Maitland appoints interim councilman Michael Wilde

The city of Maitland appointed an interim councilman, approved the 60% construction for the Independence Square project and introduced new regulations on the city’s short term housing rentals during its meeting Monday, Nov. 26.

NEW LEADER

Council members appointed former Maitland Planning and Zoning Board member Michael C. Wilde to the role of interim councilman for the city until the general municipal election next year. 

Following the departure of former Councilwoman Joy Goff-Marcil to the Florida House, Maitland residents submitted applications for a temporary council position that would run until the March 12 election. By the Nov. 19 deadline, two candidates had entered the race —  Lakes Advisory Board member Robert C. Allen Jr. and Wilde. Council members were unanimously enthused with both candidates but differed on which candidate to select.

Councilman John Lowndes again expressed caution with appointing a representative who theoretically could use the interim position as an advantage in the March election. Mayor Dale McDonald disagreed and spoke to his own experience of being dismissed as an interim candidate years ago. 

“There was a remote possibility I might run for that seat,” McDonald said. “This isn’t about whether I was the right guy for the time. I was denied a right, and I will not deny that to somebody else.”

Ultimately, Mike Thomas nominated Wilde with a second from McDonald, but the motion died from the lack of the third. A nomination for Allen, brought forward by Councilwoman Bev Reponen and seconded by John Lowndes, also died from the lack of a third. To avoid an expensive special election, Lowndes changed his vote for Wilde. 

“I’m looking forward to (Dec. 10),” Wilde said. “Some of the items they’re going to hear, I’ve already seen at the Planning and Zoning stage. … I’ll have a good foundation of knowledge.”

Wilde’s time on the council will start with the Dec. 10 meeting. Two council seats will be open with the upcoming election on March 12, 2019.

Independence Square

The council approved construction of a modified Independence Square project, the city’s planned park project to be located near Independence Lane.  

City staff returned to council with a modified blueprint to lower costs and retain more of a park feeling for the project. Some of those changes included reduced walkway widths to allow more room for grass, keeping additional trees, a decreased seating area size, and the removal of speciality benches and table umbrellas. City documents state the amount of concrete hardscape in the project has been reduced from 38% to 15%, and the cost has decreased from $2 million to $1.6 million.

Despite a brief debate between McDonald and other council members concerning the best amount of sidewalk spacethe council eventually unanimously approved the construction plan.

SHORT-TERM RENTALS

The council introduced an ordinance regulating short-term rentals in single-family, two-family, three-family and four-family dwellings. 

After a 2014 amendment to a state-level preemption of vacation rental regulations, the council has decided to draft a series of regulations on short-term dwelling rentals — such as AirBnB — to preserve the spirit of the city and avoid a situation where people rent out houses for months at a time. 

Maitland’s Planning and Zoning Board has spent months tweaking the ordinance to cover a variety of situation and possibilities that may arise. One of the biggest changes is a requirement for the rentals to be owner-occupied — the owner would have to be on location during the rental period.

After a discussion on the efficiency of the ordinance’s complaint system if the rents were violating city code, the council approved the introduction unanimously.

The ordinance will have its public hearing at the Dec. 10 meeting. 

IN OTHER NEWS

The council approved a budget amendment for the 2018 General Fund for $1,544,991 to address some of the lingering costs of Hurricane Irma. A total of $157,000 will come from the city’s stormwater fund and $1,656 from the utility fund. The remaining $1,275,000 will come from the state’s Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Taking advantage of a temporarily delay with the city’s public arts committee’s public arts program, the city adopted a resolution for a formal arts acquisition policy. The official policy is necessary because of the City Purchasing Policy listing public arts purchases as an exception to normal procedures.