College Park Happenings

EDGEWATER DRIVE SPECIAL PLAN AMENDMENT

2008-12-18T19:46:00.001-05:00

On Tuesday, December 16th, the recommendations of the "Edgewater Drive Vision Task Force" were presented to the Municipal Planning Board of the City of Orlando. Apparently these plans were approved and will be forwarded to City Council for their January 12th meeting, most likely simply on the consent agenda. You should be able to see these documents by clicking on the links in the email.

I tried to actively monitor the workings of the Task Force over the past year and for the most part did. If you look at the final report you will find that for the most part it simply restates long held ideas and dreams for College Park's Downtown District. However I am very concerned about what is "between the lines" and the lack of formal notice that is being given to property owners concerning this issue. I am specifically concerned about the "Urban Form" section of the recommendations. You can see them at the link above and I have copied them below:

•Preserve property rights of businesses and land-owners along Edgewater Drive and adjacent neighborhood environs based on existing “by-right” zoning intensities and densities.
•Manage future growth (density bonuses, master plans, conditional uses, Planned Development rezoning, etc.) through a long-term vision for plausible building envelopes so that development proposals can be assessed to fit into a larger vision.
•Incorporate appropriate transitions between the residential neighborhood and activities along Edgewater Drive to reduce monotony and provide opportunities for compatible development.
•Respect and protect the residential neighborhoods, especially those zoned exclusively for single family uses, to reduce the possibilities of commercial intrusion into the neighborhood.
•Encourage a mix of uses along the corridor to create an environment conducive to living all stages of live (retirement, empty nesters, families, singles, students, and children) and provide short trips to offices, services, restaurants and shopping.

If you have now read that section you are probably beginning to think that I am over reacting here. That all sounds really good and what College Park wants.
The problem is that there are conflicts in the statements themselves - you can not accomplish the first three bulletin points because of that conflict. What I was hoping would happen is that the Task Force would resolve these conflicts - instead they have been dis banned and left the job of resolving the conflicts to City Hall with little or no input from the College Park community.

If you look at the actual "Presentation Board" on the website that lists these goals you will see a graphic in the upper right hand corner. The graphic has various colors and "T" notations. This gets a little technical here but is the "technicality" that could allow the City to permit a seven story building on an R-1 lot (what College Park does not want).

The City is planning on getting this "concept" passed and then come back and define the "details" - and the devil is in the details.

The next step or steps will be to give definitions to these "T" notations on the map. They will be called Transects and each of the numbers will represent differing height and density rights. Then the existing "Edgewater Drive Special Plan" will be modified in at least two respects - one to include the new Transects and two to expand the boundaries of the special plan. Thusly the City will have changed the "by right" zoning and intensities for our neighborhood and resolving the conflicts in the policy statement that was approved.

All possibly with out notice to property owners and citizen input.

This has been an important issue to our community for years and this does not appear to me to be a reasonable approach. Please share this blog with anyone that you know in College Park - especially property owners on or NEAR Edgewater Drive.

Credit Card Venues

2008-11-30T17:04:00.002-05:00

All the blogging directions say not to write about what is already in the newspaper but I just could not help myself today. Today's Sentinel gave us an update on the Venues - the Arena is already well out of the ground and it's fiancing is set. The Performing Arts Center and the Citrus Bowl the City could not get thier bonds sold at a reasonable interest rate. Sounds like things are slowing down... not so fast OUR Mayor has an idea. He will go ahead and start the other two venues, using short term notes !!

WOW !!! why didn't I think of that........

That is like building a new home on my credit cards.

REAL ESTATE COLLABORATIVE ABANDONS PLANS

2008-11-20T20:40:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday November 18th, Real Estate Collaboratives LLC, went before the Municipal Planning Board of the City of Orlando.

At the meeting they formally asked the City to remove the Planned Development zoning from the property located at the South East corner of Smith Street and Edgewater Drive, the CVS - Blockbuster block. The zoning will now go back to the former zoning which was primarily AC-1/T with one parcel an R-2/T.

You can see the full report on the City's website.

This merely means that the building that Real Estate Collaboratives had planned to build at this location, and the City had approved, is no longer approved. What can be built there is what is allowed by the zoning.

EDGEWATER DRIVE VISION TASK FORCE DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS

2008-11-20T20:13:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday November 18th the Edgewater Drive Vision Task Force held a public meeting at the College Park Baptist Church, all of their meetings have been open to the public. The purpose of this meeting was to present the Task Force's recommendation to the College Park Community before formally submitting them to the City of Orlando.

