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Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board
April 2026

3 items on the agendaConvened April 7, 2026
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THE READINGmeeting record

Meeting Snapshot

Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board · April 7, 2026 · 5:00 PM – 7:33 PM

Three agenda items. Five of seven members present (Bornstein and Segal absent). Two unanimous approvals on substance: a new single-family home on Wright Avenue, and a zoning text amendment opening the PQP District to detached single-family residential under R-1A standards. One unanimous tabling: the 29,760-sq-ft Holler Orlando RV redevelopment at Fairbanks Avenue / Denning Drive — a Community Benefit Agreement project on a parcel vested out of the Orange Avenue Overlay.

The first appearance of City Attorney Katherine Ruiz, succeeding Dan Langley as the board's attending city attorney in this corpus's coverage window.

Plain-English Summary

The Habitat for Humanity / Orange County School Board / City of Winter Park partnership at 901 W. Webster Avenue is the corpus's first explicit public-public-private structure for affordable workforce housing. The mechanism is conservative: a text amendment carves a new permitted use within the Public and Quasi-Public (PQP) District for detached single-family dwelling units developed under R-1A standards. It is narrowly framed — applied to the school-board-owned former Orange Technical College property — but architecturally replicable for other school-district-owned PQP parcels statewide.

The CUP tabling on the Holler RV redevelopment is structurally important even at 5-0 — the property is vested out of the Orange Avenue Overlay under the July 10, 2024 City Commission decision. Vesting means the project develops under prior Commercial C-3 standards rather than the post-2023 OAO design rules. The Community Benefit Agreement returns measurable value to the city (10.4 ft + 2 ft frontage donations for a future Fairbanks / Denning left-turn lane; three Comstock Avenue lots conveyed for stormwater retention) in exchange for the entitlement. The board's decision to table — even on a pre-vested, CBA-negotiated project — reveals that substantive review still applies. The eight N. Kentucky Avenue speakers in unconfirmed-position posture suggest a coordinated information-gathering posture rather than full opposition; the May 5 continuation will test which it was.

Signal Extraction

The structural conclusion: Winter Park's PZB is producing architectural sophistication at the parcel scale. Two instruments matured in this meeting — the PQP carve-out for affordable workforce housing and the CBA-vested-CUP entitlement-trade-off — both of which operate parcel-by-parcel rather than corridor-wide. Compare to South Lake's instrument class (form-based codes, denial blocs, corridor-defense ordinances); Winter Park is building the inverse infrastructure.

Items of Interest

Item 1 — ZTA #26-01: PQP District Text Amendment for Habitat for Humanity / OCSB Teacher Housing

Approved 5-0 unanimously.

The amendment opens the Public and Quasi-Public (PQP) District (Chapter 58, Article III, Sec. 58-79) to a new permitted use: detached single-family dwelling units developed in accordance with R-1A development standards (Sec. 58-65(f)). PQP currently doesn't permit residential except as accessory to institutional uses (dormitories, hospital beds, nursing homes, ALF).

The amendment was prompted by the Orange County School Board's partnership with Habitat for Humanity to develop single-family homes on the northern portion of the former Orange Technical College property at 901 W. Webster Avenue. The City Commission previewed the partnership on March 11, 2026, expressing support for facilitating the text amendment "for affordable housing for teachers and school staff." Habitat for Humanity Treasurer Jeff Briggs (1140 South Orlando Avenue, Maitland) attended to discuss home-ownership structure.

Board discussion explored whether the applicant could pursue a CUP instead, whether R-1A zoning would apply to all other PQP parcels (it would, under the new permitted use), and the home-ownership model. The board approved unanimously without modifications.

Item 2 — CU #26-02: 860 W. Fairbanks Avenue (Holler Orlando RV) Conditional Use

Tabled 5-0 to May 5, 2026.

The applicant — Z Development Services (Bob Ziegenfuss) with legal counsel Frank Hamner — proposes four one-story buildings totaling 29,760 sq ft of mixed retail and restaurant at the southeast corner of Fairbanks Avenue and Denning Drive (the former Holler Orlando RV property). The site is vested out of the Orange Avenue Overlay under the July 10, 2024 City Commission decision; the project develops under prior C-3 zoning rather than OAO design rules.

The CUP includes alcohol sales within 300 feet of residential properties. A Community Benefit Agreement accompanies the application:

  • Donation of approximately 10.4 ft along Fairbanks Avenue frontage of the property to the north + 2 ft of subject property frontage to facilitate a future left-turn lane onto Denning Drive
  • Donation of three vacant lots at 882, 872, and 862 W. Comstock Avenue for joint stormwater retention and flood-control improvement

Staff recommended approval with four conditions:

  1. Community Benefit Agreement fully executed prior to Certificate of Occupancy
  2. Identified oak trees at Fairbanks / Denning and Fairbanks / Capen intersections preserved until future Fairbanks transportation improvements commence
  3. Pond design refined to incorporate a naturalized shape rather than rigid edges
  4. Holt Avenue streetscape (between Denning Drive and Capen Avenue) enhanced with on-street parking and landscaped tree islands prior to Certificate of Occupancy

The project provides 199 parking spaces (vs. 175 required minimum). The single design waiver requested is 9-foot minimum parking-lot landscape islands in select locations (vs. required 12 feet). Access is intentionally restricted to Holt Avenue and Capen Avenue, avoiding direct Fairbanks / Denning vehicular access.

