Winter Garden leaders mull East Crown Point Road project

The Winter Garden City Commission unanimously approved the first reading of an ordinance rezoning properties on East Crown Point Road. 

City Commissioner Lisa Bennett was absent during the meeting on Thursday, Nov. 13. 

The ordinance is to rezone properties located at 530, 550, 570, 590, 610 and 630 E. Crown Point Road to a Planned Commercial Development. The properties are located on about 15.99 acres. 

The applicant is requesting to rezone the properties from Arterial Commercial to Planned Commercial Development to permit the development of nine commercial office, warehouse and flex space buildings totaling 203,306 square feet. There also would be associated site improvements, including parking and landscaping. 

Planning Director Kelly Carson said the five buildings that will front on East Harlem Point Road are intended to be more commercial in nature, with permitted uses to include retail, professional office, restaurant and other commercial operations. 

The four buildings in the rear will be more flex office light industrial in nature, which is consistent with the uses on the adjacent properties to the west, Carson said. 

During the public hearing on the ordinance, resident Kathryn Zalesky opposed the ordinance, stating there already is plenty of open industrial space currently available or will be available in Winter Garden in the first quarter of 2026. 

“I do believe that the commercial part of the zoning is accurate, and I would love to see something developed there, but I just don’t see a need for any more industrial spaces or warehouse spaces,” Zalesky said. “I’m really just hoping to keep Winter Garden, the Winter Garden we all know and love.”

Carson said if approved, the traffic impact probably would be “a little bit greater” due to people going in and out of the businesses on a day-to-day basis, but she thinks traffic would be even greater if all the properties were commercial versus light industrial. 

“We tried to make it consistent with the area and keep that frontage all commercial,” she said. “So, you’ll have your restaurants, you’ll have your shops, you’ll have your neighborhood convenience-type stores. But in the rear, where you don’t have the road frontage, it is adjacent to additional industrial facilities to the west. We’re trying to kind of create that transition zone from more commercial along the street to the more industrial in the back.”

Carson said one of the warehouse buildings located in the rear of the property “does not look like your typical warehouse industrial business” because there is a “higher level of architectural detailing” so it looks like a commercial building to her rather than the typical industrial facilities. 

Commissioner Iliana Jones said she believes the rezoning and project will be a “good addition for that area” because of its proximity to State Road 429. She also said the renderings for the commercial buildings are appealing.  

A second reading of the ordinance will take place at the commission’s next meeting Thursday, Dec. 11.