Maitland City Talk

Background

On Jan. 12, 2009, the city of Maitland adopted the Evaluation and Appraisal Report, also known as the EAR, which identified Maitland’s west side as one of five target areas for review. Maitland’s west side consists of Maitland Center, one of the largest suburban office parks in the southeast, including about 6 million square feet of office space, which serves as a hub for regional employment and provides economic stability for our city as well as diverse job opportunities for our residents.

In November 2009, the city approved the consultant team led by AECOM to prepare the Maitland West Side Master Redevelopment Plan. During the subsequent three months, the team analyzed existing conditions, benchmarked real estate trends and led visioning workshops that resulted in a series of recommendations, which included land-use policies, capital improvements and implementation strategies.

Redevelopment plan

The recommendations for the redevelopment of the city’s west side include a series of initiatives and capital projects that support the general vision that serves to incent property owners to redevelop, while protecting residents currently residing in the area.

The redevelopment plan encompasses one of the largest public/private working environments in Central Florida. The private components of the plan will include Site Design Standards whose intent is to guide the form of private development. Whether it is the renovation of existing structures, reorientation of an existing configuration to make it more pedestrian friendly, or total redevelopment maximizing the use of land, open space and amenities, the plan will serve to guide redevelopment for decades to come.

But public components will be the key to tying together future private renovation and development to existing and future amenities, which will serve to provide a true pedestrian-friendly environment for both residents and employees. The development of a Parkway Loop will connect all four quadrants for walkers and bikers. An East-West Trail will provide off-street recreational opportunities connecting to the Interstate 4 pedestrian overpass. A South Lake Lucien Trail will provide a boardwalk around Lake Lucien, connecting pedestrians in the southern Keller Road corridor. In addition, future connections will be planned for connecting Maitland’s West Side to future SunRail and Lynx routes, allowing residents and employees more transportation flexibility.

Implementation

A part of the plan will also be an Implementation Strategy, which will serve to provide action items and guidance to the city with respect to the budgeting of capital improvements, as well as establishing guidelines for city objectives and initiatives.

Next steps

A draft of the initial Maitland West Side Redevelopment plan will be discussed in a workshop at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting on Thursday, Sept. 2, with the Public Hearing scheduled for the Planning and Zoning meeting of Sept. 16.

Much thanks and appreciation go out to all who have been so passionate and diligent about moving this process forward. Please don’t miss out on the opportunity to attend one of the upcoming meetings and in becoming a greater part of Maitland’s future!