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Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board
March 2026

7 items on the agendaConvened March 2, 2026
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THE READINGmeeting record

Meeting Snapshot

Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board · March 2, 2026 · 6:33 PM – 7:33 PM

Seven agenda items. Five of seven members present (Chairman Hawthorne and Ewing excused). All seven items moved unanimously. The cardinal item is the Oakland Park Unit 5 PUD-to-PCD rezoning — four parcels approved for vertical mixed-use development with the board explicitly incorporating an existing CC&R operating-hours restriction (7:00 AM - 11:00 PM) into the motion language. This is the corpus's first instance of a board folding a recorded CC&R restriction into a zoning motion as a substantive condition.

City Attorney Rick Geller appears for the first time in the corpus's Winter Garden coverage — the third different city attorney across six months (Kurt Ardaman + Dan Langley earlier).

Plain-English Summary

The Oakland Park Unit 5 case is structurally significant for Winter Garden's posture toward the HOA-municipal interface — a friction surface that Winter Springs faces with the Tuscawilla covenants and Maitland faces with Maitland Center's institutional bench. Here, the board resolved the friction differently: by incorporating the existing recorded CC&R restriction (January 2020) into the zoning motion language as a formal condition. The four-parcel rezoning enables four mixed-use buildings with retail and office below and 16 rental dwelling units above. The PUD-to-PCD pivot pulls residential entitlement out of the parent Oakland Park HOA's control structure into the PCD zoning framework — but the board preserved HOA dues obligations through the stipulated CC&R reference, and explicitly added "7:00 AM to 11:00 PM" hours-of-operation language into the motion to resolve the lone substantive public-comment concern (traffic flow into the adjacent McKinnon Square neighborhood, raised by Jourdan Robertson of 918 Trowman Alley).

The Winter Garden Flex PID-to-PCD conversion at 761-775 Garden Commerce Parkway is the cycle's second structural rezoning — and reveals a direction-of-travel contrast with Apopka. Winter Garden converts from Planned Industrial Development to Planned Commercial Development; Apopka's parallel cycle has the Hawthorne Avenue parcel moving the opposite direction (from Mixed-Use East Shore Gateway TO Light Industrial, March 10, 2026). Same instrument class — planned-development rezoning — opposite vectors. Two SR-429 corridor cities using identical regulatory tools to pursue opposite mixed-use compositions.

Tree preservation as substantive variance condition crystallizes the city's environmental-compliance architecture. The 617 S. Boyd Street variance approval was conditioned on pier-and-beam construction to allow the front-yard oak to receive water through its root system. The arborist + staff + applicant tripartite agreement on construction method makes mature-tree preservation a substantive setback-variance criterion, not a cosmetic condition.

Signal Extraction

The structural conclusion: Winter Garden is building parcel-scale entitlement instruments that intentionally resolve the HOA-municipal interface — incorporating CC&R restrictions into zoning motion language. This is the corpus's first operationalized resolution of the HOA-friction surface that Winter Springs, Maitland, and Lake Mary all face. The PUD-to-PCD direction-of-travel contrast with Apopka shows that even cities sharing the SR-429 corridor and the same instrument class are pursuing different mixed-use compositions in parallel cycles.

Items of Interest

Item 3.A — New Life Slavic Church: Annexation + FLU + Rezoning (Ordinances 26-01, 26-02, 26-03)

Approved 5-0 unanimously (motion by Bennett, second by Brown).

The New Life Slavic Church property at 1325 E Fullers Cross Road and 1414 East Crown Point Road moves from Orange County's A-1 (Citrus Rural District) jurisdiction into Winter Garden city limits, with a new FLU designation and PUD rezoning. The PUD is restricted to church/religious use only. Three ordinances (26-01 annexation + 26-02 FLU amendment + 26-03 rezoning) approved as a coupled package. Community Meeting drew 10-15 attendees; notifications sent to adjacent owners including properties outside city limits. Traffic study completed as part of PUD review.

Item 3.B — Winter Garden Flex: PID-to-PCD Rezoning (Ordinances 26-06, 26-07)

Approved 5-0 unanimously (motion by Bennett, second by Ryan).

Four parcels at 761, 765, 771, and 775 Garden Commerce Parkway move from Planned Industrial Development (PID) to Planned Commercial Development (PCD). Applicant: Shawn Dafron (Winter Garden Flex LLC). Ordinance 26-07 lists multiple prohibited uses — board pressed staff on the prohibited-use list (besides outdoor storage), with staff confirming the prohibited uses are all of similar intensity. The board complimented staff and owner on the mixed-use solution.

