by Beth Kassab | Oct 1, 2024 | City Commission, Election, News, Uncategorized
Kris Cruzada to seek reelection, but Todd Weaver decides not to run
Two City Commission seats are up for grabs in the March election — one political newcomer has already filed
Oct. 1, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Kris Cruzada will seek a second term in Seat 3 on the City Commission while Todd Weaver has opted out of running again for Seat 4 ahead of the March 11 election.
Warren Lindsey, a well-known criminal defense attorney who has lived in Winter Park for 30 years, has filed to run for the seat left open by Weaver’s decision.
Lindsey is a first-time candidate for office and currently serves on the city’s Planning & Zoning Board.
Warren Lindsey
That experience, he said, led to a desire to get more involved in city government.
“It’s wonderful — you really see democracy in action,” Lindsey said. “People from all walks of life come up to the podium.”
If elected, Lindsey said his priorities will be keeping taxes low (Winter Park has the second lowest millage rate among local cities) while preserving the quality of city services, including the police and fire departments.
He’s also interested in economic development and improving the health of the Winter Park Chain of Lakes.
Lindsey, who graduated from Stetson University and the University of Florida law school, practices at Lindsey, Ferry & Parker and previously practiced with Chandler Muller and Kirk Kirkconnell, who both died from cancer in 2012. The Winter Park group was known for taking on some of the highest profile criminal cases in the state.
Kris Cruzada
Weaver, an engineer who was first elected in 2019, said his professional responsibilities are taking more of his time so he decided against seeking a third term.
Cruzada, an attorney first elected in 2022, said he wants to continue initiatives he started in his first term such as working with his fellow commissioners to shore up the city’s aging infrastructure, including roads and flood prevention measures. He also wants to continue to make the building code more predictable so that landowners have more clarity over how they can develop their property.
“I want to continue on the path of what I set out to do,” said Cruzada, a lifelong resident of the area.
He graduated from the University of Central Florida and earned a law degree from St. Louis University. Today he practices family and personal injury law and works for his family’s property holdings company.
Todd Weaver
Candidates looking to enter one of the city races must qualify by Jan. 21. They are elected to three-year terms and can serve a maximum of four terms or 12 years on the board.
The March 11 ballot will also include a referendum asking voters whether or not the city should keep in place its ban on gas-powered leaf blowers to help regulate noise and emissions. The current ban, originally passed in 2022, is not yet being enforced after a controversy erupted earlier this year when landscape companies argued the rule imposed too heavy of a financial burden.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 25, 2024 | Election, News, Uncategorized
J.D. Vance fundraiser at home of Golden Corral owner shut down residential streets
The campaign event also prompted heavy police presence in the neighborhood around Lake Virginia
Sept. 25, 2024
By Beth Kassab
A fundraiser reportedly featuring J.D. Vance at the home of Eric and Diane Holm shut down residential streets off Lake Virginia on Wednesday afternoon as rain started falling head of Hurricane Helene’s projected landfall in the panhandle.
Police from Winter Park and Maitland as well as Orange County deputies patrolled the area, including by boat. From across Lake Virginia, white tents could be seen in the backyard of the nearly 10,000-square-foot residence that belongs to the owners of Golden Corral.
The home of Eric and Diane Holm. (Orange County Property Appraiser’s Office)
The Holms were listed on a flyer posted on social media by Rep. Anna Eskamani for the lunch event (no word on whether it included an all-you-can-eat buffet or a chocolate fountain) as part of the event’s host committee. The flyer for the Trump campaign event featuring the vice presidential candidate also listed as “hosts:” Rep. Aaron Bean; Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson; Rep. Kat Cammack; Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis; Rep. Michael Waltz; Ricky Caplin and Nancy McGowan.
Seats started at $5,000 per couple, according to the flyer, all the way up to $100,000 per couple.
A Harris sign peeks out from a front yard near a fundraiser that reportedly featured J.D. Vance on Wednesday afternoon.
At least one house on a closed stretch of road near the event had a “Harris/Walz” sign in the front yard that was obscured by what appeared to be valet golf carts.
