The city’s plan to add a parking lot at Winter Park Library is getting second thoughts as more on-street spaces are considered.
Commissioners voted on May 8th to shift the croquet court and remove the Lake Island Recreation Center at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park to make room for 49 new spaces just beyond library’s south parking lot. A project update presented at the August 28 City Commission meeting offered two cost options for paving the new lot: $841,000 for asphalt and $1.06 million for permeable pavers. While the more expensive option increases stormwater retention, Public Works and Transportation Director Charles Ramdatt said the asphalt requires less maintenance and is easier to manage for people wearing high heels to Library & Events Center functions. However, Vice Mayor Todd Weaver offered a third alternative.
“I’ve never been a fan of taking up more park space with parking,” Weaver said, and suggested adding on-street parking along Harper Street to Comstock Avenue. “This doesn’t just supply parking for the Library & Events Center, it’s also meant for the ball fields.”
Library & Events Center parking continues to be an issue during hours when programming and large events overlap service rushes at nearby restaurants that fill the Harper Street parking garage. The August 28 discussion came two weeks after a city agreement with the Heritage Park office building, located across Morse Boulevard from the Events Center building, for public use of its parking lot on weekdays after 5:30 p.m. and on weekends after 11:30 a.m.
The Harper Street parking idea would broaden an existing plan to add 29 on-street parking spaces next to the library at a cost of $209,000. City staff could not comment on the number of spaces to be gained by extending to Comstock, but it was noted that spaces would be limited to the east side of Harper due to a lack of right-of-way on the opposite side. Staff offered to present a number and cost estimate at the September 11 commission meeting. “I don’t know if I’m ready to eliminate the lot just yet,” said Mayor Sheila DeCiccio, “but I definitely want to hear more about parking on the street.”
Commissioners also approved the addition of a new stairway to assist patrons at the south side of the Events Center building. Guests parking in the library lot currently must walk around the south wall with the library’s main entrance as the closest access to the Events Center. A stairway at the south end will allow guests to make their way from the parking lot, up to the sidewalk directly behind the library and toward the Events Center entrances. The estimated construction cost of $55,000 would come from the General Fund contingency or CRA budget and Ramdatt estimates the project will be finished before Thanksgiving.
Former Library Rezoning
City Commission also granted final approval on two ordinances amending the zoning of Winter Park’s former library property at 460 E. New England Ave. The move clears the way for the three-story building’s transformation into the new Blue Bamboo Arts and Cultural Center.
The first ordinance changes its multi-family, R4 zoning to Quasi-Public with an Institutional designation. The second ordinance establishes a new permitted use for the recently approved lease, allowing for “performance art venues together with ancillary gallery, educational, rehearsal, recording studios and offices to support the like, within a city-owned building.” The rezoning is only effective for the term of the Blue Bamboo lease.
Mayor Sheila DeCiccio was the only dissenting vote and previously stated her belief that the ordinances set a bad precedent for future commissions by allowing a special zoning change exclusively for a city-owned property. She was also uncomfortable granting Blue Bamboo the rights to decide which organizations can have access to the galleries, studios, and educational spaces at a property they are leasing from the city. “I just would hope that they voluntarily choose to be inclusive as they have an incredible amount of leeway in who to rent to and who not to,” she said.
Blue Bamboo Executive Director Chris Cortez previously said a first-floor performance space at the property would be completed before the end of the year with renovations to the upper floors continuing on an approximate two-year construction schedule.
