Letter to the Editor: Maitland resident excited for a downtown

Maitland resident excited for a downtown

I read your newspaper with great interest and I am thankful for your coverage surrounding the proposed Maitland City Centre. As you know, on Nov. 17, the city will decide if they will build the Maitland City Centre, a mixed-use development that will anchor the conception of a downtown Maitland. I feel that after talking about building a downtown for 15 years, the city finally has a decent proposal that consists of luxury apartments, retail and six restaurants, including East End Market, a neighborhood market inspired by Central Florida’s local farmers and food artisans, on the old Winn-Dixie site of off U.S. Highway 17-92. The proposed luxury apartments are geared towards young professionals and baby boomers living by the rail and would not include families with school-aged children that would crowd the local schools. If this happens, our property values would go up and there would be some additional funding for the city to repair roads, lights and so on (currently the old Winn Dixie site generates $16,000 in tax rolls. The proposed development would generate $250,000 to $355,000 in tax rolls to the city). There will also not be any developer handouts. This development will actually pay the city and county $3 million in fees. The development will generate 200 more jobs during construction and approximately 80 jobs after completion. Additionally, Maitland residents would finally be able to spend their time and money in their own town instead of going to Winter Park and Altamonte Springs to shop and enjoy.

As of this writing, no one has covered the proposed benefits. The closest article that has been written about this is here: http://bit.ly/1oGUeTm. Here are some more benefits: downtownmaitland.wordpress.com. I believe if residents knew about all of the benefits, the city’s zoning limitations and so on, they would be able to make a more educated decision.

— Jeremy Good, Maitland resident