Former Orlando RV Dealership Plans Move Forward
A proposal for new retail and restaurants along West Fairbanks Avenue netted board approval following a postponed vote last month due to traffic concerns from local residents
May 6, 2026
By Kathryn Brudzinski
After a stalled vote due to lingering traffic concerns, a commercial redevelopment for the former Orlando RV dealership site located along West Fairbanks Avenue is moving ahead following unanimous approval on by Winter Park’s Planning & Zoning Board.
On Tuesday, board members voted 6-0 to approve plans to construct four one-story buildings totaling 29,760 square feet for shops and restaurants on the property owned by the Holler family through DI Partners LLLP. The project, which still must be approved by the City Commission, is contingent on conditions set by the P&Z board.
Planning & Zoning Director Allison McGillis said the owners were asked to make revisions to the architecture of the buildings as well as create a plan for Holt Avenue, which “could include either a striping plan demonstrating dedicated on-street parking or enhancements such as a widened sidewalk and improved pedestrian buffer.”
“They updated the plans to reflect that condition, and then also decided to move forward with parallel parking along Holt Avenue,” McGillis added. “…They were able to accommodate 13 parallel parking spaces, so they satisfied that plan by kind of providing both options — an enhanced pedestrian experience with the larger sidewalk, as well as the [landscape] buffer, and then the 13 parking spaces.”
Not including parallel parking, the project plans to provide a total of 199 parking spaces overall, which exceeds the minimum code requirement of 175 spaces.
Z Development Services Chief Executive Bob Ziegnefuss, who is managing the project, said the updated plans reflect the directions previously given by board members and that they’ve “done everything that’s [been] asked” of them.
“Wanting to create that separation from the driving public and the walking public…we’ve accomplished that by creating the separation with those parallel park cars and also with that wider sidewalk for pedestrian safety,” Ziegnefuss said.
At least some residents still expressed concerns over traffic.
“We want to make sure that we can actually enter and exit our properties without having to check our blood pressure right afterwards,” said Sonia McClean, a resident of 36 years who lives on North Kentucky Avenue. “…We just want to make sure that it doesn’t create more imposing traffic into our area and add more cut through traffic.”
Ziegnefuss noted the project’s developer would also be making a right of way dedication on both the north and south side of Fairbanks to help with the city’s desire to create a left turn lane coming from westbound Fairbanks and southbound Denning Drive.
“We’re contributing and trying to help to the greatest extent possible here with the development plan that we’re putting forward,” Ziegnefuss said, later adding that the development would also cooperate with any future traffic studies conducted by the city’s transportation department in the area.
Susie Stein, another resident of North Kentucky Avenue, asked if any thought had been given to timing the nearby intersection’s traffic lights to run longer so as to allow more vehicles through.
Planning & Zoning Chairman Jason Johnson said light timing came up during the April 28 workshop about traffic concerns in the area.
“Once the turn lanes are put in, and you have that change in the intersection, the lights will be re-timed,” Johnson explained. “We can’t guarantee what that’s going to mean, but that will happen when the turn lanes are put in.”
Board member Michael Dick said he was “always a little apprehensive” of what the project would look like, but no longer had those concerns because the proposal is “understated from what could have been there.” The sentiment was echoed by Johnson, who said he’d shared a similar worry but was instead “heartened” by the “under built, over parked” proposal that’d come instead.
“I’ve long said that development isn’t a dirty word — if it’s attractive in scale and fits within the charm of the city of Winter Park, it should be encouraged,” Johnson said.
Still, he added, board members would continue to share the concerns of local residents along Kentucky Avenue regarding traffic in the area, especially for traveling westbound onto Fairbanks coming southbound from Denning Drive.
“It’s a nightmare intersection,” Johnson said. “Hopefully, it will be improved with the addition of those turn lanes and the retiming of the lights. But as I said at the last meeting, that’s not really the applicant’s issue, it’s really more the city’s issue and [the Department of Transportation’s] issue.”
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This approval is a vitally important first step in the plan to address blight within the extended CRA area and aligns closely with the independent advice provided by the CRA Advisory Board.
Thank you to the Holler Family and Z Properties.
I agree Michael!