City of Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board Work Session — May 27, 2025

Meeting Overview

Type: Work Session Quorum: Yes (6 of 7 seated members present) Duration: Approximately 52 minutes (12:00 PM – 12:52 PM)

Attendance

• Present: Alex Stringfellow, David Bornstein, Jason Johnson, Charles Steinberg, Michael Dick, Vashon Sarkisian
• Absent: Bill Segal
• Staff Present: Director of Planning and Zoning Allison McGillis, Asst. Director/Zoning Official John Harbilas, Planner II Nicholas Lewis, Planner I Corinna Lundgren, Administrative Coordinator Mary Bush; Urban Design Advisors Alex Stringfellow and Taylor Brock (also a board member)

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Agenda Items

Item 1: Updated Design Standards — CBD / Morse Boulevard / Orange Avenue Overlay

• Type: Discussion (preview of upcoming June ordinance vote)
• Notable Discussion: Mr. Stringfellow's firm (Stringfellow Planning and Design) was selected as the city's urban design advisor and worked with the Design Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee for ~8 months. The discussion focused on how to integrate "contemporary architecture" within the standards — particularly within the Orange Avenue Overlay (OAO). The Edith Bush building was cited as a successful example of contemporary design through thoughtful materials, glazing, and proportion. Concerns: contemporary architecture is dynamic and hard to standardize; could disrupt established Winter Park character if not constrained. Discussion converged on requiring compatibility criteria — traditional proportions, material diversity, façade articulation, scale — rather than blanket pre-approval. Tools mentioned included mood boards for applicants. Articulation standards revised from a 50-foot to a 36-foot interval for façade breaks. Staff acknowledged legal challenges from the inherent openness of the "contemporary" category.

Item 2: Upcoming June 3 Agenda Items Preview

• Type: Discussion
• Notable Discussion:
  • 2260 Hawick Lane rezoning + lot split (R-1A → R-2, three 50-foot lots): Aligns with existing office Future Land Use; no companion FLU amendment needed. Existing home demolished. Mature trees preserved with adjustments to building setbacks; one damaged tree removable. Community meeting held — no attendees, only minimal inquiries (mostly about septic, which the project will replace with city sewer). Initial proposal was one lift station; staff recommended three (one per lot). Suggestion to require 5–7-foot front porches or side entries to enhance streetscape.
  • 874 Jackson Avenue annexation: Currently a parking lot, commercially zoned in the county. Will receive consistent commercial zoning and FLU. No immediate redevelopment plans; future West Fairbanks improvements anticipated.
  • 1101 Lewis Drive — Ravaudage Planned Development inclusion: DRC already approved acceptance into the Ravaudage PD area. PZB asked to recommend changing zoning and FLU to OC PD to match. Final approval at City Commission. Adds 2 residential units + ~6,000 sq ft commercial.
  • Two smaller lakefront items briefly noted: A retroactive pergola approval (already constructed) and a fence project. Both expected to proceed with no opposition.

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Public Hearings Summary

[Work session — no public hearings.]

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Key Signals

• The Design Standards rewrite is becoming the highest-stakes architectural lever Winter Park has built in over a decade. The Design Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee + Stringfellow's firm spent eight months drafting standards for the CBD, Morse Boulevard, and the Orange Avenue Overlay. The flashpoint is the "contemporary" architectural category, which the board is leaning toward conditioning (compatibility criteria) rather than pre-approving. This vote is teed up for June 3, and the disagreement between flexibility and identity is the substantive question the board will adjudicate publicly.
• The Hawick Lane rezoning preview reveals the wastewater dimension of every Winter Park density-up vote. The applicant initially proposed one lift station for three lots; staff want three separate lift stations as a condition. Public engagement was minimal — community meeting held, no attendees showed up. The substantive friction lives at the infrastructure interface (sewer capacity, lift station ownership and maintenance) and the design interface (front porches as a 5–7-foot streetscape requirement). Pre-existing FLU alignment (R-2 already matches the office FLU) is doing significant procedural lifting here.
• The 1101 Lewis Drive inclusion in the Ravaudage Planned Development demonstrates the master-developer assemblage pattern. A small parcel is being absorbed into a larger PD step by step. The DRC already cleared acceptance; PZB is asked only to align zoning and FLU; City Commission gives final approval. Each parcel adds incremental capacity (here 2 residential + ~6,000 sq ft commercial). Watch for the next out-parcels along the Ravaudage corridor (Lee Road / US 17-92).
• The 874 Jackson Avenue annexation continues the West Fairbanks "donut hole" pattern, paired with the 687 Harold Avenue annexation that voted at the prior regular meeting. Both parcels were Orange County commercial; both convert to Winter Park commercial without changing on-the-ground use. The pattern is procedural cleanup ahead of the West Fairbanks corridor planning maturing.

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Raw Notes

• Mr. Stringfellow recused himself in advance of the June 3 vote on the Design Standards ordinance because his firm authored the standards.
• The board's 6-of-7 quorum reflects continuing reorganization mid-cycle (Spencer termed off; one seat still being filled).