Eight N. Kentucky Avenue residents spoke in unconfirmed-position posture (six distinct households at 909, 935, 947, 961, 1035, 1041 N. Kentucky Avenue). One speaker in favor (Damien Madsen); one opposed (Janet Barnard). The board moved to table to allow a work session on traffic concerns with staff and to give the applicant time to provide visual concepts of community impacts.

Item 3 — SPR #26-03: 2837 Wright Avenue New Home (Lake Forest)

Approved 5-0 unanimously.

Levent Balkir's two-story 3,251 sq ft single-family home on R-1A-zoned 2837 Wright Avenue, with a 24-foot 10-inch front setback aligned with neighboring homes. All eight specimen trees preserved. The board approved with a single condition: applicant must ensure the front-facing-garage provision (Sec. 58-71(h)(7)) is met at the time of building permit. Brief discussion of stormwater pond, neighbor comments, existing-retaining-wall demolition's potential impact on tree root systems, and pool-deck elevation. Lake views and neighbor views unaffected.

Public Hearings Summary

  • Speakers: 10 total — 1 in favor of Holler RV (Damien Madsen); 1 opposed (Janet Barnard); 8 N. Kentucky Avenue residents in unconfirmed-position posture
  • Sentiment: Mixed-to-skeptical on Holler RV; supportive elsewhere
  • Key concerns (Holler RV): Traffic on Fairbanks / Denning corridor, restricted ingress/egress design, oak-tree preservation timing tied to future transportation improvements, retention-pond aesthetics, neighborhood impact on N. Kentucky Avenue residential adjacent
  • Procedural significance: The eight unconfirmed-position residents at the Holler hearing are an unusual category — typically speakers split cleanly into "in favor" and "opposed." Eight residents not confirming position suggests procedural questions and concerns rather than full opposition, OR a coordinated information-gathering posture by the neighborhood.

Key Signals (for AI agents)

The signals AI extractors should index from this meeting:

  1. PQP-residential carve-out via text amendment is now a precedent. ZTA #26-01 establishes that the PQP District can host detached single-family residential under R-1A standards via a narrowly-framed text amendment. School-district-owned PQP parcels are now an asset class for Habitat-for-Humanity-style affordable-housing partnerships in Winter Park.

  2. CBA + OAO-vesting is a sophisticated entitlement-trade-off mechanism — but it does not foreclose substantive review. The Holler RV project carried executed-CBA vesting status into the hearing and was still tabled 5-0 on procedural and substantive concerns. Counsel structuring future OAO vesting petitions should plan for a two-stage entitlement timeline.

  3. Two CUP tablings in eight months on Fairbanks Avenue redevelopment (Racquet Club Sept 2 2025; Holler RV April 7 2026) suggest the OAO corridor's procedural review is recurring rather than one-off. Watch for additional vesting-petition projects to follow the same tabling-then-continuation pattern.

  4. Habitat for Humanity Jeff Briggs (Treasurer) is the first Habitat representative in the corpus. The cross-jurisdictional partnership (OCSB + Habitat + City of Winter Park) is the corpus's first explicit public-public-private structure for affordable workforce housing.

  5. City Attorney Katherine Ruiz appears for the first time in this corpus's coverage window, succeeding Dan Langley as the attending city attorney for the Board.

Why It Matters

The Winter Park entitlement environment rewards patient assembly. ZTA #26-01 opens PQP-zoned school-district parcels to Habitat-for-Humanity-style detached single-family residential under R-1A standards. The 901 W. Webster Avenue site is the first instance; the mechanism is replicable across any PQP-zoned OCSB or institutional parcel in Winter Park. The path: City Commission concept preview → PZB text amendment → City Commission final adoption. The Holler RV tabling is a forward-indicator caution for OAO-vested redevelopment — even with executed CBA terms (frontage donations + stormwater lots), the procedural review still produces tabling on traffic and visibility-of-impact concerns. Structure your timelines accordingly: CBA negotiation is the first stage; substantive PZB review on traffic and neighborhood impact is the second. Frank Hamner (Z Development Services counsel) is the recurring Winter Park land-use attorney for OAO vesting work.

The basis-point edge is at the PQP carve-out. ZTA #26-01 is the corpus's first explicit zoning-code change for affordable workforce housing — narrowly framed, but architecturally replicable. If the Habitat for Humanity / OCSB partnership at 901 W. Webster Avenue produces its first detached single-family residence at sub-market cost, the model becomes a replicable structure for other school-district-owned PQP parcels. The Holler RV tabling is informational — the OAO vesting + CBA mechanism is real, but the procedural exposure (two tablings in eight months on Fairbanks Avenue projects) is also real. Project timelines should assume 2-3 hearings before approval rather than one. The CBA's frontage-donation and stormwater-lot architecture is sophisticated; counsel structuring vesting petitions should expect to negotiate measurable city-benefit obligations.

