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

Meeting Reading

Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board

September 29, 2025

1 item on the agenda

**The Racquet Club applicant pivoted decisively after the September 2 tabling: front parking removed entirely, replaced with a circular paver driveway.** This is what "decisive pivot" looks like in Winter Park — not partial concession but full removal of the contested element. The motor-court suggestion from the August 26 work session became the actual design. Façade softened with shorter windows; building location unchanged. The board's response in this work session was substantively positive, including dropping the eight-foot hedge condition (no longer needed in the new plan). Watch the October 7 vote: this is the model for "applicant who actually listens" in Winter Park's CUP territory.
**The Jewett Orthopedic Institute project surfaces a Duke Energy easement complication that may force a wall-vs-fence substitution along the residential boundary.** Above-ground structures restricted in the easement zone; Duke Energy resisting the wall. The applicant is willing to fund whichever solution is acceptable plus accept maintenance/replacement liability if utilities access the easement. This is the kind of utility-easement-vs-residential-buffer conflict that tends to surface on infill-site redevelopments — Winter Park has many such sites.
**The Recovery Residences ordinance is queued for the November 4 substantive vote.** Same SB 954 driver as Clermont's parallel ordinance. Adoption deadline: January 1, 2026. McGillis noted it's "unlikely the city will receive many such applications" but the ordinance is mandatory. The structural architecture: existing zoning already permits Adult Congregate Living Facilities as a CUP in multifamily districts, so most actual applications will continue going through PZB and City Commission. The new ordinance establishes a formal **administrative reasonable-accommodation path with a 60-day timeline** for cases where a use isn't already conditionally allowed — a narrow rare-case carve-out, not a wholesale change.

On September 29, 2025, City of Winter Park's Planning & Zoning Board considered 1 agenda item. **The Racquet Club applicant pivoted decisively after the September 2 tabling: front parking removed entirely, replaced with a circular paver driveway.** This is what "decisive pivot" looks like in Winter Park — not partial concession but full removal of the contested element. The motor-court suggestion from the August 26 work session became the actual design. Façade softened with shorter windows; building location unchanged. The board's response in this work session was substantively positive, including dropping the eight-foot hedge condition (no longer needed in the new plan). Watch the October 7 vote: this is the model for "applicant who actually listens" in Winter Park's CUP territory. **The Jewett Orthopedic Institute project surfaces a Duke Energy easement complication that may force a wall-vs-fence substitution along the residential boundary.** Above-ground structures restricted in the easement zone; Duke Energy resisting the wall. The applicant is willing to fund whichever solution is acceptable plus accept maintenance/replacement liability if utilities access the easement. This is the kind of utility-easement-vs-residential-buffer conflict that tends to surface on infill-site redevelopments — Winter Park has many such sites. **The Recovery Residences ordinance is queued for the November 4 substantive vote.** Same SB 954 driver as Clermont's parallel ordinance. Adoption deadline: January 1, 2026. McGillis noted it's "unlikely the city will receive many such applications" but the ordinance is mandatory. The structural architecture: existing zoning already permits Adult Congregate Living Facilities as a CUP in multifamily districts, so most actual applications will continue going through PZB and City Commission. The new ordinance establishes a formal **administrative reasonable-accommodation path with a 60-day timeline** for cases where a use isn't already conditionally allowed — a narrow rare-case carve-out, not a wholesale change.

CHANGE LENS

THE READINGmeeting record

City of Winter Park Planning & Zoning Board Work Session — September 29, 2025

Meeting Overview

Type: Work Session Quorum: Yes (5 of 7 members present) Duration: Approximately 46 minutes (12:01 PM – 12:47 PM)

Attendance

Present: David Bornstein, Jason Johnson, Charles Steinberg, Michael Dick, Vashon Sarkisian
Absent: Alex Stringfellow, Bill Segal
Staff Present: Director of Planning & Zoning Allison McGillis, Asst. Director of Planning & Zoning/Zoning Official John Harbilas, Planner II Nicholas Lewis, Planner I Corinna Lundgren, Administrative Coordinator Mary Bush