The Holms have hosted a number of charity events at their home, which features a room dedicated to their English Bulldog with a custom carrousel style bed, according to a 2019 story in Winter Park Magazine.
Holm is also known for his charitable work, including a Thanksgiving dinner for more than 20,000 at the Salvation Army in Orlando known as “Helpings from the Heart.”
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 22, 2024 | Election, News, Uncategorized
Text poll appears to test possible attacks in District 5 County Commission race
Steve Leary and Kelly Semrad will face off on the Nov. 5 ballot for the district that includes Winter Park
Sept. 23, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Somebody is testing potential attack ads against Kelly Semrad, the candidate who finished first in last month’s primary election for Orange County Commission District 5.
A poll received earlier this month by voters in the district asked multiple questions evaluating possible lines of attack against Semrad – while also testing positive messages for Steve Leary, the former Winter Park mayor who finished second in last month’s primary and now faces a one-on-one runoff with Semrad on the Nov. 5 ballot.
The poll could be a preview of last-minute attacks ads that could surface in the closing weeks or days of the campaign, whether from Leary’s campaign itself or surrogates such as Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer or the Florida Realtors lobbying group, both of which paid for ads helping Leary during last month’s primary.
Semrad, a UCF professor, and Leary are vying for one of three seats up for election this year that will shape the makeup of the Orange County Commission at a time when developers are seeking permission to transform vast rural areas into subdivisions.
The poll stated clear falsehoods about Semrad such as “Kelly Semrad has no plans to protect Orange County’s environment and natural areas from urban sprawl.”
In reality, Semrad is an outspoken advocate for two referendums that will also appear on the November ballot. The first asks voters to designate a rural boundary in the county and the second would give the County Commission the power to stop potential developers from voluntarily annexing their land into other jurisdictions such as the city of Orlando.
The rural boundary and annexations have emerged as key issues in the District 5 race as well as the contests in districts 1 and 3. Leary has said he supports establishing the rural boundary, but has not answered a question that would give the rural boundary measure its teeth: Whether he supports the move to allow the county commission to block annexations by the cities.
The same poll question stated that Semrad’s “husband works for the largest developers in Central Florida helping to prep land by clearing trees, destroying natural habitats and erasing rural and agricultural lands, all to make way for more sprawl neighborhoods. How convincing is that statement as a reason to vote against Kelly Semrad?”
Semrad said her life partner (they aren’t married) is an engineer who works in construction, but considered the statement to be a mischaracterization of his work that she said focuses on roads and urban redevelopment.
His firm’s website lists Universal Orlando, Tavistock and major homebuilders among its clients — the same companies that have contributed heavily to Leary’s campaign fund and political action committee. So, using the same logic, the poll question also appears to suggest those companies participate in “destroying natural habitats and erasing rural and agricultural lands, all to make way for more sprawl neighborhoods.”
Leary and his campaign did not respond to multiple calls and emails seeking comment for this story.
It’s unclear who paid for the survey, which was sent by company called Research Polls that lists its address as a canal-front condominium in downtown Fort Lauderdale. When this reporter went to website linked in the text message for the poll, the page said, “Share your opinions on Orange County” followed by, “Thank you for your interest in this survey. The survey is now closed.”
The survey also attempted to question Semrad’s credibility on one of her central platforms — pushing the county to diversify how it spends the Tourism Development Tax, a levy collected on hotel beds, beyond projects backed by the industry.
“Kelly Semrad claims to be a tourism expert, but she’s never worked in the industry. If she misrepresents her own background, she can’t be trusted to represent Orange County. How convincing is that statement as a reason to vote against Kelly Semrad?”
“Boy, do I wish that were true,” Semrad said in response to the question, noting that she started bussing tables at age 12 and working early morning shifts at a restaurant in Wisconsin to help her mom make ends meet.
It was the first of multiple service and hospitality industry jobs, she said, including server, bartender and housekeeper.
After college, she said she tried working in management.
“When I found out that the work conditions weren’t better, I went back to school and got my PhD and have dedicated my career to making conditions better for people who work in the tourism and hospitality industry,” Semrad said.
