Three downtown proposals pass muster in Maitland

Plans for downtown Maitland’s long awaited redevelopment are slowly being fleshed out as the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency Advisory Board voted to move forward with three possible developments for the downtown area last week.

The Board decided to continue evaluating all three of the plans submitted to revamp the city’s downtown core, which includes the old city hall site, the city-owned parking lot to the north on Horatio Avenue, and neighboring lots owned by New Traditions Bank.

The plans include a revised proposal by David Lamm to build mixed-use Independence Lane-fronted retail and residential developments on the New Traditions Bank and old Winn Dixie sites; Frinfrock’s plan to build a retail and office-fronted parking garage on the old city hall site; and Blackfin’s proposal to build a bank and specialty grocer on the northwest corner of Horatio Avenue and U.S. Highway 17-92.

Each of the three proposals will proceed through the development review process, being vetted by the city’s Development Review Committee and Planning and Zoning Commission before reaching review by the City Council. With David Lamm deciding not to pursue redeveloping the old city hall site, CRA Director Verl Emrick said its possible for all three of the proposals to be approved independently without overlapping.

“The three have good proposals. There’s still a lot of issues to work out … but the possibilities have a high rate of success in my opinion,” Emrick said.

Maitland Mayor Howard Schieferdecker said none of the proposals are set in stone, but are dependent upon the review process and input form city board members and the public.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Schieferdecker said, “but I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of the process.”

Emrick said the proposals could circle back to the City Council for approval by September.