What were the most significant items on the Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board agenda for April 2025?

Q: What were the most significant items on the Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board agenda for April 2025?

· **Lakefront-setback variances on Lake Berry and Lake Virginia both passed unanimously, with conditions documenting that views from the lake and from neighbors would not be affected.** Winter Park's Planning & Zoning Board adjudicates lakefront builds individually — every addition or new home on a Winter Park lake comes through this room. The board's recurring tests are FAR, impervious coverage, neighbor sight lines, lake-view sight lines, and specimen tree retention. The April meeting set the rhythm: small encroachments approved when those tests pass. · **The 2260 Hawick Lane rezoning (R-1A → R-2 for a three-lot split) was tabled at the applicant's request to hold a community meeting before its substantive hearing.** Pre-hearing community meetings are now part of the political-management process for density-increasing rezonings in Winter Park; the request returns June 3 with the community-meeting outcome in evidence. · **Plat consolidation (1980 W. Fairbanks Avenue + Kentucky Avenue rear parcel) advances as routine.** When parcels were created in the 1920s under different platting rules, recombination often unlocks adjacent lot use — here, planned office/commercial up front with a rear parking lot. Winter Park's path for these is procedurally clean: review by the surveyor, attorney, and Orange County, then a P&Z final plat. · **Vice-Chair Spencer was termed off the board after this meeting.** Chair election dynamics will be tested at the May or June meeting; combined with the existing vacancy (Warren Lindsey), the seven-seat board has two open seats heading into a moment when the city's design-standards work and several substantive site plans are due for a vote.

Meeting Reading

Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board

April 1, 2025

4 items on the agenda

**Lakefront-setback variances on Lake Berry and Lake Virginia both passed unanimously, with conditions documenting that views from the lake and from neighbors would not be affected.** Winter Park's Planning & Zoning Board adjudicates lakefront builds individually — every addition or new home on a Winter Park lake comes through this room. The board's recurring tests are FAR, impervious coverage, neighbor sight lines, lake-view sight lines, and specimen tree retention. The April meeting set the rhythm: small encroachments approved when those tests pass.
**The 2260 Hawick Lane rezoning (R-1A → R-2 for a three-lot split) was tabled at the applicant's request to hold a community meeting before its substantive hearing.** Pre-hearing community meetings are now part of the political-management process for density-increasing rezonings in Winter Park; the request returns June 3 with the community-meeting outcome in evidence.
**Plat consolidation (1980 W. Fairbanks Avenue + Kentucky Avenue rear parcel) advances as routine.** When parcels were created in the 1920s under different platting rules, recombination often unlocks adjacent lot use — here, planned office/commercial up front with a rear parking lot. Winter Park's path for these is procedurally clean: review by the surveyor, attorney, and Orange County, then a P&Z final plat.

On April 1, 2025, City of Winter Park's Planning & Zoning Board considered 4 agenda items. **Lakefront-setback variances on Lake Berry and Lake Virginia both passed unanimously, with conditions documenting that views from the lake and from neighbors would not be affected.** Winter Park's Planning & Zoning Board adjudicates lakefront builds individually — every addition or new home on a Winter Park lake comes through this room. The board's recurring tests are FAR, impervious coverage, neighbor sight lines, lake-view sight lines, and specimen tree retention. The April meeting set the rhythm: small encroachments approved when those tests pass. **The 2260 Hawick Lane rezoning (R-1A → R-2 for a three-lot split) was tabled at the applicant's request to hold a community meeting before its substantive hearing.** Pre-hearing community meetings are now part of the political-management process for density-increasing rezonings in Winter Park; the request returns June 3 with the community-meeting outcome in evidence. **Plat consolidation (1980 W. Fairbanks Avenue + Kentucky Avenue rear parcel) advances as routine.** When parcels were created in the 1920s under different platting rules, recombination often unlocks adjacent lot use — here, planned office/commercial up front with a rear parking lot. Winter Park's path for these is procedurally clean: review by the surveyor, attorney, and Orange County, then a P&Z final plat.

CHANGE LENS

THE READINGmeeting record

City of Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board — April 1, 2025

Meeting Overview

Type: Regular Meeting Quorum: Yes (5 of 6 seated members present; 1 vacancy noted — Warren Lindsey termed off) Duration: Approximately 25 minutes (5:59 PM – 6:24 PM)

Attendance

Present: Alex Stringfellow, David Bornstein, Michael Spencer, Jason Johnson, Bill Segal
Absent: Jim Fitch
Staff Present: City Attorney Dan Langley, Director of Planning and Zoning Allison McGillis, Senior Planner/Zoning Official John Harbilas, Planner II Nicholas Lewis, Planner I Corinna Lundgren, Administrative Coordinator Mary Bush

Agenda Items

Item 1: RZ #25-02/SUB #25-01 — 2260 Hawick Lane Rezone & Lot Split (Tabled)

Type: Rezoning + Subdivision
Case Number: RZ #25-02 / SUB #25-01
Location: 2260 Hawick Lane
Applicant: David Rasmussen
Request: Rezone from single-family (R-1A) to low-density residential (R-2) and subdivide into three 50-foot-wide lots
Current Zoning: R-1A
Proposed Zoning: R-2
Staff Recommendation: N/A — applicant requested table
Action: Tabled to June 3, 2025 (at applicant's request)
Vote: Procedural acceptance
Notable Discussion: Applicant tabled to hold a community meeting in April. One resident — Giuseppe Totino, 2255 Nairn Drive — spoke about the request during a different agenda item; staff noted the public hearing on this item would resume in June.