She started working at UCF in 2013 after working for several years at the University of Florida. She is considered an expert in market analyses, revenue and risk management and social and environmental justice in the tourism industry. She’s authored papers published in the Journal of Hotel & Business Management and the Research Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management among others.
The poll also asked voters if they have favorable or unfavorable views of “the tourism and hospitality industry,” “housing developers,” “environmental organizations” and “local labor unions” among others.
Neither candidate has shown much financial activity since the Aug. 20 primary, though the financial reports filed with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office lag by a couple weeks.
Leary has raised the most, but spent the bulk ahead of the Aug. 20 primary. He has collected nearly $200,000 in his campaign fund and has about $30,000 left to spend, according to reports filed with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections Office.
Leary’s political action committee called Neighbors for a Sensible Orange County has raised about $43,000 in cash and has about $37,000 left to spend.
Semrad has raised about $60,000, according to campaign filings, and has about $7,000 left to spend.
With six weeks until the election, there is still time for both candidates to raise funds and for Leary to spend his remaining cash.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 13, 2024 | City Commission, News, Taxes, Uncategorized
Winter Park approves new $214.6 million budget for 2025
The budget includes more dollars for infrastructure projects, public safety positions and local nonprofit organizations
September 13, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Winter Park’s city budget will grow to $214.6 million for 2025, a 3% increase from the current year driven by an increase in property tax revenue, higher fees paid by residents for stormwater projects and garbage collection along with sales tax revenue passed along by the state.
The City Commission voted 4-0 to approve the budget this week (Commissioner Marty Sullivan was absent from the meeting). Final approval of the spending plan is scheduled for Sept. 25.
The extra $6 million in the new budget will largely go to pay for new positions in the police and fire departments as well as public works projects for roads and other infrastructure.
Commissioners kept the city’s tax rate the same at 4.3302 mils, but higher home values drove property tax collections up by more than 8%.
Residents will also feel the impact from rising fees built into their water, sewer and garbage collection bills as well as the stormwater fee, which is collected as part of the annual property tax bill.
The higher fees account for an additional $3 million in the budget. The average customer will pay about $13 more per month or an extra $156 per year as a result of the rising rates, according to city budget documents.
Garbage collections skyrocketed as part of a new contract with Waste Management, the private contractor for the city.
The stormwater fees are rising as part of a three-year plan to raise rates to about 9 cents per square foot of what the city calls impervious surface (generally the amount of concrete covering a lot). The goal is to raise $2.7 million each year for flood prevention and to improve lake quality.
Commissioners will hold a work session later this month to discuss findings from a series of basin studies that are expected to identify stormwater improvements needed to manage flooding. The studies were ordered last year and are expected to be finalized in October, a city spokeswoman said.
Commissioners also approved an increase in the dollars they give to local nonprofit organizations.
For the first time in 10-years, the city will not provide $100,000 to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts after it’s funding agreement ended. Those dollars along with an increase in total support from $2.3 million this year to $2.4 million mean two new groups will receive funding along with increases for the nonprofits already funded by the city.
Organizations receiving support include:
- Mead Botanical Gardens: $98,000, a $4,500 increase.
- Winter Park Historical Association: $93,000, a $5,000 increase.
- Winter Park Day Nursery: $41,000, a $2,500 increase.
- United Arts: $19,000, a $600 increase.
- Blue Bamboo: $12,000, a $1,000 increase.
- Polasek Museum: $27,000, a $1,700 increase.
- Winter Park Library: $2,028,600, a $96,600 increase
- Winter Park Institute: $25,000, newly added this year.
- Men of Integrity: $18,000, newly added this year.
The city’s Community Redevelopment Agency, which is up for an extension and expansion from the Orange County Commission, will provide the following additional aid:
- Enzian Theater: $10,000, no change.
- Heritage Center: $50,000, no change.
- Welbourne Day Nursery: $41,000, a $2,500 increase.
- Winter Park Playhouse: $47,000, a $3,000 increase.
- Depugh Nursing Home: $23,000, a $1,000 increase.
- Winter Park Library: $368,000, an $18,000 increase.