The information that was presented was in keeping with the history and traditions of Edgewater Drive and was true to the consensus of what College Park residents want to see along the business corridor. City staff will now take these broad principles and develop a plan.

While the Task Force and the City's planning department have done a lot of good work in the past year I was really expecting a plan to be presented at the meeting Tuesday night and not just broad policy statements. My concern is that the actual plan will deviate from what the citizen's of College Park want.

In particularly I am concerned with the section on Urban Form. While the document makes clear that there will be no zoning changes on or along Edgewater Drive, when I questioned how they would implement the stated policy without zoning, it eventually came out that the existing Special Plan would be extended and modified. The new special plan would use a planning tool called "transects" to limit height, and massing. But now I am starting to get into gibberish myself.

Here is the bottom line. There is a lot of good stuff in the final recommendations but until we see the actual plan we will not know what we have. The wording in the Urban Form section of the document is broad enough to build a seven story building on an R-1 lot, riding in on a "tansect".

I urged the Task Force to bring the actual plan back to the community before moving forward with Municipal Planning Board approval. Claramargaret Groover, Task Force Chair, was reluctant to do that.

The meeting ended with Commissioner Robert Stuart dis banning the Task Force and thanking them for their work. He asserted that any and all further work on the recommendations and the plan were a the sole discretion of the Commissioner.

So stay tuned not sure what we have yet. The City has a spot on their website for Edgewater Drive Vision Task Force , when I checked a few minutes ago the final report was not yet posted but it should be soon.

EDGEWATER HIGH SCHOOL RECONSTUCTION UPDATE

2008-11-12T21:10:00.000-05:00

EDGEWATER HIGH SCHOOL RECONSTRUCTION UPDATE

The Orange County Public Schools, OCPS, held an informational meeting on November 11th at Edgewater High School to give an update on the plans and progress of the planned reconstruction of the school.

This has been a long and sometime controversial process but the community has come to a strong consensus on the current plan. OCPS has purchased the three parcels immediately north of the existing campus, those being the existing shopping center, an undeveloped lot on its western border, and the “College Park Leisure Homes” on its northern border. That adds about twenty seven acres of land available for the school. On October 21st the City of Orlando’s Municipal Planning Board approved the rezoning of the land for public use and also vacated its right of way for what is now Preston Drive.

Those actions combined to provide enough room to build a comprehensive high school at the existing site, it will still be the smallest site for a comprehensive high school in Orange County.

C.T. HSU + ASSOCIATES, PA have been hired to design the school and presented their plans to the assembled crowd on Tuesday evening. The land that the current Administrative offices, music room, and Auditorium sit on will not be used for the new school, the land fronting Edgewater Drive south of Preston, effectively moving the school’s Edgewater Drive frontage north to Par Ave. There will be three vehicular entrances to the new school, the main entrance at Par, a second Edgewater drive entrance at a new driveway about were the current music building sits, and a third bus only entrance on Maury Road.

Site work on the former mobile home park may begin anytime, the shopping center will continue business through the end of the year and demolition is scheduled to begin in January. The actual construction is phased so as to minimally impact the operations of the school.

The “first phase” will be the bulk of the new school which will be built on the new land with an estimated construction time of eighteen months. During that time classes and school activities will continue in the existing facilities. At the beginning of the 2010 school year the new buildings will hopefully be ready for grades 10 thru 12 while 9th grade will continue in some of the designated existing buildings while the new 9th grade academy is completed on the south campus.

The College Park Neighborhood Association is working to get links to the plans up on their website as soon as they are available. So to take a look at the plans check in with their website at www.collegeparkorlando.org , they should be up soon.
I think it is was a strong consensus among those at the meeting, many of whom have been involved in these plans for many years, that the plans for the new school are realistic and that Edgewater High School can be proud of its new home once it is completed.

College Park Happenings

2008-11-12T21:09:00.001-05:00

Hopefully you get my newsletters, both print and email. I generally use those to try to "spread the word" on what is new both in College Park and in the real estate arena.

So much is happening all of a sudden I realized that there was no way I could get all the news out with the newsletter so decided to update you by a direct email, hope you don't mind.

First of all an update on Edgewater High School. I have attached an article that I have written covering the OCPS meeting at the school last night. In a nutshell things seem to be "on track" and proceeding orderly...................... after six years of, something other than good orderly direction. The article should be posted over at the College Park Neighborhood Association so take a look there also.

Next and connected, kind of, this months agenda of the City's "Municipal Planning Board" is loaded with College Park development plans:

Edgewater High School Rezoning

Country Club of Orlando maintenance facility

Florida Hospital, "Health Village" (you can get more information on this at College Park Neighborhood Association )

Redevelopment of the "Blockbuster" block

You can get details on all of these on the November Agenda of the Planning Board.