Agenda Items

Item 1: Upcoming October 7 Agenda Discussion

Type: Discussion (preview)
Notable Discussion:
- Lake Berry Drive item (1727 Lake Berry Drive, James Hobson with S&W Kitchens): Tabled again to November 4 — applicant not ready.
- Winter Park Racquet Club (CU #25-03): Revised proposal removing all front parking, replacing with a circular paver driveway with single entrance/exit on Via Tuscany and Tom Gurney Drive. Building unchanged in size/placement. Façade softened with shorter windows. New rear pond expanded to handle additional drainage. Two trees still to be removed with double replacement plantings between southern neighbor and the driveway. Enclosed storage garage added to contain previously outdoor equipment. Board emphasized continued communication with neighbors before the October hearing — the eight-foot hedge condition is no longer needed in the revised plan. Staff still wants the lighting/operating-hours/membership conditions.
- Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute relocation (Gay Road / Winter Park Village area): New medical office building in the northeast corner of the lot, surrounded by extensive parking. Site borders residential condominiums to the west and south. Significant complication: overlapping city sewer + Duke Energy utility easements along the western property line restrict above-ground structures, possibly precluding the previously-agreed six-foot privacy wall. City staff and Orlando Health are negotiating with Duke Energy on a substitute (fence + enhanced landscaping). Architectural concerns: tilt-wall concrete structure (similar to Fairbanks Avenue Orlando Health building) criticized as "overly stark and gray"; recommendations included adding warmer materials, defined base/middle/top massing, wood-look aluminum paneling. Variances expected for east-facing wall sign and large window-graphic logo. Parking exactly meets but doesn't exceed code; reducing not feasible. Traffic/multimodal impact fees would fund Executive Drive traffic-calming.
- Two upcoming ordinances previewed:
  - Certified Recovery Residences (state-mandated by January 2026 per SB 954)
  - Nonconforming Structures + Stormwater Renovations: Update the 50% renovation-cost threshold rules to relax requirements for non-expanding renovations; introduce a "fee-in-lieu" stormwater compliance option for small sites (similar to Orange Avenue Overlay's Sub-area A).

Public Hearings Summary

[Work session — no public hearings.]

Key Signals

The Racquet Club applicant pivoted decisively after the September 2 tabling: front parking removed entirely, replaced with a circular paver driveway. This is what "decisive pivot" looks like in Winter Park — not partial concession but full removal of the contested element. The motor-court suggestion from the August 26 work session became the actual design. Façade softened with shorter windows; building location unchanged. The board's response in this work session was substantively positive, including dropping the eight-foot hedge condition (no longer needed in the new plan). Watch the October 7 vote: this is the model for "applicant who actually listens" in Winter Park's CUP territory.
The Jewett Orthopedic Institute project surfaces a Duke Energy easement complication that may force a wall-vs-fence substitution along the residential boundary. Above-ground structures restricted in the easement zone; Duke Energy resisting the wall. The applicant is willing to fund whichever solution is acceptable plus accept maintenance/replacement liability if utilities access the easement. This is the kind of utility-easement-vs-residential-buffer conflict that tends to surface on infill-site redevelopments — Winter Park has many such sites.
The Recovery Residences ordinance is queued for the November 4 substantive vote. Same SB 954 driver as Clermont's parallel ordinance. Adoption deadline: January 1, 2026. McGillis noted it's "unlikely the city will receive many such applications" but the ordinance is mandatory. The structural architecture: existing zoning already permits Adult Congregate Living Facilities as a CUP in multifamily districts, so most actual applications will continue going through PZB and City Commission. The new ordinance establishes a formal administrative reasonable-accommodation path with a 60-day timeline for cases where a use isn't already conditionally allowed — a narrow rare-case carve-out, not a wholesale change.
The Nonconforming Structures + Stormwater renovation ordinance is being framed as a re-investment incentive. The current 50%-of-assessed-value threshold has been "discouraging property owners from improving existing structures." Proposed changes: (a) allow nonconforming setbacks to remain when no expansion occurs, (b) introduce "fee-in-lieu" stormwater compliance for small sites that pays into a city fund for regional improvements, (c) grandfather renovations that maintain same-or-similar intensity of use. This is Winter Park's adaptive-reuse incentive package — potentially substantial because so much of the city is built-out infill.

Raw Notes

The Jewett applicant's tilt-wall concrete is being explicitly compared to their Fairbanks Avenue building as a known Winter Park reference point — and rejected as too stark for the Gay Road residential-adjacent context.
The Recovery Residences and Nonconforming/Stormwater ordinances are scheduled for the same November 4 board vote — paired as state-compliance plus city-incentive.