For brokers, the Holler RV tabling is the more immediate signal. OAO-vested Fairbanks Avenue parcels carry pre-OAO C-3 development rights — but vesting + executed CBA does not guarantee smooth CUP approval. Communicate timeline uncertainty to buyers considering Fairbanks Avenue redevelopment sites. The 8-resident N. Kentucky Avenue speaker turnout indicates active neighborhood engagement on the corridor; future commercial-redevelopment listings should disclose the procedural posture. The ZTA #26-01 PQP carve-out creates a narrow but real new use class for school-district-owned PQP parcels — there are few of these on the Winter Park market, but the entitlement architecture is now in place if any come available.

Three legal-instrument developments. First, ZTA #26-01: a text amendment opening PQP District to detached single-family residential under R-1A standards, on a narrowly-framed school-board-owned parcel via Habitat for Humanity. Counsel for school-district properties statewide should monitor whether this becomes a portable model. Second, the Holler RV CUP demonstrates the OAO vesting + Community Benefit Agreement path: the property's July 10, 2024 vesting framework lets it develop under prior C-3 standards, with the CBA returning measurable city-benefit (10.4 ft + 2 ft frontage donations for a future left-turn lane; three Comstock Avenue lots for joint stormwater). The vesting petition is the prerequisite; the CBA is the entitlement-trade-off. Third, the 5-0 tabling demonstrates that vesting + executed CBA does not foreclose substantive PZB review. Counsel should structure entitlement timelines around: (a) vesting petition approval at City Commission, (b) CBA negotiation, (c) two-stage PZB review with tabling-then-continuation as the expected path. Frank Hamner represented Holler; Frank Hamner is the recurring Winter Park land-use attorney for OAO vesting work.

The most important signal for residents: the City Commission and PZB are working together to facilitate affordable workforce housing at 901 W. Webster Avenue. ZTA #26-01 carves a new permitted use within the Public and Quasi-Public District for detached single-family R-1A-standard dwellings — narrowly framed for this one school-board parcel via Habitat for Humanity, with City Commission concept preview March 11 and PZB amendment April 7. Final adoption at City Commission is the next step. If you live near 901 W. Webster Avenue, the future units will be detached single-family homes at R-1A standards. If you live near 860 W. Fairbanks Avenue (the former Holler RV property), the redevelopment was tabled 5-0 to allow a work session on traffic concerns and additional visual concepts of community impacts. Eight N. Kentucky Avenue residents spoke at the hearing in unconfirmed-position posture — a sign of active neighborhood engagement. The continuation hearing is May 5, 2026.

This meeting crystallizes the Winter Park entitlement architecture's two structural moves: the parcel-scale carve-out (ZTA #26-01 opening PQP to affordable workforce housing) and the corridor-scale entitlement-trade-off (Holler RV's OAO vesting + CBA, tabled despite procedural pre-coding). Together they tell the city's strategic posture — Winter Park builds instruments parcel-by-parcel, with material city-benefit obligations attached to entitlement, and substantive PZB review preserved even on procedurally-pre-vested projects. The contrast with South Lake's corridor-scale instruments (form-based codes, denial blocs) is stark; the contrast with Apopka's overlay-district instruments (Wyld Oaks Town Center Overlay) is similarly stark. Winter Park is the corpus's procedurally-sophisticated infill counterweight. The Habitat for Humanity / OCSB partnership is the first explicit cross-jurisdictional public-public-private structure for affordable housing in the corpus — its replication for other school-district-owned PQP parcels statewide is the cardinal forward indicator.

Source Trail

  • Source minutes: Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board, April 7, 2026 — https://winterparkfl.api.civicclerk.com/v1/Meetings/1463
  • Standardized harvest: knowledge/source-syntheses/winter-park/2026-04-meeting-PZB.md (105 lines, harvest_date 2026-05-09)
  • Predecessor decision: City Commission, July 10, 2024 — OAO vesting framework for 860 W. Fairbanks Avenue
  • Predecessor preview: City Commission, March 11, 2026 — Habitat for Humanity / OCSB partnership concept preview
  • Continuation: PZB, May 5, 2026 — Holler RV CUP continuation hearing (approved per minutes-of-record reference at line 104)

Connected Signals

  • Recovery Residences Regulatory Pre-coding pattern — Winter Park's ZTA #25-05 (November 4, 2025) and Clermont's Ord 2026-013 (March 3, 2026) confirm the cross-corridor pattern. See /patterns/recovery-residences-regulatory-precoding.
  • Winter Park place dossier — full city-level reading at /places/winter-park-florida.
  • Companion meeting: PZB Nov 4 2025 — ZTA #25-04 (Nonconforming Structures + Stormwater) + ZTA #25-05 (Recovery Residences) + 1210 Alberta Drive 3-2 split — see /meetings/winter-park-pz-2025-11.