What to watch this week: Anderson's last meeting, CRA and sinkhole risk near MLK Park
The City Commission is also set to give final approval to the expansion of the CRA before Orange County takes up the matter this summer
March 22, 2024
By Beth Kassab
This week Mayor Phil Anderson will preside over his final City Commission meeting, ending a three-year term when new Mayor Sheila DeCiccio is sworn in next month.
Anderson, who first served as a commissioner from 2008 to 2011, will depart with a number of accomplishments, including likely final approval of the Community Redevelopment Agency expansion plan at his last meeting.
Commissioners are expected to take up the plan again on Wednesday, it’s final stop before going before the Orange County Board of Commissioners sometime this summer.
“This is a really big deal,” Anderson said after the commission reviewed the plan in the first of two required readings earlier this month. “By getting another 10 years we can do more things, like community centers, affordable housing … Hurricane Ian highlighted storm projects and this is one of the big funding sources.”
Mayor Phil Anderson gives the State of the City remarks as commissioners Marty Sullivan, Sheila DeCiccio and Kris Cruzada look on.
The plan, which started more than a year ago, calls for the CRA to be extended by 10 years — through 2037 — and grow its boundaries by 142 acres by taking in a former industrial area along Fairbanks Avenue west of U.S. 17-92.
The new CRA, which is controlled by the City Commission, is projected to generate between $162 million and $213 million in revenue through 2037.
CRA’s are used across Florida by cities and counties as a way to finance redevelopment and specific projects. It works like this: property values within a CRA’s boundaries are frozen at a certain year — in this case that year would be 2023. Then, as values rise, any taxes on those properties collected above the frozen amount go into a CRA fund rather than back to the city and county that would typically collect them. (The city and county still collect taxes each year up to the frozen amount and school board taxes are not affected.)
That means dollars paid by CRA property owners that would typically go to Orange County and Winter Park would instead go to a fund to directly benefit the CRA. The portion from Orange County will provide significant additional revenue for projects that Winter Park otherwise wouldn’t control.
The plan calls for the money to go to affordable housing (in the form of new projects and rehabilitating current housing), street and transportation projects and infrastructure improvements.
Sinkholes at MLK Park?
Also on Wednesday, commissioners will hear a report from a consultant about the risk of sinkholes in and around MLK Park. The consultant did not find an elevated risk in the area, according to public documents.
The study came in response from residents concerned about the area that includes the Winter Park Library and Events Center and a sinkhole that opened in the 1980s that is now a small pond near Denning Drive and Orange Avenue.
Commissioners have said they wanted to understand the risks in the area before moving ahead with adding additional parking near the events center.
New B&B request
The owners of five of six units at Villa Vienda Condominiums (221 Holt Avenue) is asking for approval to convert the condos into a bed & breakfast in order to use them as Air B&B or VRBO properties.
The building was historically occupied by Rollins students and the owners are no longer happy with that arrangement because of frequent maintenance issues and the location near the campus makes it difficult to find other renters. As a result they are requesting to comply with the city’s B&B rules.
“This is a unique scenario and an especially unique location,” says a staff memo about the request, which adds that the neighbors are in support of the change.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
CRAs have become a Big Gov’t special interest gravy train to justify spending tens of millions of dollars on commissioner’s pet projects. The CRA agency board are the city commissioners. Hello? They can spend tens of millions on any pet project they want, without any oversight. Widen Fairbanks by purchasing 1 block of properties around Spatz Bar and streetscape 1/2 mile to Pennsylvania? $27,000,000. ($10,000 a foot). Subsidizing housing for $9,000,000? The city currently owns over 700 units. The spending goes on and on. $60,000,000 over 10 years.
When the CRA was started in the 1990’s it was meant to stimulate investment in blighted and distressed areas in WP. It’s 2024. Look around and show me a distressed area in WP. Good luck in finding one. It’s time to sunset our CRA.
