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.
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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Ridiculous. A neighbor two doors down complaining because of a palm tree.
Sad-why? A palm tree? Not worth losing neighbors.
Kudos to Jeff Briggs. He truly was a wonderful government servant. A pleasure to work with and always professional.
Thank you Jeff Briggs If you have lived in Winter Park for any length of time Jeff has somehow touched your life for the better. Won’t say I’ve always agreed with Jeff, but for the most part appreciate what he’s done. You will be missed, Jeff.
I am in complete agreement with all of the compliments regarding the service of Jeff Briggs. He is a shining example of what is best in public service. Competent, candid, honest, responsive and respectful are among the many words that can be used to describe him.
Seems that a neighbor can tell you what tree you can have on your property. Mr Cole’s attorney did a good job in showing that Planning & Zoning was wrong in its ruling. Mr. Cole needs to sue the City to keep the palm. He will prevail and so will all residents of Winter Park. Stop the Overreach in Winter Park!
If the city doesn’t come to terms with OCPS on SROs at our three schools, I foresee a turnover in commission members. Parents will not tolerate the loss of SROs! Neither will grandparents.
I’m very disappointed and outraged over this SRO issue. It is a potential duty of an officer to be assigned to keep our schools safe. Our city needs to remember their responsibility to that. I respect and tend to agree with most of what our current Mayor and Commissioners decide on in general, but the fact that they’re being greedy and insisting on more than the 72k is absurd. Let’s be grateful OCPS is willing to help cover a large portion of their total salary and the city should suck it up and cover the rest. Oh my word.
I moved to Winter Park in 1980. Jeff is the only City Planner I have known. He has always been fair, professional and a delight to work with. He will be missed.
It is concerning when local Winter Park city officials seemingly go beyond what exactly is in the code and attempt to dictate the landscaping choices of private residences. Prospective homeowners in Winter Park may want to carefully consider whether they are comfortable with the potential requirement to obtain approval from neighbors or the community before making changes to their property. After all, individuals typically purchase land with the intention of enjoying the views and making decisions that align with their personal preferences, rather than conforming to the expectations of others.
I have lived in Winter Park for approximately 50 years and thought I lived in the “City of Trees”.
The WP city commission has just ruled a palm tree violates its code.
If you look up the city’s code it only speaks of “structures”
Trees and shrubs are not mentioned in the city code. Only the word “structure” is used. The commission’s decision about Mr. Cole’s one palm tree is a huge over reach, and it certainly is not consistent with how the code reads.
A palm tree visible in one’s view of a lake – truly a first-world problem. smh
Did we really waste precious time and money to place a vote on 1 palm tree? And someone 2 houses away made a complaint that their view is “distracted?” WOW, WOW, WOW. What a joke. Leave him and his palm tree alone!.
Visibility of the palm tree, like the auditory disruption of a train rolling through town, after a while you will no longer notice it.
I agree with J Walker, bringing the palm tree to a vote is not only City Hall overreach, it’s overreach ad absurdum.
The entitlement of thinking you can dictate that a single palm tree is blocking your view is next level entitlement. This is absurd .
I have been on the Board of a large County and a large State Agency and at both of them we had loads of people who had to represent us in dealing with the Public, be they homeowners, HOA’s, developers, builders, or advocacy groups. I also have been on the other side of the table in my business career. I have never seen a person do their job any better than Jeff Briggs. He was always courteous, helpful, and knowledgeable. He always looked out for the interests of Winter Park, but would also stand up for the rights of people that came before the City when they were within their rights, even if it wasn’t universally popular. Thanks for your service to Winter Park Jeff Briggs.
Outrageous overeach of PZB condition, setting a dramatic and wide-ranging precedent, diminishing ownership rights without being democratically debated and determined in accordance with public notice & governance rules. The Code specifically covers ‘buildings and structures’ ‘unduly impacting views’ across a neighbor’s own property. This apparently can now be arbitrarily stretched by unelected apparachicks to the point of including vegetation and palm trees anywhere along the lakefront. The single palm tree in question is not even along the boundary line, which might possibly be consistent with the boundary treatment rules used in the mere handful of other very specific and very special cases. Given the vice-mayor’s concillatory commentary, let’s trust that the ‘Cole’ rule may become established by a judicial review of this egregious and unsound ruling.
So, the neighbors are complaining about a skinny tree in somebody else’s property obscuring their oblique view. They are hardly likely to be craning their neck from their home to stare at that palm tree for most of the day. Ridiculous. So glad my property tax is spent so liberally on trying to destroy a tree when there are potentially dangerous dead and decaying city trees needing attention.
Well it is a face palm!
Re: the palm tree
The real issue is the extraordinary exemption granted to the owner to the required setback from the lake. That is at the heart of this matter. Twenty-six feet is a lot! Had the City not granted that exception, the trees wouldn’t matter so much.
Re: Jeff Bridges
A class act. Professional. Honest. Caring.
He will be missed.
Re: SROs
I echo the comments of Elizabeth I and Ashley M above. These schools are in our city. Last I understood, city police serve to protect lives and property within our city limits. Why are they quibbling over a few dollars in the matter of the safety and security of the staff and students at those schools?
Furthermore, to expect 100% reimbursement of each SRO’s salary and benefits fails to acknowledge these officers are available during non-school days (holiday breaks, summers, weekends, etc.) for police duties elsewhere in the city. Enough already!
Folks, I want to step in here on the lively debate over the palm tree. I want to underscore that the piece I wrote points out that the homeowner was granted special permission to build his home closer to the shoreline of Lake Virginia than typical. As part of that allowance, P&Z board said he couldn’t have landscaping over 6 feet. The complaint, yes, comes down to the palm tree. But P&Z and Jeff Briggs — who is being roundly applauded on this same thread for his incredible tenure of service — found that the landscaping violates this agreement from back in 2021. The City Commission upheld this. The neighbor is complaining about the palm, but the context is this original agreement … not an out-of-the-blue complaint about a tree.
Thank you for pointing out what would be obvious to anyone who was at the recent P&Z meeting.
I disagree with Beth K. The original allowance was for no landscaping over 6 feet along the property line. The issue here seems to be a misinterpretation of the agreement. The palm tree doesn’t obstruct the shoreline view or violate the intent of the allowance, so it feels like this has become more about strict technicalities than practicality. #SaveThePalmTree T Shirts coming soon!
Beth’s point was a statement of fact that the homeowner is not living up to his word. The agreement was he could build 26 feet closer to the lake if he kept the landscaping under 6 feet in height. He built his house and is now installing landscaping that violates his agreement. He wants to have his cake and eat it too.
I’m not sure which neighbor is complaining but I hope it is not the neighbor who built a dock in front of my view. I’m still sick about it.
The City will not be the same without Jeff Briggs!