- March 27, 2024
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For more information on ordinances regarding the zoning of the Downtown Maitland Zoning District, go to itsmymaitland.com and look under “Maitland News” for the Downtown Maitland Future Land Use District Rezoning documents.
To voice your concerns and opinions on what you would like to see — and not see — developed in the new downtown Maitland, come out to the Planning and Zoning workshop at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20, at the Maitland City Hall Council Chambers.
Maitland took another step toward defining what is to become its new downtown district by moving forward with zoning regulations and standards for development.
The members of the Maitland City Council passed on first reading Monday, Feb. 13, the ordinance that will create a Downtown Maitland Zoning District, and the building regulations and design standards it will be held to. The second reading is scheduled for Feb. 27.
A public workshop with the Council as well as members of the Planning and Zoning Commission will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 20, at the Maitland City Hall Council Chambers to review the ordinance further before the final vote.
“The workshop on the 20th will be a biggie,” said Dale McDonald, vice chairman of the Maitland Planning and Zoning Commission, during public comment at the meeting. “… This, in my mind, could be the single most important ordinance you all work on in your Council terms.”
Zoning in
The purpose of the ordinance, Verl Emrick, Community Redevelopment Agency director, said is to not only create the zoning district of downtown, but to establish standards as to what types of buildings and businesses — whether office, governmental, commercial or residential — can be built downtown, as well as regulations regarding incentives and bonuses, site layout, stormwater design and signage.
Council members Phil Bonus and Bev Reponen opposed passing the ordinance forward to a second reading, in favor of reconsidering the document more fully before proceeding, but they were out-voted 3-2.
“When are we going to go back and fix the things we initially weren’t settled on in the last reading?” Bonus asked the Council. “…It’s right of us to carefully debate this, to reflect and discuss.”
Mayor Howard Schieferdecker and Councilman Ivan Valdes, however, argued that by passing the ordinance on to a second reading, they were not concretely approving or disapproving of the content of the document, but instead taking the next logical step in its review process.
“The sooner we get a new standard on the books,” Valdes said, “the sooner we get a pattern of what we want for downtown.”
Moving forward
Much will be decided in the coming months as to how the redevelopment project of downtown Maitland will evolve, and the city is looking for input from Maitland residents and business owners as to what they envision for their city center.
“There’s a fine sweet spot we’re trying to find,” McDonald said. “Do we do the sorts of long-term, 30-years-down-the-line planning to gratify the future of our grandkids, or do we look for revenue today and possibly cut our grandkids short?”
Valdes said it will be important to look forward, but not forget about the present. “None of us want a beautiful downtown of storefronts that are vacant,” he said. But, he pointed out, it’s important to evaluate developers’ needs to make a profit in the present, or they will seek development elsewhere. “Somewhere along the line there has to be a balance.”
A balance, the mayor wants the public’s input on.
“Please come and participate in this because this is going to be your downtown,” Schieferdecker said. “It’s important that it is something we can be proud of.”