The previously discontinued Rollins College proposal for a faculty and staff apartment building near Hannibal Square has been resubmitted to the city with two public hearings scheduled in May.
The project, slated for college-owned properties along W. New England, W. Welbourne, and S. Virginia avenues, was first presented during the Jan. 17 Planning & Zoning Board meeting as an 80,981-square-foot, 48-unit apartment building. Despite neighbors’ concerns over density, parking, and architectural continuity, conditions for a community benefit agreement and a parking management plan led to the proposal receiving Board approval by a 4-2 vote. Ongoing concerns over density and parking were answered with a 20% reduction in building size and additional parking spaces, which were introduced during the next hearing at the Jan. 24 City Commission meeting. However, the vote was tabled over Commission and resident assertions that the building’s exterior should be more consistent with neighboring properties.
The discussion was set to continue at the Feb. 28 Commission Meeting before the proposal was pulled hours before the start of the meeting. Rollins College Associate Director of External Relations Jo Marie Hebeler told the32789 that the plan had been voluntarily pulled from consideration, and that the College would “take time to explore our options and come back with a project that benefits the College and the City’s Central Business District.”
A scaled-back version of the project, without a New England Avenue-facing residential component, was recently submitted to the city for consideration. According to the hearing notice, Rollins will seek conditional use approval for a 50,671-square-foot, 33-unit, 3-story residential apartment building on properties at 262, 308, 316 W. Welbourne Ave. and 210 S. Virginia Ave. The parking lot will face the W. New England Avenue side.
The first public hearing will take place at the Planning & Zoning Board meeting on Tuesday, May 7, at 6 p.m. The second is schedule for the City Commission Meeting on Wednesday, May 22, at 3:30 p.m. No further project details are currently available, but plans will be part of the Planning & Zoning meeting agenda, which will post on Tuesday, April 30, at cityofwinterpark.org/meetings.
Storyville Coffee proposal rescheduled
The first public hearing for a Storyville Coffee location at 111 S. Knowles Ave. will also happen at the May 7 Planning & Zoning Board meeting after the applicant requested a tabling of the agenda item, originally scheduled for this week.
Winter Park’s Z Properties Group, Inc. will present a proposal for a three-story, 11,280-square-foot building at 111 S. Knowles Ave. that will include a retail/restaurant/coffee shop concept on the first floor, a second floor office space, and one residential unit on the third floor. Plans will be available in the meeting agenda.
