Letter to the Editor: Winter Park's density problem

This letter, written recently by Winter Park resident Lisa Everett to some of her friends and neighbors, is being printed at the request of the Observer.

Dear friends and neighbors:

As of [the June 9] City Commission meeting, Winter Park embarked on a course of dramatic growth to allow buildings with vastly increased density and separate parking garages to be constructed in and around our city. If you are planning on remaining a Winter Park resident for the foreseeable future, this change will impact your quality of life, so I am asking you to please read this and consider getting involved.

Reduced to its essence, narrowly passing by a vote of 3-2, last night the city announced its intention to permit developers to apply for triple the amount of Floor Area Ratio (the square footage that is allowed in relation to the lot size) from what is presently allowed under our Comprehensive Plan. Importantly (and of particular concern to those of us who dislike the aesthetic of the concrete monoliths that have sprung up recently), the developers will be permitted to build parking garages and not include the square footage of those garages in the Floor Area Ratio equation, thereby exponentially increasing the square footage of their main building and encouraging separate multi-story parking garages.

If that doesn’t bother you, then consider that developers of these dense projects, which had previously been limited to certain areas west of U.S. Highway 17-92 (toward Interstate 4), will now be invited to apply to build their large structures and parking garages within a few blocks of many of our homes — on any four-lane road in Winter Park (Denning, Aloma, Morse, Fairbanks, parts of Lakemont, parts of Webster) where zoning allows.

About 25 citizens (an economically and racially diverse group from various Winter Park neighborhoods) spoke at the meeting and asked the mayor and commissioners to vote against the Comprehensive Plan amendments. A lone real estate agent spoke in favor.

Faced with this overwhelmingly negative response from the citizens, Mayor Bradley, Commissioners Steven Leary and Commissioner Sarah Sprinkel nevertheless voted in favor of amending our Comprehensive Plan to allow developers to apply for these “PDs” (Planned Developments). Commissioners McMacken and Cooper voted against.

Despite the issue having been raised by numerous citizens, those voting in favor of amending the Comp Plan did not articulate any reason why they supported growth which will increase the number of cars on our already failing Winter Park roads, or how they believe that traffic increase could be ameliorated. Another question raised but left unaddressed is who or what is driving this change, since there is no evidence to show that the citizens of Winter Park are in favor of this. Finally, we need to understand why the city is forging ahead with these changes without first creating a vision plan for the city that incorporates input from the citizenry.

I encourage you to email Mayor Bradley and Commissioners Sprinkel and Leary and ask for direct answers to these straightforward questions.

IMPORTANT: The issue here is the density increase, not Planned Developments per se. We are not afraid of Planned Developments. We recognize that Planned Developments can be excellent tools for a city to use in controlling development; however, we believe our city leaders must not throw open the floodgates to a substantial increase in density without taking time to help us understand how this will benefit the people of our city and explaining how the city will accommodate the concomitant increase in traffic.

The Comprehensive Plan amendment voted on last night will be sent to Tallahassee for approval and then will be sent back to the Commission for a final vote. Many Winter Park residents were in attendance at the meeting urging the Mayor and Commission to vote against Comprehensive Plan change. My husband, Dykes Everett, also asked the Mayor and Commissioners to vote against the change. Thank you for your time.

— Lisa Simonton Everett, Winter Park