Ravaudage gets zoning change

A more than 55-acre development that could tower as high as eight stories could mean a big increase in traffic through Winter Park and Maitland, but not if it’s done right, local officials say.

That reassurance didn’t stop a group of vocal residents from taking the floor of the Orange County Commission Chambers on May 24 to try to cut the Ravaudage development’s size before it was built. The big issue that would haunt the areas surrounding the mixed-use development: a big jump in traffic, they said.

“It seems like a very important step has somehow been neglected,” engineer Montje Plank said about traffic engineering for the project. “This is a 79 percent increase (in traffic) on already broken and failing roads. The scale and intensity, as proposed, is beyond anything the area has ever seen.”

Resident Debra Cunningham agreed, likening the project’s total scale to the Altamonte Mall, Mall at Millenia and Orange County Convention Center.

“Imagine any of those coming to this area,” she said, referring to Ravaudage’s location. “That doesn’t have any special interchange to get to it, it doesn’t have a superhighway next to it. It’s got a four-lane Lee Road to get to it that’s already crowded. I don’t think that’s how we want to shape our future of urban development.”

After hearing from residents May 24, the Orange County Commission agreed to make zoning adjustments for developer Dan Bellows to allow the mixed-use project to go forward.

Bellows said that it’s time to move forward with the project.

“For over 14 years, we’ve worked diligently to assemble this land,” he said. “We’ve had three community meetings. We feel we’ve done the best we could to reach out and accommodate the community.”

Despite fears of a big jump in traffic, local officials have been supportive of the project, which they say could improve a blighted area and bring in valuable tax revenue.

Orange County Commissioner Ted Edwards, who represents Winter Park, Maitland and affected areas of Orange County, said that since less than a third of the development would be retail space, it won’t have the same traffic issues as a mall or the Winter Park Village.

“To put this in context, Winter Park Village is approximately 525,000 square feet of retail, and [Ravaudage] is 323,000 square feet of retail,” Edwards said. “What’s a little misleading is it has 891,000 square feet of office. Retail generates a lot more trips than office. The only reason they’re getting the density that they’re getting is it’s a mixed-use project. What’s troubling for these neighbors is they’re not sure what they’re going to get.”

Edwards went on to explain that the retail portion of the development couldn’t be increased beyond 10 percent larger than its current size without government approval. He also said the project couldn’t go forward until a transportation plan was in place.

“The owner will have to develop a master transportation plan that would be reviewed by FDOT, Orange County municipalities, Lynx and other stakeholders,” Edwards said. “What that transportation plan will look like at this point, we don’t know. We’re looking mainly for bus lanes, turn-ins, pedestrian lanes and bike paths. That is a condition for the project to move forward.”

Winter Park Mayor Ken Bradley said that traffic can be managed well with proper planning.

“I think the Ravaudage project has tremendous potential,” Bradley said. “If done right, and I think it can be done right, potential negatives such as traffic can be mitigated.”

Regardless of potential negatives, nearly all who spoke at the Commission meeting agreed that the area needed redevelopment to save it from blight.

“I think this area has been a problem for a long time,” Orange County resident Glen Jaffee said. “It’s had significant crime, drugs and prostitution. … I think we’ve got a real issue when we think of a strip center as a real improvement in that area. It’s not 100 percent perfect … but it’s 100 percent right.”

Edwards agreed, saying the development would be an improvement, even with potential negative impacts taken into account.

“I think everyone agrees this is a blighted area that needs to be redeveloped,” he said, adding that the process was a compromise and it’s not finished yet. “I’m not going to say Maitland got everything they wanted, the developer got everything they wanted, Winter Park got everything they wanted. There was give and take.”