Maitland residents raise concerns over Enzian expansion

Residents saw a trailer of what’s to come with the Enzian Theater’s planned expansion at a Maitland Planning & Zoning Commission meeting last month, and some are asking for the city to call “cut!” on the project before it gets rolling.

The Enzian announced its plans to expand its one-screen theater into three this month last year. As fundraising for the estimated $6 million project rolls in, the plans to add two new screening rooms to the independent theater are making their way through Maitland city boards.

On Jan. 21, Enzian Executive Vice President Elizabeth Mukherjee gave the Maitland Planning & Zoning Commission a preview of the proposed development plans that would add on to the 31-year-old, 230-seat theater.

“My family is committed as ever 31 years later to maintaining a sense of space and keeping Enzian as a place where the community can get together and create meaningful experiences,” she said.

Adding on the additional theaters – one with 50 seats and another with 80 – as well as new bathrooms and additional handicapped parking, Mukherjee said, will increase the Enzian’s ability to serve the community.

“One of the issues we run into is we try to book more community collaborations and we wind up having to say no often because we just don’t have space at our existing screen to be able to do the kinds of thing we’d like to do,” she said. “And three screens will fix that.”

But nearby residents told the Planning & Zoning Commission that expanding the Enzian will also expand parking problems in their neighborhood just southeast of the theater.

Resident Marilyn Miller, who lives in the neighborhood bordering the Enzian, said though she enjoys frequenting the Enzian as it is, there are already enough parking problems caused by the theater at its current size.

“For 30 years this theater has done well for the community. Why would you want to change that? You’ll lose the ambiance,” Miller said. “I do not want a mini-Regal theater on my corner… There’s enough traffic as it is.”

Resident Alicia Silver, who also lives nearby, said she too is concerned about noise and parking problems emanating from the theater getting worse if it were to expand.

“Any expansion would exacerbate an existing problem and noise,” she said.

Members of the Planning & Zoning Commission also issued concerns about how the expansion plans will handle additional parking needs.

“I think there’s one overriding issue, and it’s parking,” said Planning & Zoning member Barry Kalmanson.

The current plans call for the Enzian to add 17 new spaces to its existing lot of 95 spots, and contracting with neighboring Park Maitland School to use 96 spots in its lot after school hours. Mukherjee said that’s enough to meet the city’s code.

“We want to come up with a solution that makes our neighbors happy,” Mukherjee said. “We love our neighbors, we want to be a good neighbor.”

She said the Enzian has avoided the idea of adding a parking garage to deal with increased traffic, as installing one would necessitate taking down much of the existing oak tree canopy, and destroying the open-air outdoor atmosphere enjoyed by those dining at the theater’s Eden Bar restaurant.

“It would, in our thought, really destroy the character of our property,” Mukherjee said.

But members of the public worried that not installing enough on-site parking, and instead contracting parking from other nearby businesses, would mean that some day that contracted parking could be taken away. And, if already expanded, the Enzian would then face a parking shortage, which could then send theatergoers again into their neighborhoods to park.

“You cannot rely on another business to solve a parking problem,” Silver said.

The Planning & Zoning Commission agreed to pass the expansion plans on to the city’s Development Review Committee for review, with a list of issues to be worked out by city staff and the Enzian’s development team. That list included encouraging the Enzian to come up with additional parking and traffic solutions, evaluating whether “no parking” signs should be installed in nearby neighborhoods, and determining whether additional buffering is needed between the theater and its neighbors.

That Development Review Committee meeting is set to be scheduled in the coming weeks.

Planning & Zoning Commission member Kathy Hattaway said that the Enzian’s expansion plans create a challenging situation surrounding a Maitland institution.

“The Enzian is an institution, it is a gem… It’s a setting that cannot be duplicated, it can never be recreated in the city and needs to be preserved,” Hattaway said. “And I think from what I’ve seen the design that they’re proposing is one that preserves that unique and special aspect of the Enzian that makes it so special.”

Now, she said, the development team just needs to come up with some creative solutions to address the outlined issues in order to make the project a reality.