What were the most significant items on the Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board agenda for May 2026?

Meeting Reading

Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board

May 4, 2026

8 items on the agenda

**613-unit Johns Lake Urban Village is the spring's flagship approval — and it rode entirely on infrastructure-timing testimony, not density debate.** A 613-unit UVPUD with a bed-and-breakfast, event space, agricultural uses, and a future City Park passed 6-0 with zero board hesitation on the unit count. What consumed the hearing was *when the roads will exist*: SR-516 (two years out), New Independence Parkway (January 2027), and Amber Sweet Lane / Williams Road. The board's defense is procedural sequencing — roadway completion before CO of the 200th house, an OCPS school-capacity agreement — rather than a no. This is the inverse of the US-27 northern-resistance posture (Leesburg/Groveland denial blocs): in the SR-429/SR-516 western-Orange growth lane, large entitlements pass and the contest is over concurrency choreography. A textbook "large votes, small crowds" exhibit (613 units, ~9 speakers, all unanimous).
**Lowndes is at the table again — this time as an adjacent landowner's right-of-way negotiator, not the applicant.** Erin V. Clifton of Lowndes appeared for the neighboring Farm Sound property, distributing an exhibit and pressing for a 25 ft Amber Sweet Lane dedication. The board sided with staff's 12.5-ft-each cost-share. This extends the cross-corridor legal-counsel network pattern into a new role: the same firms that entitle the big PUDs across Lake and Orange (Lowndes via Tedrow on Minneola's Citrus Ridge) are also brokering inter-parcel right-of-way leverage as a wedge. Watch whether the Farm Sound parcel itself comes forward next.
**An ERU water-consumption threshold was quietly welded into industrial use entitlement.** Ordinance 26-16's revised text (Exhibit B) makes any I-1/I-2 use exceeding a specific ERU water draw trigger a mandatory Special Exception Permit. This is the western-Orange echo of the binding-constraint-is-water finding from the US-27 corridor and Minneola's wastewater-capacity wall: utility capacity is migrating from a back-end engineering check into the front-end use code itself. For any water-intensive industrial prospect (data centers, food/beverage processing, cold storage), Winter Garden has just installed a discretionary gate. Directly relevant to the data-center cross-corpus propagation watch.

On May 4, 2026, City of Winter Garden's Planning and Zoning Board considered 8 agenda items. **613-unit Johns Lake Urban Village is the spring's flagship approval — and it rode entirely on infrastructure-timing testimony, not density debate.** A 613-unit UVPUD with a bed-and-breakfast, event space, agricultural uses, and a future City Park passed 6-0 with zero board hesitation on the unit count. What consumed the hearing was *when the roads will exist*: SR-516 (two years out), New Independence Parkway (January 2027), and Amber Sweet Lane / Williams Road. The board's defense is procedural sequencing — roadway completion before CO of the 200th house, an OCPS school-capacity agreement — rather than a no. This is the inverse of the US-27 northern-resistance posture (Leesburg/Groveland denial blocs): in the SR-429/SR-516 western-Orange growth lane, large entitlements pass and the contest is over concurrency choreography. A textbook "large votes, small crowds" exhibit (613 units, ~9 speakers, all unanimous). **Lowndes is at the table again — this time as an adjacent landowner's right-of-way negotiator, not the applicant.** Erin V. Clifton of Lowndes appeared for the neighboring Farm Sound property, distributing an exhibit and pressing for a 25 ft Amber Sweet Lane dedication. The board sided with staff's 12.5-ft-each cost-share. This extends the cross-corridor legal-counsel network pattern into a new role: the same firms that entitle the big PUDs across Lake and Orange (Lowndes via Tedrow on Minneola's Citrus Ridge) are also brokering inter-parcel right-of-way leverage as a wedge. Watch whether the Farm Sound parcel itself comes forward next. **An ERU water-consumption threshold was quietly welded into industrial use entitlement.** Ordinance 26-16's revised text (Exhibit B) makes any I-1/I-2 use exceeding a specific ERU water draw trigger a mandatory Special Exception Permit. This is the western-Orange echo of the binding-constraint-is-water finding from the US-27 corridor and Minneola's wastewater-capacity wall: utility capacity is migrating from a back-end engineering check into the front-end use code itself. For any water-intensive industrial prospect (data centers, food/beverage processing, cold storage), Winter Garden has just installed a discretionary gate. Directly relevant to the data-center cross-corpus propagation watch.