Also one of our most popular community events is coming up this Sunday, November 16th, the Historic Homes Tour so be certain and put that on your calender. I will be "sponsoring" a home on Harvard Street so hopefully I will see you then.

Then in the real estate news area... there was a significant story today that did not get much play. The conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac DIRECTED all banks servicing their loans to make modifications in specific instances. In a nutshell if your mortgage payment on your residence is more than 38% of your gross income the banks have been DIRECTED to modify the loan to bring the payment below that level. So if you know of someone that is having difficulties this could be a big help. And don't dismiss this because you don't have a "Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac" mortgage... most mortgages are owned by those entities you are just making payments to a "servicing" bank and never see the name fannie or freddie, just assume the mortgage does qualify until your bank convinces you otherwise. If you have any questions on this just give me a call at 407 423 7878.

And last let me throw out a blatant request for business. The real estate market is a little soft right now, you may have heard something about that, but I am still working with buyers and sellers everyday and helping them achieve their real estate goals. So if you, or someone you know, is looking to buy or sell real estate give me a call for a no cost no obligation consultation. Also if you know someone that is currently renting now is one of the best times I have ever seen to get out of a rental and into ownership. I just closed on seven transactions recently so have time to help you and your friends!

Thanks for reading all the way to the bottom and I will be seeing you around College Park !

DECEMBER 1ST "COLLEGE PARK WALKABOUT"

2007-11-21T17:12:00.000-05:00

I just received the following email from our City Commissioner, you may have received the same one. If not the meeting is being advertised in the Community Paper etc. The intention is that the "Walk about" is open to all residents of College Park and anyone else who may have an interest in Edgewater Drive.

I want to encourage you to plan on attending and to encourage your College Park neighbors and friends to do likewise.

I have some concerns about this "study" and the best way to be certain that the outcome is good for College Park is for everyone that can be involved do so.

Let me share my concerns:

1.) This study is being driven from City Hall, it is not something that the people of College Park asked for. Which reminds me of the "most feared words in the English language".... "I am from the government and I am hear to help you". It is my training and experience that I should run the other way whenever I hear those words.

2.) It was instituted after the citizens of College Park voiced their concerns and successfully stopped a project to redevelop the site of the College Park Baptist Church and was done so by our Commissioner who is a member of that Church.

3.) The planning department of the City of Orlando has been completely replaced since Mayor Dyer was elected. While for the most part they seem like genuinely nice and professional people they have made some major blunders in the planning area. I do mean major, as in "how in the world could THAT happen". (If you want details give me a call and we will chat.)

4.) There exists within the planning community nationally right now a movement to install more "flexible" regulations. The sales pitch for these is very attractive; the problem is that in practice that "flexibility" is really control on the part of government. Removing both the property owners right to utilize the property in the best possible way and the communities right to establish a plan for their community.

Let me hasten to say that while I have concerns I also feel that a review of the Edgewater Plan is in order and that for many reasons now is a good time to conduct that review.

1.) It has been over twenty years since a real review was done. We did a minor review in 2000 and created the "Horizons 2007" document. That document was simply a vision statement and had no planning to back it up.

2.) In all likely hood development on the drive will be very minimal for the next two to five years, as we work ourselves out of the real estate inventory that was created in the past five years. So we can do some forward planning that is more objective and less influenced by today's $.

So while I welcome this study I am watching it with a degree of skepticism (which we should always have towards government) . I am the President/Elect at the College Park Neighborhood Association and will be serving as President for 2008 so you can be certain that this study will be high on CPNA's priority list. But the best way to insure that this study works to the benefit of College Park is for the maximum number of people to get involved, understand the process, and stay involved. Then again I am "preaching to the choir" that is exactly what College Park does like no other neighborhood in the City.

See you on December 1st and have a great Thanksgiving.