The city’s reserve fund is expected to reach $21.2 million or about 27% of recurring annual operating costs in the General Fund, according to the city budget proposal. The percentage is decreasing because new expenditures are outpacing growth in revenue, according to the document.
Highlights of expenditures include:
•Spending on capital projects will remain stable at $25.6 million, mostly for undergrounding power lines and investments in stormwater.
• Four new public safety positions including two more firefighters/EMTs, a fire logistics manager and a full-time police grant and accreditation manager.
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by Beth Kassab | Sep 3, 2024 | City Commission, News, Uncategorized, Zoning and Development
Developers could catch a break on parking rules if changes approved
The P&Z board will tonight hold the first hearing on changes designed to avoid large, mostly empty lots
Sept. 3, 2024
By Beth Kassab
Developers could soon face less strict parking requirements in Winter Park if recommended changes are approved to reduce the number of spaces required for shops, offices and apartments.
The Planning & Zoning Board will hear the proposal for the first time on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
Last year the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce brought in the author of “Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World” to advocate for loosening the number of required spaces for new development.
Henry Grabar argues that all over America, cities are underhoused and overparked. Valuable real estate is taken up by too many unused parking spaces. And that, he says, drives up the cost of construction and pushes sprawl.
Onerous parking codes also offer a way for residents to oppose new affordable or denser housing projects.
“Badmouthing the poor was a little unseemly,” he wrote. “But complaining about parking was morally unimpeachable.”
In fact, parking became a focus in the recent debate over Rollins’ proposal to build 30 units that it plans to rent below market rate to its faculty and staff. The City Commission approved the project last week, ultimately, with a compromised parking arrangement and a pledge from Rollins to give over some land for more on-street parking.
The parking standards used in that project are aligned with the proposed changes from city staff.
Among the proposed changes outlined in the memorandum:
- Unify the parking code requirement for non-medical office and retail city-wide to one space per 333 square feet versus the current rule of one space per 250 square feet. According to the staff report, the standard is already one space for 333 square feet in the Central Business District, the Hannibal Square neighborhood and the Orange Avenue Overlay. This is a 25% decrease in parking required for retail or non-medical office.
- Reduce parking at large office buildings, which have the largest parking surpluses, according to the report. Combined with the change above this would further reduce the parking requirements to one space per 400 square feet for any building larger than 15,000 square feet. “For example, a 30,000 square foot office building now needs 120 parking spaces,” the staff report explained. “With the two changes together (1 per 333 for the first 15,000 square feet and 1 per 400 for next 15,000 square feet), the parking required is 83 spaces. This is a 30% reduction in required parking.”
- For apartments of three or more units, the standards would be 1.25 spaces for a one-bedroom unit; 2 spaces for a two-bedroom unit and 2.5 spaces for a three-bedroom unit. This is the same standard that exists now for properties within the Orange Avenue Overlay. For townhouse and condo projects with larger units, the current rule would remain of 2.5 spaces if the unit is larger than 2,000 square feet.
- The maximum parking provision could be no more than 150% of the code requirement.
During the discussion about the Rollins faculty apartments, some commissioners indicated they may not be on board with the changes.
Commissioner Todd Weaver, who voted against the project, said he would “never vote for decreasing parking in our downtown because there’s no mass transit.”
That has been a key criticism of Grabar’s philosophy — that not every city has the local buses, shuttles or other options in place to wean residents off of their dependence on cars.
Winter Park boasts one of the most successful SunRail stops on the commuter rail’s line, but rail system along with the Lynx bus system lack a regional dedicated funding source to keep up with demand.
The city staff report, however, argues there are reasons unrelated to the transportation debate to reduce parking requirements, especially among office buildings.
“Office floor plans have evolved over the years with larger offices, fewer open-air cubicles and more amenity space,” the report said. “Additionally, the nature of most office businesses has changed so that fewer clients need to visit with the use of email and electronic communication. It also is prudent to have a unified city-wide parking rate for office and retail versus different geographic parking rates, thus the proposal for one per 333 square feet city-wide.”