CHANGE LENS

THE READINGmeeting record

City of Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board — May 4, 2026

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (6 of 7 members present) Duration: Approximately 2 hours 15 minutes (6:30 PM – 8:45 PM)

Attendance

Present: Chairman Will Hawthorne, Linda Bennett, Myron Brown, Jimmy Dunn, Jeff Ewing, TJ Ryan
Absent: Vice-Chairman Steve Ambielli (excused)
Staff Present: City Manager Jon C. Williams, City Attorney Kurt Ardaman, Assistant City Manager for Public Services Steve Pash, Planning Director Kelly Carson, Planning Supervisor Shane Friedman, Senior Planner Yvonne Conatser, Planner II Amber McDonald, Recording Secretary Ellen King

Agenda Items

Item 2: Approval of Minutes — April 6, 2026

Action: Approved
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Dunn, second by Ewing)

Item 3.A: W Colonial Drive (Outfront Development) — Annexation / FLU / Rezoning

Type: Annexation + Future Land Use Map Amendment + Rezoning
Case Number: Parcel ID 25-22-27-9384-01-183
Location: W Colonial Drive (US-50 / SR-50 corridor)
Applicant: Outfront Development (billboard / outdoor-advertising operator)
Request: Annex the property into the city, update the Future Land Use Map, and rezone to C-2 (Arterial Commercial District). Concept plan only; the applicant intends to erect a digital billboard on the property in exchange for removing two existing billboards at 1101 E Plant Street and 14899 W Colonial Drive, subject to a Billboard Relocation and Reconstruction Agreement.
Current Zoning: Unincorporated county (enclave)
Proposed Zoning: C-2 Arterial Commercial District
Staff Recommendation: Approve — provides more efficient service delivery and furthers the Comprehensive Plan goal of eliminating enclaves
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Hawthorne, second by Bennett)
Conditions: Future development subject to full city site-plan review; billboard relocation governed by the separate Relocation and Reconstruction Agreement
Notable Discussion: Board members asked whether the drainage canal running through the site allows the intended use and whether existing billboards will be removed. Staff stressed this is a concept plan only and any future development is subject to city review. No public spoke.

Item 3.B: 1756, 1401 & 1400 Williams Road & 17729 Marsh Road (Johns Lake PD) — UVPUD Rezoning

Type: Rezoning (PUD — Urban Village Planned Unit Development)
Case Number: Ordinance 26-12; Parcel IDs 31-22-27-0000-00-002 & -001; 06-23-27-0000-00-001; 06-23-27-4288-08-242
Location: 1756, 1401 & 1400 Williams Road & 17729 Marsh Road (Johns Lake area, near the Orange/Lake County line and the SR-516 corridor)
Applicant: AquaTerra Development Inc (John Murphy); Heather Isaacs of Isaacs Strategy Solution LLC (applicant rep). Original entitlement work traced to Castle & Cooke.
Request: Rezone to Urban Village Planned Unit Development (UVPUD) to permit 613 dwelling units (single-family and townhome), neighborhood parks, and two Special Districts — Special District 1 (parks, a bed-and-breakfast capped at 40 rooms/cottages, event space, agricultural uses, and accessory retail/service in support of the primary use) and Special District 2 (reserved for a future City Park).
Current Zoning: Annexed 2007; FLU established at annexation (no FLUM changes proposed)
Proposed Zoning: UVPUD
Acreage: Multi-parcel; trip generation modeled at 5,400 daily trips
Staff Recommendation: Approve Ordinance 26-12 subject to staff conditions
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Dunn, second by Bennett)
Conditions: Capacity Enhancement Agreement (CEA) or Capacity Mitigation Agreement (CMA) with OCPS tied to the elementary school; roadway improvements completed before CO of the 200th house; existing cemetery to remain; gated sections permitted for vehicle access but open for public pedestrian access; open-space/Special District 1 to meet minimum open-space requirements.
Notable Discussion: Board Member Dunn disclosed ex-parte communication with the applicant and, as a lifelong Winter Garden resident, prior history with the property and with Castle & Cooke (original developers). Staff disclosed a noticing error: two public-hearing notices were mailed due to a wrong City Commission meeting date, and the city received 25 resident letters of concern that staff addressed. The infrastructure-timing thread dominated: Laura Kelly (former Executive Director, Central Florida Expressway Authority) stated SR-516 will be completed in two years and will relieve SR-50 and Marsh Road; Diana Hover reported New Independence Parkway is under construction with January 2027 completion; staff said Amber Sweet Lane and Williams Road will finish in the same window as another County-line connection. Erin V. Clifton of Lowndes (representing the adjacent Farm Sound property) distributed a Farm Sound right-of-way map (Exhibit A): supportive of the development but requesting the western portion of Amber Sweet Lane dedicated by the applicant be raised to 25 ft. Staff proposed the fairest path is each owner contributing 12.5 ft of right-of-way and sharing construction cost; the board agreed with staff. Rick Stuebing (President, Johns Lake Association) voiced support after seeing lake-protection measures; Janet Brindle (1383 Roxy Lane) raised concern about the proposed bed-and-breakfast and traffic and agreed with school removal; Alex Lloret (1437 Williams Road) raised Williams/Marsh Road traffic concerns. Dale Kelch (City of Orlando Capital Improvements) noted removing the school would not lower the 5,400-trip count; staff clarified the 5,400 figure already reflects the new homes. Staff confirmed the traffic study accounts for area-wide growth, and Isaacs noted future access points will divert trips off Marsh and Williams Roads.