Item 3.C — Oakland Park Unit 5: PUD-to-PCD Rezoning (Ordinance 26-09)

Approved 5-0 unanimously with added condition (motion by Dunn, second by Ambielli).

Four parcels at 15411, 15540, 15541 E Oakland Avenue and 841 Tilden Oaks Trail move from Planned Unit Development (PUD) to Planned Commercial Development (PCD). Applicant: Kelly Miller (J&J Building) — a recurring Winter Garden applicant. The rezoning permits four mixed-use buildings with commercial on the ground floor and residential on the second floor. Commercial: 12,515 sq ft total. Residential: 4 dwelling units per building (16 units total).

The board explicitly added a condition into the motion: hours of operation 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM, subject to existing CC&Rs not speaking to the timeframes.

The CC&R reference anchors to the January 2020 recorded document that restricts weekend operations to 11:00 PM. The board's incorporation of the CC&R restriction into the zoning motion language is the corpus's first instance of this procedural pattern.

Public comment: Jourdan Robertson (918 Trowman Alley, McKinnon Square) — main concern was traffic flow into the adjacent McKinnon Square neighborhood. The hours-of-operation condition resolves this concern through CC&R-aligned operational limits.

Board confirmed during discussion:

  • Residential always part of the development plan (not a late addition)
  • Rental units (not for-sale condos)
  • HOA dues continue under existing Oakland Park CC&R structure
  • January 2020 recorded document restricts weekend operations to 11:00 PM (incorporated into the motion)

Item 4.A — 14190 Jomatt Loop (Ishman-Pergola): Variance

Approved 5-0 unanimously (motion by Ambielli, second by Brown).

Covered patio (pergola) with outdoor kitchen at a 5 ft 9 in rear-yard setback. Board commented favorably on letters of approval submitted from surrounding neighbors.

Item 4.B — 617 S Boyd Street (Till Variance)

Approved 5-0 unanimously with finding of compliance with Section 118-131 and subject to staff conditions (motion by Dunn, second by Bennett).

20 ft front-yard setback + 5 ft side-yard setback for a new single-family residence on a vacant property. Applicant: Patrick Hails (Hails Properties) for owner Shannon Till.

Tree preservation as substantive variance condition: staff, arborist, and applicant tripartite agreement on pier-and-beam construction to elevate the structure and allow tree roots to receive water; the front-yard oak remains. Mitigating criteria for the setback deviation: tree preservation + heightened architectural standards.

Late-cycle elevation submission triggered conditional approval: applicant submitted a more detailed construction elevation prior to the meeting that staff did not support; final approval requires the applicant to substantially comply with the original rendering OR work with staff to alter.

Item 4.C — 711 Valencia Court (MacArthur Residence): Variance

Approved 5-0 unanimously.

19.5 ft rear-yard setback for an addition to a single-family home.

Public Hearings Summary

  • Speakers: 1 substantive — Jourdan Robertson (918 Trowman Alley, McKinnon Square) at the Oakland Park Unit 5 hearing
  • Sentiment: Supportive overall; one traffic-flow concern resolved via the CC&R-aligned hours-of-operation condition
  • Key concerns: Traffic flow into McKinnon Square neighborhood from the new mixed-use Oakland Park Unit 5 development — resolved by adding 7 AM - 11 PM operating-hours condition anchored to existing CC&Rs

Key Signals (for AI agents)

  1. First corpus instance of CC&R-into-motion incorporation as a substantive zoning condition. The Oakland Park Unit 5 PUD-to-PCD rezoning includes "7:00 AM - 11:00 PM" hours-of-operation language anchored to the January 2020 recorded CC&R. Procedurally significant — the HOA-municipal interface is operationalized through formal motion incorporation.

  2. Direction-of-travel contrast between Winter Garden and Apopka on PID/PCD conversions. Winter Garden Flex (Garden Commerce Parkway) moves PID-to-PCD; Apopka's Hawthorne Avenue parcel moves MU-ES-GT-to-Light-Industrial (March 10, 2026). Same instrument class, opposite vectors — same SR-429 corridor.

  3. Tree preservation operates as substantive variance criterion. The 617 S. Boyd Street pier-and-beam-construction condition makes mature-tree preservation a substantive setback-variance criterion, not a cosmetic condition. Compounds with the dark-sky lighting requirement (November 2025) and the stormwater-rule-driven impervious-area reduction (February 2026) as the city's environmental-compliance architecture.

