Comp Plan on the Rocket Docket
Comp Plan on the Rocket Docket
Some Say It’s Moving Too Fast
On schedule to meet a February 1, 2017, deadline, the final four elements of the Comprehensive Plan update arrived at Planning & Zoning on the evening of Tuesday, November 8. The meeting was, relatively speaking, lightly attended, but a few concerned citizens tore themselves away from the unfolding drama of the national election to plead special cases.
The four Comp Plan elements P&Z approved to be sent to the City Commission were Capital Improvement, Housing, Transportation and Future Land Use. Predictably, the Future Land Use element drew the most attention.
Can Anyone Keep Up?
There has been considerable commentary about the speed with which the Comp Plan revision process is taking place, especially as regards the Land Use element. Pat MacDonald pointed out that there have been 22 meetings between July and October, with nearly half the meetings taking place in October. The all-important Land Use element of the Comp Plan has been whittled from 85 pages down to 31 pages. Few are able to comprehend what, if anything, was lost in those 54 pages. And very few are able to understand or keep track of all the changes to the document as a whole.
“Ambitious, Artificial Deadline”
Private citizens are not the only ones objecting to the pace at which the Comp Plan revision has been conducted. Referring to the work session Pat MacDonald mentioned in the video above, P&Z board member Peter Gottfried wrote October 18 to the mayor and commissioners, “We were just sent the latest proposed changes to the Future Land Use Element to the Comprehensive Plan. This is a major piece of legislation that needs to be thoroughly reviewed by members of the Planning and Zoning Board as well as the citizens of Winter Park prior to our workshop this afternoon. Unfortunately, time does not allow for a review that I think is crucial.”
Transportation Element Rolls in Minutes Before Meeting
“I had the same issue with our review of the Transportation element at a workshop a few weeks ago where we were given the proposed change matrix minutes before our meeting. This, my colleagues, is no way to run a railroad or a City. There is absolutely no way I, as your representative on the Planning and Zoning Board, can provide proper review and insight to this document with this ambitious, artificial, deadline.
Is Breakneck Speed Politically Motivated?
“Please put aside opinions that we need to rush this in order to avoid political implications in the upcoming city election,” continued Gottfried. “The better way to approach this is to slow down in order to give thoughtful and careful evaluation of a document that will set the tone for the development of Winter Park for years to come.”
“Can I have your support to consider changing the implementation schedule so that we have the appropriate amount of time to consider more thoughtfully this comprehensive document.”
Last-Minute Changes Requested
Toward the end of the meeting, attorney Becky Wilson requested changes to the land use map that would benefit one of her clients, and developer Dan Bellows requested changes that would benefit him. Both were requesting expanding the Central Business District (CBD), which would have the effect of increasing density but preserving the pedestrian orientation of development in the Hannibal Square district. And, once again, the issue of haste reared its head.
Why Wait Until the Last Minute?
Why, questioned Peter Gottfried, did Wilson and Bellows wait until these elements were scheduled for adoption to bring their requests for changes? Wilson’s response, that she believed this was the meeting where her requests were meant to be heard, indicates that even an attorney as familiar with the inner workings of City Hall as Wilson is did not fully understand how fast a track this train is on.
P&Z members postponed their decision for six months to provide opportunity to study the effects of the proposed changes.
Young Composers Challenge Comes to DPAC
Young Composers Challenge Comes to DPAC
You Should, Too
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Music Lovers, mark your calendars. On Sunday, November 13. Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center will host the National Young Composers Challenge (YCC) from 12:30 to 5:00 pm, with a reception to follow.
Admission to the Composium is Free
Doors will be kept open during the event so that you can come to be inspired by your favorite young composer or stay for the entire event. After the performance, everyone is invited to share refreshments and mingle with musicians, judges, the composers and their families.
Most Prestigious U.S. Competition
The brainchild of Winter Park philanthropist Steve Goldman, YCC has been around since 2003. Limited at first to submissions from young Central Florida composers, aged 13 to 18, YCC has grown into the most prestigious competition in the country for young composers of orchestral music. YCC now receives thousands of submissions from around the country from youngsters aged 13 to 18. The 13-year-olds will amaze you. By the time they’re 18, they’re old hands.
What’s a Composium?
The performance you will see on November 13 is like a concert, plus a master class, plus a competition. It’s informative, dramatic, and entirely entertaining. Hear the winning compositions by America’s top young composers discussed, rehearsed, and conducted by Maestro Christopher Wilkins and performed by the symphony orchestra in the Disney Theater at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center.
The performance of each composition begins with an audio excerpt from the young composer’s computer-generated score. Next, the composition is rehearsed by the orchestra, giving the composer an opportunity to interact with the conductor, the orchestra musicians, and the judges. Each session ends with the final performance of the composition.
Come As You Are and Bring the Kids
Dress casually, bring the kids, and prepare to have your mind expanded. You are unlikely ever to listen to an orchestra performance in quite the same way again.
Location
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
Walt Disney Theater
445 S. Magnolia Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801
Get driving directions here or contact the Dr. Phillips Center offices at (407) 839-0119
Wheels of Justice
Wheels of Justice
Grind Slowly, but Exceedingly Fine
The Library/Event Center/Parking Structure issue is still making its way through the tangled maze of the Florida judicial system. On October 20, the hearing regarding validation of up to $30 million in general obligation bonds for the purpose of building the library-event center came before Judge Margaret Schreiber of the Ninth Judicial Circuit.
Despite the array of arguments and the number of lawyers present to make them, at the end of the day, it comes down to one question. What language will the Judge put in her final order?
Bonds Will Be Validated
Since no one opposed validating the bonds, the Judge asked the city’s bond attorney, whose area of expertise this is, to come back to her by November 15 with drafts of two final orders for her signature. Both orders will validate the bonds.
Validation Order May? Or May Not? Include Location
One order will include the language of the location in Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) Park. The other will validate the bonds, but will include no language about the location. After she receives the two draft orders November 15, the Judge will decide which order to sign. Either way, the bonds will be validated.
Separate Suit on Petitions Also Pending
Meanwhile, a separate suit, this one filed in the Appellate Division of the Ninth Circuit, seeks to determine whether the petitions submitted to the City by the Save Our Library WP PAC constitute a Referendum or a Citizens’ Initiative.
Are the Petitions a Referendum?
If the appellate judge finds that the petitions are a Referendum, under Sec. 5.02 of the City Charter, then the petitions are not valid and the effort to block the location of the library in MLK Park fails.
Or a Citzens Initiative?
If the judge finds the petitions are a Citizens’ Initiative, under Sec. 5.01 of the City Charter, the petitioners will bring before the Commission an ordinance stating that no library may be built in MLK Park. The Commission must vote on that ordinance. If they pass it, it becomes law that no library may be built in MLK Park.
Final Decision May Be Up to the Voters
If the Commission does not pass the ordinance, then the ordinance will go on a ballot and it will be up to the registered voters in Winter Park to decide whether the ordinance passes or fails. In both cases, only a simple majority is required.
At this point, it is unclear how the outcome of one lawsuit will affect the outcome of the other.
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