David E. Rose
407 423 7878

-----Original Message-----Date: 11/21/2007 11:28AMFrom: Robert.Stuart@CityofOrlando.netTo: ;Subject: Please Join Us for the Edgewater Drive Walkabout on December 1stDear Neighbor,
I wanted to take this opportunity to personally invite you to an event that we are holding on the morning of December 1st. While I know the holidays are a busy time for everyone, please consider joining us and providing your input about the Edgewater Drive corridor. The press release below outlines the specific details.
From my family to yours, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving and I look forward to seeing you on the 1st!
Robert

You’re Invited to a Walkabout on Edgewater Drive
WHAT: Local residents, business and property owners of the College Park area are invited to participate in a “walkabout” with The Edgewater Drive Vision Task Force. The walkabout’s purpose is to analyze assets and opportunities along the Edgewater Drive corridor to create a vision that manages future growth. The Task Force is seeking to understand how citizens want the street to look and feel, including building scale, sidewalk widths and landscaping. The Task Force is an 11-member community task force charged with examining urban form, transportation, pedestrian-friendliness, parking and design guidelines along Edgewater Drive. During an eight-month period, the Task Force will hold several meetings to examine specific planning issues and gain public input throughout the process. Building on prior plans conceived for the neighborhood, the Task Force will identify steps to implement changes for an improved Edgewater Drive.
WHERE: College Park United Methodist Church, 644 W. Princeton Street-After a brief introduction explaining the walkabout process, participants, along with members of the City’s planning staff, will be divided into ten teams who will walk different sections of the Edgewater Drive corridor between Maury Road and Lakeview Street. WHEN: Saturday, December 1, 2007 from 9:00 AM to Noon Robert F. Stuart, Commissioner, District 3City of Orlando400 S. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801407-246-2003Robert.Stuart@CityofOrlando.netNote: Florida has a very broad public records law. As a result, any written communication created or received by City of Orlando officials and employees will be made available to the public and media, upon request, unless otherwise exempt. Furthermore, under Florida law, email addresses are public records. If you do not want your email address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this office. Instead, contact our office by phone or in writing.

Ron Blocker Calls a Meeting of the Edgewater Community

2007-11-06T21:31:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, 11/6/2007, Ron Blocker sent out a request for the "Edgewater High School Community" to meet in the Edgewater Auditorium on 11/12/2007 at 6:00pm.

He gave no indication of the nature of the meeting or the reason for the short notice. He apparently wants to address the issue of the new Edgewater High School and given the extremely short notice it would be reasonable to think that he has an announcement of significance. Please plan on being there and bring your neighbor with you. This is an issue that is important to all College Park real estate owners.

Looking forward to seeing you on Monday.

November 15, 2007

2007-11-03T16:46:00.000-04:00

Two big events for College Park reisdents and real estate owners.

In the morning the Edgewater High School saga continues, and hopefully starts moving towards a conclusion, when the COVE Committee meets. The meeting is at the Orange County Public School headquarters building just across the street from the Orena. Scheduled to start at 8:00 am, seating if very limited so arrive early or plan on standing. The committee will review plans and make a recommendation to the School Board. Public comment is not allowed during the meeting but a strong community showing is always a good idea, to show concern and gather information.

In the afternoon at Orlando City Hall the Edgewater Drive Task Force will be holding its second meeting. This Task Force is looking at the Growth Management Plan of the City of Orlando as it applies to Edgewater Drive. I was not able to attend the first meeting but do have feedback that this new look will be through the lens of the "new urbanism". That of course is no surprise since by definition the "new urbanism" is the latest ideas from the game books of Urban Planners. Examples of the "new urbanism" would be Baldwin Park and Celebration.

Somewhat ironically the concepts developed around the "new urbanism" were all formulated by taking a look backwards at concepts that had worked the best in the past. Neighborhoods such as College Park, and in the case of Celebration College Park specifically, were looked at and emulated as being the model to strive towards.

The Edgewater Drive Task Force meeting is also important to all who currently own real estate in College Park or who are planning on buying or selling real estate in College Park in the next twenty or thirty years.

This meeting is scheduled for 3:30 to 5:00pm at City Hall, 400 S. Orange Ave. Once again public comment is not allowed but it is VERY IMPORTANT that members of the community monitor these proceedings carefully.

Hope to see you at one or both.

EDGEWATER DRIVE TASK FORCE

2007-10-30T18:35:00.000-04:00

The City of Orlando has begun the process of reviewing it Growth Management plan as it applies to Edgewater Drive.

The last time this was done was in the 1980's so a thorough review is certainly in order.

The City has promised to make this an open process with plenty of citizen input and dialogue. This will be a main topic on this blog for the next few months, as will the plans for the new Edgewater High School. Both projects will have major impacts on our neighborhood.

Introduction to College Park Happenings

2007-10-30T15:33:00.000-04:00

I use various methods to keep my friends and neighbors informed of what I see happening around College Park. Those include an occasional article in the Community Paper, articles in my e-newsletter, phone calls, and personal discussion to name a few. You probably get the drift of where this is going it was time that I started "blogging" --- have no idea what I am doing so jump in and help me out as you see fit.