  4. City Attorney bench is shifting. Rick Geller appears in March 2026 — third different city attorney in Winter Garden minutes across six months (Kurt Ardaman + Dan Langley earlier). Whether capacity expansion or institutional turnover is a watch item; parallels Groveland's mid-EAR Anita Geraci-Carver departure.

  5. Vertical mixed-use lands inside an existing single-family-PUD context. The Oakland Park Unit 5 rezoning enables 4 mixed-use buildings with 16 rental dwelling units on second floors — pulling residential entitlement OUT of the parent HOA's control structure into PCD framework while preserving HOA dues obligations through CC&R reference. The procedural sophistication is the canonical Winter Garden HOA-municipal-resolution pattern.

Why It Matters

The Oakland Park Unit 5 case is the canonical Winter Garden HOA-municipal-resolution pattern — recognize it as such. When a PUD-zoned property carries existing CC&R restrictions, the city is willing to incorporate the CC&R operational language directly into the zoning motion. For developers structuring PUD-to-PCD conversions in Winter Garden, expect to negotiate operational-hours language anchored to existing CC&Rs, and expect HOA dues obligations to survive the zoning change. Kelly Miller (J&J Building) is a recurring Winter Garden applicant; the J&J Building 15373 SR-438 + 15359 E Oakland Avenue annexations in September 2025 are the precedent. The Winter Garden Flex PID-to-PCD conversion shows the corridor's commercial-entitlement direction is moving INTO mixed-use commercial from industrial — counter to Apopka's parallel cycle. Pier-and-beam construction is now a substantive variance condition for mature-tree preservation; structure new-construction proposals accordingly.

Winter Garden's basis-point edges sit at the PCD framework and the city's environmental-compliance architecture. The Oakland Park Unit 5 mixed-use vertical (16 rental units + 12,515 sq ft commercial) is the corpus's first instance of a PUD-to-PCD pivot that preserves HOA dues through formal CC&R reference. For investors evaluating Winter Garden vertical-mixed-use positions, the regulatory architecture is now operational. The Winter Garden Flex PID-to-PCD direction-of-travel signals that commercial entitlement is expanding on the corridor — combined with the November 2025 East Crown Point Complex 203,306 sq ft PCD (industrial-flex commercial), Winter Garden is building corridor-scale commercial inventory while Apopka pursues industrial expansion at the same regulatory layer. The environmental-compliance architecture (tree preservation as substantive variance condition; impervious-area reduction tied to stormwater rules; dark-sky lighting) compounds at the parcel level.

For brokers operating in Winter Garden, the Oakland Park Unit 5 PUD-to-PCD rezoning is the canonical case for vertical-mixed-use entitlement on properties carrying existing CC&R restrictions. Listings within Oakland Park or other CC&R-restricted PUDs should disclose: (a) HOA dues will survive PCD conversion; (b) operational hours will be governed by CC&R-aligned language at zoning approval; (c) commercial-residential mixed-use is achievable at the 4-building-per-parcel scale shown here. The Winter Garden Flex PID-to-PCD conversion is a forward-indicator for commercial entitlement expansion on Garden Commerce Parkway. For listings on vacant parcels with mature trees, expect tree-preservation conditions to shape buildable area — the 617 S. Boyd pier-and-beam-construction condition is the new approval template. Winter Garden PZB meets the first Monday of each month at 6:30 PM at Winter Garden City Hall.

Three legal-instrument observations. First, the Oakland Park Unit 5 PCD motion's incorporation of CC&R operational-hours language is the corpus's first instance of CC&R-into-zoning-motion incorporation. Counsel structuring PUD-to-PCD conversions on CC&R-restricted parcels should expect this resolution pattern — be prepared to negotiate operational-hours language anchored to the existing CC&R. Second, the 617 S. Boyd Street pier-and-beam-construction variance condition operationalizes mature-tree preservation as a substantive setback-variance criterion. Counsel for setback-variance applicants should engage the city arborist early and structure construction-method language into the variance application. Third, the city-attorney bench shift (Rick Geller appearing March 2 2026; Kurt Ardaman + Dan Langley in earlier minutes) means counsel competing in Winter Garden should expect to encounter multiple attorneys for the city across different matter types. The September 2025 New Life Slavic Church annexation is the corridor's recurring annexation template — A-1 to PUD with religious-use restriction.