Item 4.A: 530 & 550 East Crown Point Road (429 @ Crown Point – South) — Preliminary Plat

Type: Preliminary Plat
Case Number: Parcel IDs 13-22-27-0895-00-070 & -080
Location: 530 & 550 East Crown Point Road (SR-429 / Crown Point corridor)
Applicant: Owner of Lots 7 and 8 (commercial office/flex developer; rep via Diana M. Almodovar of DMA Civil Engineers LLC)
Request: Replat two existing lots into three lots plus a common-area tract to enable future condo-platting of buildings. Part of a larger PCD of nine commercial office/flex buildings totaling 203,306 sq ft, spread across the three lots in six phases.
Staff Recommendation: Approve subject to staff conditions
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Ewing, second by Ryan)
Conditions: Standard plat conditions per staff
Notable Discussion: Board asked staff to define a condo plat; staff clarified. No public spoke.

Item 5.A: 305 Beulah Road (Winter Garden Christian Academy) — Special Exception

Type: Special Exception Permit
Case Number: Parcel ID 25-22-27-0000-00-013
Location: 305 Beulah Road
Applicant: Winter Garden Christian Academy (Dave Buckles)
Request: Add two temporary stand-alone modular classroom trailers, increase student capacity to 200, and expand the grade range to K–8.
Staff Recommendation: Approve subject to staff conditions
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Bennett, second by Brown)
Conditions: Traffic Impact Analysis to be completed; any identified issues become approval conditions for applicant improvements; portables located on the east side of the school.
Notable Discussion: Staff reported no complaints about school parking or traffic to date. Applicant Buckles noted the TIA identified a need to double-stack the on-site traffic line, and clarified that although the school seeks 100 additional students next year, the two modulars yield capacity for only 60; full enrollment will not be realized until build-out. No public spoke.

Item 6.A: 326 S Main Street (Amparo Residence) — Variance

Type: Variance
Case Number: Parcel ID 23-22-27-2888-11-067
Location: 326 S Main Street
Applicant: Amparo (owner)
Request: Allow a 7.5 ft interior side-yard setback, 6 ft corner-lot setback, 20 ft rear-yard setback, and 15.5 ft accessory-building height to build a two-story single-family home with a detached garage.
Staff Recommendation: Approve subject to staff conditions
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Hawthorne, second by Dunn)
Conditions: City staff and the two affected homeowners to jointly determine an appropriately sized drainage easement for an engineered swale, reviewed by the city, prior to plot-plan approval and recording (10 ft easement discussed across both properties); plus standard staff conditions.
Notable Discussion: Board noted it had earlier required the site plan revised to push the home back to the 30 ft front setback (shown on revised drawing). Carl Trainer (327 S Boyd Street) was not against the home but raised concern about two houses on the lot and stormwater runoff; staff said the property formerly held a duplex and drainage was approved to current grade, with a swale to be properly designed at the design stage. John Goings (404 S Main Street) supported the house, acknowledged a known heavy-rain drainage backup, and requested the remainder of Miller Street be paved. Brennen Fountain (320 S Main Street) wanted the drainage issue resolved before Lot 2 development. The applicant said he is open to working out drainage and incorporating the 10 ft easement.