Item 2: SPR #25-02 — 665 Balmoral Road Lakefront Addition

Type: Site Plan Review (Lakefront)
Case Number: SPR #25-02
Location: 665 Balmoral Road, Lake Berry
Applicant: Rob Mercier
Request: Approval to construct 830-square-foot additions to the existing single-family home, with a lanai encroaching two feet into the 99.6-foot lakefront setback
Current Zoning: R-1AAA
Staff Recommendation: Approve
Action: Approved
Vote: 5-0 unanimous
Notable Discussion: Below FAR cap; only variance was the lakefront setback. No specimen tree removal. Stormwater met by multiple proposed swales. Board confirmed why the request came to PZB rather than the Board of Adjustments.

Item 3: SPR #25-03 — 255 Stirling Avenue Two-Story Additions

Type: Site Plan Review (Lakefront)
Case Number: SPR #25-03
Location: 255 Stirling Avenue, Lake Virginia
Applicant: David Konkol
Request: Approval to construct 848-square-foot additions to an existing two-story single-family home on a uniquely triangular lot (102 ft front, 40 ft lakefront, with canal frontage along the side)
Current Zoning: R-1AAA
Staff Recommendation: Approve
Action: Approved
Vote: 5-0 unanimous
Notable Discussion: Lot shape made any new construction impractical without modifying the existing structure. FAR, impervious coverage, and setback requirements met. Stormwater handled via lakefront swale. Board discussed the proposed stormwater pond and driveway drainage.

Item 4: RP #25-01 — 1980 W. Fairbanks Avenue Final Plat

Type: Final Plat (Replat)
Case Number: RP #25-01
Location: 1980 West Fairbanks Avenue + parcel behind it fronting Kentucky Avenue
Applicant: Fairbanks Winter Park LLC
Request: Final plat approval to combine two 1920s-era platted lots into one parcel
Staff Recommendation: Approve
Action: Approved
Vote: 5-0 unanimous
Notable Discussion: Office and commercial uses planned for the front parcel; parking lot for the rear parcel providing access from Kentucky Avenue. No conditional use or rezoning required. Reviewed by city surveyor, attorney, and Orange County.

Public Hearings Summary

Number of speakers: 1 substantive (Giuseppe Totino at 2255 Nairn Drive — spoke on the tabled Hawick Lane item)
General sentiment: No organized opposition on heard items
Key concerns: None raised on approved items; the public hearing for the Hawick Lane rezoning will resume in June after a community meeting

Key Signals

Lakefront-setback variances on Lake Berry and Lake Virginia both passed unanimously, with conditions documenting that views from the lake and from neighbors would not be affected. Winter Park's Planning & Zoning Board adjudicates lakefront builds individually — every addition or new home on a Winter Park lake comes through this room. The board's recurring tests are FAR, impervious coverage, neighbor sight lines, lake-view sight lines, and specimen tree retention. The April meeting set the rhythm: small encroachments approved when those tests pass.
The 2260 Hawick Lane rezoning (R-1A → R-2 for a three-lot split) was tabled at the applicant's request to hold a community meeting before its substantive hearing. Pre-hearing community meetings are now part of the political-management process for density-increasing rezonings in Winter Park; the request returns June 3 with the community-meeting outcome in evidence.
Plat consolidation (1980 W. Fairbanks Avenue + Kentucky Avenue rear parcel) advances as routine. When parcels were created in the 1920s under different platting rules, recombination often unlocks adjacent lot use — here, planned office/commercial up front with a rear parking lot. Winter Park's path for these is procedurally clean: review by the surveyor, attorney, and Orange County, then a P&Z final plat.
Vice-Chair Spencer was termed off the board after this meeting. Chair election dynamics will be tested at the May or June meeting; combined with the existing vacancy (Warren Lindsey), the seven-seat board has two open seats heading into a moment when the city's design-standards work and several substantive site plans are due for a vote.

Raw Notes

Quorum was 5 of 6 seated members. Two seats were unfilled (Lindsey termed off; one new appointment pending).
Vice-Chair Spencer was acknowledged as termed-out and would no longer be on the Board after April.
Minutes of the March 4, 2025 meeting were approved 5-0.
These April 1, 2025 minutes were approved 6-0 at the May 6, 2025 meeting.