Maitland City Talk

Our city's west side gains momentum — finally!

Since first taking office in 2006, one of my highest priorities was bringing focus and attention to Maitland's west side. Maitland Center, one of Central Florida's largest suburban office parks at nearly 7 million square feet, is located within the boundaries of the city.

With its large tax base, Maitland Center has helped subsidize all that Maitland provides in terms of services. But along with the benefits comes the responsibility of appropriate planning as the center ages. As newer suburban parks in surrounding communities grow, they become serious competition, especially considering Maitland Center is nearing 30 years in age.

The major issue is one of valuation and assessments. As vacancies increase, commercial properties are less able to generate past revenue levels and assessments decrease. As properties are assessed for less, they generate less taxable revenue, having a negative impact on Maitland's ability to provide services at levels previously realized.

The only way to counteract this aging impact is to appropriately plan for our west side's future. Although I have concentrated on this for four years, I have just recently found confidence in that the re-master planning of Maitland Center could be in place prior to the end of my tenure as mayor of Maitland.

Although I have discussed the master planning of the redevelopment of Maitland Center in every annual strategic planning session, it was not until July of 2008 that Maitland initiated an extensive public review and evaluation of the city's Comprehensive Plan through a process called the Evaluation and Appraisal Report, affectionately called the 'EAR', which included our city's west side.

With the state of Florida's approval of the EAR on Jan. 12, 2009, this began in motion the process of re-master planning for Maitland's west side. Not skipping a beat, Maitland selected a consultant team led by AECOM to prepare the Maitland West Side Master Redevelopment Plan. The team members include both local and national technical experts RCLCO, Kimley-Horn Associates and Looney Ricks Kiss Architects.

In three short months, the team analyzed the existing physical conditions of the study area, benchmarked local real estate market influences and national trends, conducted interviews with stakeholders and city staff, and led a visioning workshop resulting in a series of recommendations on land-use policies, capital improvements, and implementation strategies.

Finally, our city's west side is on the move!

On March 18 a joint workshop was held with City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission to get an update and receive comments on the status of the effort. To put it lightly, I was blown away by the presentation with the thoroughness, complexity and direction of the effort.

Specifically, the level of analysis regarding property uses throughout Maitland Center was just short of absolute brilliance. The Keller Road corridor in the presented plan would become a major area of influence, with businesses and residences living together in a completely accessible and walkable environment. In addition, public biking and walking pathways have been suggested, which provide pedestrian circulation and take full advantage of the area's lakes and environmental features, such as Lake Lucien, whose beauty residents never see.

But let's not get too excited as this master planning redevelopment effort will play itself out over years and probably decades.

The beginnings are something all of us can be incredibly excited about. In fact, when you see the plan, you might even get a tingling of goose bumps, just like I did the first time I saw the plan! I look forward to the months to come, when the plan will begin to take shape, giving us a glimpse of what Maitland's west side will grow to become!

Don't miss the opportunity to be a part of Maitland's future!

Visit ItsMyMaitland.com.