Item 6.B: 111 N Central Avenue (Tingley Residence) — Variance

Type: Variance
Case Number: Parcel ID 14-22-27-1728-05-180
Location: 111 N Central Avenue (Historic District)
Applicant: Ralph and Tracy Tingley (designer Dirk Arace of 3563 Terra Oaks Court)
Request: Allow a minimum 15 ft rear-yard setback, 10 ft 8 in wall height, and 24 ft roof-peak height to construct a detached garage.
Staff Recommendation: Approve subject to staff conditions
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Bennett, second by Ewing)
Conditions: Applicant must apply for a tree-removal permit and mitigate by planting two new trees; plus standard staff conditions.
Notable Discussion: The home itself requires no variance — it meets all setbacks and city regulations and was already reviewed and approved by the Historic Preservation Board as consistent with the area; only the detached garage (required by the city) needs the variance. A rear live oak would be removed for the garage. Neighbors objected: Jeanine and Keith Wilson (114 N Highland Avenue) opposed the variance and the live-oak removal, with Keith citing a Florida article on variances in historic districts; Johnathan Green (110 N Central Avenue) wanted healthy trees saved. Board members raised ADUs and the distinction between Historic District and Historic Overlay; staff explained both. The applicants said they did not originally want a detached garage but are required to build one, and would prefer to keep the tree but cannot site the garage otherwise.

Item 7.A: Ordinance 26-16 — Code Amendment, I-1 & I-2 Special Exception and Prohibited Uses

Type: Text Amendment (industrial-district use code)
Case Number: Ordinance 26-16 (amending Sections 118-729, 118-731, 118-773, 118-774, 118-775)
Location: Citywide (I-1 Light Industrial and I-2 Heavy Industrial districts)
Applicant: City of Winter Garden (staff-initiated; presented by Planning Director Kelly Carson)
Request: Amend the list of Special Exception and Prohibited Uses in the I-1 and I-2 districts to add uses determined similar in type and intensity to and compatible with permitted uses, and to clarify prohibited uses. A revised Ordinance 26-16 (Exhibit B) added two highlighted sentences establishing a specific ERU water-consumption threshold that triggers a required Special Exception Permit.
Action: Approved (recommended for approval)
Vote: Unanimous 6-0 (motion by Bennett, second by Dunn)
Conditions: Per staff
Notable Discussion: Carson framed the intent as giving the board flexibility to consider uses consistent and compatible with existing industrial uses; a narrow, function-blind special-exception list "may result in unnecessary regulatory rigidity and limit appropriate economic development opportunities." Neither board nor public had comments. The new ERU water-consumption trigger is notable — it embeds a utility-capacity gate directly into industrial use entitlement.

Public Hearings Summary

Number of speakers: ~9 (concentrated almost entirely on Item 3.B Johns Lake PD): Heather Isaacs (applicant rep), Laura Kelly (ex-CFX), Diana Hover, Dale Kelch (City of Orlando), Erin V. Clifton (Lowndes / Farm Sound), Rick Stuebing (Johns Lake Association), Janet Brindle, Alex Lloret; plus on Items 6.A/6.B: Carl Trainer, John Goings, Brennen Fountain, Jeanine Wilson, Keith Wilson, Johnathan Green, Dirk Arace
General sentiment: Mixed-to-supportive on Johns Lake PD (support conditioned on lake protection and infrastructure timing; one adjacent owner negotiating right-of-way); divided on the 111 N Central historic-district garage (neighbors opposed over live-oak removal)
Key concerns:
- Infrastructure-timing on Johns Lake PD — Williams Road / Marsh Road traffic, the 5,400-trip count, and the dependency on SR-516, New Independence Parkway, and Amber Sweet Lane completions
- Right-of-way dedication friction between the applicant and the adjacent Farm Sound property (Lowndes-represented) on the western leg of Amber Sweet Lane
- Stormwater runoff and drainage easements on the 326 S Main Street infill lot
- Removal of a rear live oak for a city-mandated detached garage in the Historic District (111 N Central)