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by Beth Kassab | Aug 29, 2024 | Uncategorized
After tense exchanges, Rollins finally wins approval for faculty housing
In a first-of-its-kind agreement for Winter Park, the liberal arts college agreed to pay a fee equivalent to a portion of taxes it would be exempted from on the project
Aug. 29, 2024
By Beth Kassab
After nine months of hearings and revisions, Rollins College won approval for a project that will provide 30 apartments to early career faculty and staff who would otherwise likely find rents unaffordable near the lakefront campus in the heart Winter Park.
After tense exchanges between Commissioners Marty Sullivan and Todd Weaver and college officials, the commission voted to approve the project on Welbourne and Virginia avenues in a 4-1 vote. Only Weaver dissented.
During the meeting, the college agreed to increase its offer to pay a fee equivalent to a portion of ad valorem tax from 2 mills to 4.3 mills to satisfy Sullivan, who had sought an even higher amount.
As a nonprofit institution, the college is typically exempt from all all property taxes when the land is being used for an educational purpose, including housing students or staff.
Rollins President Grant Cornwell stood up to speak several times and acknowledged the novelty of the PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes offer and the precedent it could set.
“This is new for Rollins,” he said. “I’ve had other CEOs of nonprofits in Winter Park call me and there’s concern about this. We are prepared to negotiate a PILOT because that’s what this project needs to go forward.”
Sullivan wanted the college to pay more, though he was confused about the maximum number of mills, or dollars charged per $1,000 of assessed value, property owners pay in the city and county.
He also questioned if the college would really charge below market rents on the units. The college had already agreed to allow the city to verify the rents each year.
“What I find so perplexing about this request is that you don’t seem to understand the intent,” Cornwell told Sullivan. “We will never charge higher rents because our faculty and staff can’t afford it … if you want to see our rents annually, I think it’s a little strange, but that’s fine. We’ll send them to you personally.”
During the presentation, Rollins attorney Rebecca Wilson said the college anticipates charging between $1,700 to $2,000 per unit compared to average rents in Winter Park of $2,000 to $2,800.
Commissioner Todd Weaver argued with the college’s attorney over the number of units and the details of the stormwater plan. He also questioned whether Winter Park, where the median home price is more than $500,000 and median rents are $2,000, is really too expensive for faculty, noting some prices in his own neighborhood.
He also suggested the college initially applied to build more units than allowed so that its revised plan would appear more palatable.
“That’s simply not true, Commissioner,” Wilson said. “This is not a ploy.”
Weaver wondered if Valencia College, which has a building in Winter Park, and UCF offer faculty housing, seeming to suggest the Rollins arrangement is unusual.
“I don’t know,” Cornwell said. “Frankly, one of the things I’m proud of is we’re trying to make an intervention here that is not normal.”
Wilson reminded the commission that local governments are looking more to employers to help solve the regional affordable housing crisis, noting projects underway by Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World.
Commissioner Kris Cruzada said he appreciated Rollins’ commitment to the project and said he was bothered by the demands for the college to pay a higher fee when it’s typically exempt from taxes.
“The millage rate thing kind of bugs me,” he said. “It’s difficult to get affordable housing investors … It’s bothersome to me because they have really come forward from January to now to accommodate residents and our requirements.”
The private college, known for its lakefront Spanish-Mediterranean campus and tuition and fees totaling more than $76,000 a year, had resisted a PILOT or payment in lieu of taxes until this month.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio said she was opposed to the original version of the project, but now supports it. At the start of the meeting, she noted that Rollins agreed to allow city staff to rent the units if they are ever unfilled by Rollins staff. City officials have also talked about how to make housing more affordable for emergency workers like police and utility staff near the city center.
DeCiccio also reminded fellow commissioners that if the city’s request to Orange County to expand its Community Redevelopment Agency is approved, the city will likely need to offer far more to private developers than Rollins is receiving in order to bring in more housing diversity.
“We are going to have to give a lot of incentives to get a developer to build workforce housing for all,” she said, including spending tens of millions of dollars on infrastructure projects. “Rollins isn’t asking for any of that from us. I wholeheartedly endorse it now.”
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