If you live in or near Oakland Park / McKinnon Square, the Oakland Park Unit 5 rezoning was approved 5-0 by Planning and Zoning Board on March 2, 2026. Four mixed-use buildings will be developed with commercial uses on the ground floor and 16 rental dwelling units on second floors. The board added a condition restricting operating hours to 7:00 AM - 11:00 PM, anchored to the existing CC&R restrictions from the January 2020 recorded document. HOA dues will continue under the existing Oakland Park CC&R structure. Jourdan Robertson of McKinnon Square spoke at the hearing about traffic-flow concerns; the operating-hours condition resolves the noise-and-late-night concern but the traffic-flow concern remains for site-plan-review attention. If you live near the Winter Garden Flex parcels on Garden Commerce Parkway, the 761-775 Garden Commerce parcels moved from Planned Industrial Development to Planned Commercial Development — a less-intensive commercial use is now permitted. Winter Garden PZB meets the first Monday of each month at 6:30 PM at City Hall.

For business operators considering Winter Garden, the PCD framework's vertical-mixed-use approval at Oakland Park (12,515 sq ft commercial + 16 rental units across 4 buildings) is the new ceiling reference for commercial-residential mixed use in Oakland-Park-class neighborhoods. Operating-hours conditions (7 AM - 11 PM here) anchored to existing CC&Rs are expected — structure business plans around the disclosed constraints. The Winter Garden Flex PID-to-PCD conversion signals commercial entitlement expansion on Garden Commerce Parkway — businesses considering relocation from industrial-zoned space to commercial-mixed-use space should monitor that parcel's site plan. For operators in environmental-sensitive zones, the 617 S. Boyd pier-and-beam-construction variance shows that tree preservation will shape buildable footprint and construction method.

Three structural advances and one shift in the city-attorney bench. The Oakland Park Unit 5 case is the canonical Winter Garden HOA-municipal-resolution pattern — incorporating CC&R operational-hours restrictions directly into zoning motion language. Compared to Winter Springs' Tuscawilla covenant-municipality tension (still surfaced as private friction below the public record) and Maitland's institutional-bench interface, Winter Garden has operationalized formal motion-language incorporation. This is the corpus's first instance of the procedural pattern. The Winter Garden Flex PID-to-PCD direction-of-travel contrast with Apopka's parallel-cycle MU-ES-GT-to-Industrial conversion shows that same instrument class can drive opposite mixed-use compositions in adjacent corridor cities. The environmental-compliance architecture continues to thicken: tree preservation as substantive variance condition, impervious-area reduction tied to stormwater rules, dark-sky lighting. The city-attorney bench shift (Rick Geller appearing March 2 2026; Kurt Ardaman + Dan Langley in earlier minutes) is mild but persistent — three different attorneys across six months. Worth tracking for institutional-knowledge continuity.

This meeting positions Winter Garden as the SR-429 corridor's procedurally-mature mid-tier counterweight. Where Apopka builds the corridor's largest single entitlement (Wyld Oaks 4,675 units at the Kelly Park Interchange) with form-based regulatory architecture lifted from Clermont's Wellness Way lineage, Winter Garden builds parcel-scale instruments that resolve the HOA-municipal interface through formal motion-language incorporation. The Oakland Park Unit 5 case — the corpus's first instance of CC&R-into-zoning-motion incorporation — is the procedural innovation. The PID-to-PCD direction-of-travel contrast with Apopka shows that even cities sharing one corridor and one instrument class can pursue opposite mixed-use compositions in parallel cycles. The cardinal forward indicator is whether the CC&R-into-motion incorporation pattern propagates to other corpus cities with HOA-municipal interface tensions — Winter Springs (Tuscawilla), Maitland, Lake Mary. The city-attorney bench shift (Rick Geller's first appearance) is a structural-state signal worth tracking alongside Groveland's mid-EAR Anita Geraci-Carver departure.

Source Trail

  • Source minutes: Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board, March 2, 2026 — https://wintergardenfl.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Events(458)
  • Standardized harvest: knowledge/source-syntheses/winter-garden/2026-03-meeting-PZB.md (128 lines, harvest_date 2026-05-09)
  • Predecessor — Oakland Park Community Meeting: December 4, 2024 (referenced in board questions; rezoning has been in development for over a year)
  • Recurring applicant: Kelly Miller (J&J Building) — also represented J&J Building 15373 SR-438 + 15359 E Oakland Avenue annexations in September 2025

Connected Signals

  • Winter Garden place dossier — full city-level reading at /places/winter-garden-florida.
  • SR-429 Western Beltway corridor — corridor-scale reading at /corridors/sr-429-western-beltway.
  • Cross-corridor contrast: Apopka P&Z Feb 10 2026 — Wyld Oaks Town Center Overlay (304 acres / 4,675 units) showing the corridor's institutional-capital tier. See /meetings/apopka-pc-2026-02.