I’ll be writing more about the CRA. Oversight and accountability are absolutely key issues. The City Commission doubles as the CRA board in every city I’ve ever covered. But I question the fairness of calling many of these projects “pet projects.” A lot of it is basic infrastructure like drainage and street improvements. In other words, these are often projects the local government would need to address whether a CRA exists or not. Also the city’s report includes examples (with photos) of blighted properties. Folks can disagree with the city’s assessment, but it’s not accurate to claim zero blight in Winter Park. While many folks might live in a bubble, the city of Winter Park does have many of the same issues every other city confronts. Still, I agree, local government works best when journalists are writing about it and residents have the opportunity to take a closer look, ask questions and weigh in.
Hello? That’s why the CRA’s are to be phased out by 2037. The legislature found some of them to be corrupt, some unethical and most not accountable. According to a former legislator, 72% CRA boards mirrored the governing body. Try and poke all the holes you want in my comments, but for cryin’ out loud: streetscape on Morse Blvd? Overpasses and underpasses? Widening Fairbanks for 1 block.
And if these are run of the mill repairs, why pay for them like 98% of the other repairs in the city?
Finally, 3 pictures of “blight” is a joke. Put you pom poms away. I can find 50 homes inn WP that are blighted. Does that mean we should fund their repairs?
Beth K,
When you’ve been around longer you may come to appreciate that some of the “blight” in our city is intentional- a sort of demolition by neglect. We see it with our former library building. We saw it when a private consortium wanted to build the Henderson Hotel on Lake Killarney. The owners of these substandard properties fail to maintain their properties quite intentionally. And “blight” can be used as an excuse… for so many things.
Our CRA in WP is not corrupt. It’s just time for it to go bye bye. I wish Orange County had said no to all 3 of the proposed new CRA corridors not just to 2 of them. I get why the commission wants the extension/expansion. So much more money to spend. But only within the CRA.
I want to give huge thanks to Beth Kassab for the great work she is doing, keeping us all informed about the inner workings of city hall. The goal of the Winter Park Voice was always to connect WP residents to the ongoing processes within our city government, and to encourage discussion and involvement on all issues. It’s a difficult job since these processes can often be quite opaque. It’s hard work and takes a huge amount of dedication, research and thought, and I believe that Beth is fulfilling this original goal in a brilliant and professional way. Thank you once again from all of us!
Steve, Thanks so much for saying that. Winter Park is a special place that is lucky to have a group of people, including you, who care enough to support local journalism. Information is often the most important currency in community and local government. (And, for all my love-to-haters, Steve played an important role in founding the Voice, but he does not control our coverage or even know what the stories are before they are published.)
Gag
gesundheit
The CRA extension and expansion should certainly go to a voter referendum. Something as financially significant as the CRA involving tens of millions over time means voters MUST be consulted. Blight was eliminated on the west side long ago. I laughed when I looked at the pictures of “conditions” in the expansion area that were to be addressed by the proposed CRA. Residents benefit in some ways, but they also are forced to subsidize the CRA in other ways. WP far exceeds any reasoned affordable housing quota for a city our size. Other areas of Orange County may be a different story. This issue should go to the voters. It’s a slush fund of money only used within the boundaries of the CRA and nowhere else.
Hey Beth! Nice to know we agree on something.
CRAs are much more than affordable housing and blight. They provide additional County funds for important infrastructure projects (I hope the commenters aren’t serious that stormwater management in the CRA isn’t a high priority), traffic flow enhancements, pedestrian safety, street maintenance and upgraded sidewalks, signage, parkland and playgrounds, urban forestry, street lighting, the community center and a host of other improvements that benefit everyone in Winter Park in some way. Providing a more attractive, better and safer environment enhances business growth too. If you want to call these things “pet projects”, go ahead. These things are most everyone’s pet projects. You’re in the minority on this issue.
If these are “most everyone’s pet projects” put your CRA plan to a vote of the citizens.
I had considered asking the Voice about the two sides (perhaps three, if the Mayor is included) presented regarding the CRA issue. Have to say, I was pleasantly surprised to see comments from Beth Hall, Beth Kassab, Pitt Warner, and Pete Weldon. And although Beth Hall and Pete are in agreement, I would appreciate the Voice providing a compare and contrast between what Pete has posted on his website and what the Voice has written. Hopefully, the Voice will also ask the run-off candidates to comment on their position as well.