Key Signals

613-unit Johns Lake Urban Village is the spring's flagship approval — and it rode entirely on infrastructure-timing testimony, not density debate. A 613-unit UVPUD with a bed-and-breakfast, event space, agricultural uses, and a future City Park passed 6-0 with zero board hesitation on the unit count. What consumed the hearing was when the roads will exist: SR-516 (two years out), New Independence Parkway (January 2027), and Amber Sweet Lane / Williams Road. The board's defense is procedural sequencing — roadway completion before CO of the 200th house, an OCPS school-capacity agreement — rather than a no. This is the inverse of the US-27 northern-resistance posture (Leesburg/Groveland denial blocs): in the SR-429/SR-516 western-Orange growth lane, large entitlements pass and the contest is over concurrency choreography. A textbook "large votes, small crowds" exhibit (613 units, ~9 speakers, all unanimous).
Lowndes is at the table again — this time as an adjacent landowner's right-of-way negotiator, not the applicant. Erin V. Clifton of Lowndes appeared for the neighboring Farm Sound property, distributing an exhibit and pressing for a 25 ft Amber Sweet Lane dedication. The board sided with staff's 12.5-ft-each cost-share. This extends the cross-corridor legal-counsel network pattern into a new role: the same firms that entitle the big PUDs across Lake and Orange (Lowndes via Tedrow on Minneola's Citrus Ridge) are also brokering inter-parcel right-of-way leverage as a wedge. Watch whether the Farm Sound parcel itself comes forward next.
An ERU water-consumption threshold was quietly welded into industrial use entitlement. Ordinance 26-16's revised text (Exhibit B) makes any I-1/I-2 use exceeding a specific ERU water draw trigger a mandatory Special Exception Permit. This is the western-Orange echo of the binding-constraint-is-water finding from the US-27 corridor and Minneola's wastewater-capacity wall: utility capacity is migrating from a back-end engineering check into the front-end use code itself. For any water-intensive industrial prospect (data centers, food/beverage processing, cold storage), Winter Garden has just installed a discretionary gate. Directly relevant to the data-center cross-corpus propagation watch.
The Historic District is becoming Winter Garden's live-oak battleground — and the city's own ADU/garage mandates are the trigger. At 111 N Central, the home needed no variance; the city requires a detached garage, and siting it forces removal of a rear live oak — drawing organized neighbor opposition citing historic-district variance precedent. The board approved 6-0 with two-tree mitigation. Tree-canopy-versus-mandated-accessory-structure tension is now a recurring axis here (compare the April 6 Cappleman accessory-height code-gap commitment). Homebuyers in the downtown historic core should expect contested, condition-laden infill approvals.
Outfront's billboard-for-annexation swap shows the enclave-elimination playbook monetized. The W Colonial annexation/C-2 rezoning is a concept-only shell whose real consideration is a Billboard Relocation and Reconstruction Agreement: a new digital billboard in exchange for removing two older static boards. The city gets enclave elimination and a cleaner arterial; the operator gets a digital upgrade. It is voluntary annexation as a jurisdictional tool, but the currency is outdoor-advertising entitlement rather than utility hookups — a variant worth filing.

Raw Notes

Source: Winter Garden CivicClerk tenant wintergardenfl; PZB regular meeting minutes May 4, 2026 (8-page PDF, fully text-extractable, 342 lines). Minutes approved status per ATTEST/APPROVED signature block (Recording Secretary Ellen King / Chairman Will Hawthorne).
Two City Attorneys are on the roster (Kurt Ardaman present at May 4; Dan Langley listed on the June 1 agenda alongside Planning Consultant Ed Williams).
The Johns Lake PD noticing error (wrong City Commission meeting date) caused a duplicate mailing and 25 resident concern letters; staff stated all were addressed. Worth flagging if the City Commission adoption hearing is later challenged on notice.
Exhibit A = Farm Sound right-of-way map (Item 3.B, Lowndes-submitted). Exhibit B = revised Ordinance 26-16 with the ERU water-consumption-threshold sentences.
Meeting adjourned 8:45 PM to the next regular PZB meeting Monday, June 1, 2026, 6:30 PM, City Hall Commission Chambers, 300 W. Plant Street.
Vice-Chairman Steve Ambielli excused (the second consecutive month a single member is the lone absence; April 6 ran at minimum quorum with three excused).