan 25, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized, Zoning and Development
Commission postpones decision on Rollins faculty apartments
The liberal arts college offered a concession right out of the gate by reducing the number of units from 48 to 39, but commissioners wanted more
Jan. 25, 2024
By Beth Kassab
The City Commission on Wednesday postponed a decision on a request from Rollins College to build faculty apartments a few blocks north of Fairbanks Avenue from the liberal arts campus despite a significant reduction in units and new project renderings.
Rollins President Grant Cornwell immediately acknowledged nearby residents’ discontent over the proposal and offered to reduce the number of units from 48 to 39.
“We’ve heard the concerns about parking and we’ve heard concerns about density so we come here to you today prepared to build a smaller project than we originally proposed,” he said, explaining that he sees faculty apartments as “strategic” to the college’s mission and “nobody is making any money here … this isn’t a business deal.”
But that did little to quell concerns and several commissioners presented lists of additional demands and questions from the length of time Rollins must maintain the project as faculty and staff housing, to what defines faculty, the materials used to construct the building, potential mandatory solar power to the building’s aesthetics.
The number of stories and whether the roof is sloped or flat emerged as perhaps the biggest sticking point of the night. Typically buildings along that stretch of Welbourne Avenue are restricted to 2.5 stories with a sloped roof and dormer windows. But Rollins is asking for three story vertical construction with a flat roof, which is allowed just blocks away in the city’s Central Business District.
Becky Wilson, an attorney from Lowndes who represents Rollins, explained that the dormer windows would not work because the third level needs to be used for full units and sloped walls would interfere in the design.
“We also worked a little on the renderings,” she said, nodding to concerns expressed by residents at last week’s Planning & Zoning Board meeting about the architecture.
She emphasized that Rollins will continue to own and control the building and would prohibit tenants from draping items over the balconies or making them unsightly in other ways.
Some of the residents’ concerns conjured images of a fraternity house versus up to three-bedroom units for new professors and their families. A number of residents of the Douglas Grand condominium building said they feared their own units will drop in value because of Rollins’ planned framed construction with what they called too few architectural details to emulate the Spanish-Mediterranean style the main campus is known for.
“Please consider whether or not you would purchase a $1 million residence across the street from what would be at best an average maintained, subsidized apartment complex,” read one email to commissioners from a resident.
“It is the appearance of the rental facility that makes it even more distasteful,” read another.
“Not to sound snotty, but this is the type of apartment better suited for cities like Fern Park or Casselberry,” a resident wrote.
Wilson clarified that the apartments would not be restricted by income, but the college plans to charge rents based on affordability for people who earn up to 120%, or perhaps even more, of the area median income.
Cornwell has said he envisions tenure-seeking faculty who are early in their careers to utilize the units so they can afford to live near campus, where many home prices easily exceed $1 million.
As the meeting went on, it became clear there weren’t enough votes for Rollins to win approval, particularly after Mayor Phil Anderson said he wasn’t comfortable with a three-story building and other factors.
“For me, compatibility is less about intensity and more about what the building is going to look like,” he said.
Anderson urged residents to understand that whether the college pays property taxes on the property or not is up to federal and state rules governing tax-exempt organizations and a determination by the county property appraiser. Typically, non-profit groups — even big-monied ones like hospital systems AdventHealth and Orlando Health and major universities — don’t pay property taxes when the land is used to further the group’s mission.
City Attorney Kurt Ardaman said there is case law to support faculty housing as a purpose that would qualify for an exemption.
The City Commission voted unanimously to table a decision until its next meeting on Feb. 14.
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