Land swap OK'd minus street closing

A multi-million dollar land deal is a go between the city of Winter Park and Progress Point, who will trade properties on different sides of the city.

The deal was given the green light at Winter Park’s City Commission meeting on Nov. 28, allowing the swap of the Dan T. McCarty State Office Building at 941 W. Morse Blvd. and Progress Point’s property at the intersection of Denning Drive and Orange Avenue.

But the Commission drew fire about a part of the deal that could have led to the city closing Palmetto Avenue near Denning Drive, cutting off businesses from the street.

“If this was done, I would be out of business,” former Mayor Allen Trovillion said about the potential road closing being included in the land swap. “It would be dangerous, very dangerous.”

Jim Lee, who owns property along Palmetto Avenue, said that the closed street would wreak havoc on businesses nearby.

“We’d be relegated to driving through a parking lot,” Lee said.

Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel agreed with a suggestion by Commissioner Carolyn Cooper to remove the potential Palmetto Avenue closing from the ordinance.

“I think we’ve got the cart before the horse, and we haven’t had a chance to listen to the people first,” Sprinkel said.

That Palmetto Avenue street-closing provision was removed from the deal as an amendment before the final vote.

Resident Sally Flynn said that the street closing was “a distraction” from the land deal itself, which she said was still a bad deal, but one that had already been pre-ordained to happen.

“From the moment the mayor made the motion for the land swap, I knew the deal was done already,” Flynn said. “The votes were already there.”

Resident Nancy Shutts said that she’d collected hundreds of signatures on petitions and emails from residents who were against the land deal, but said that residents refused to attend the Commission meeting because the deal was a foregone conclusion.

“They said ‘Why bother? It’s already a done deal,’” Shutts said.

The deal had recently seen a closing in the appraisal gap between the two properties, which at one point had a difference in appraised value of $1.8 million, with Winter Park’s property the more valuable. That gap had shrunk to $175,000 after a recent state appraisal.

“I think the Commission has a duty to get a fair value out of this,” Commissioner Carolyn Cooper said. “The [gap in appraisal value] went from $1.8 million to $175,000. I’m not comfortable with that.”

In the end the Commission voted 3-2 in favor of the deal, with Commissioners Cooper and Tom McMacken dissenting.

Progress Point had said it will be building an 80,000-square-foot office building on the State Office Building site after the building is demolished, though Cooper contested that the deal does not guarantee that any office building will be built.

Commissioner Steven Leary said that the deal was worth the risk.

“Is it guaranteed?” he asked. “No. If you want guarantees, get out of the real estate market.”

Winter Park has no plans for the use of the property, which is contaminated by arsenic on more than 600 square feet.

Leary said that the future of the deal is bright for the city.

“We have municipalities across this country offering incentives, dying to get people to build,” he said. “Is it perfect? No. But let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good. We have got a good transaction in front of us. We have a good opportunity for the city of Winter Park.”