The start of early voting has included issues over campaign signage and voter solicitation that were detailed by City Manager Randy Knight during Wednesday’s City Commission meeting.
Winter Park Library began its early voting schedule on Monday, Oct. 21, with 12-hour daily availability. Knight said the city has received complaints from several residents encountering signage and vocal campaign supporters in violation of state distance requirements from polling places. “The rules are fairly simple,” he said in reference to Florida statute 102.031. “No one should be inside of 150 feet of the door to the library, waving a sign or soliciting others.”
The statute specifically prohibits solicitation inside polling places or within 150 feet of “a secure ballot intake station or the entrance to any polling place, a polling room where the polling place is also a polling room, an early voting site, or an office of the supervisor where vote-by-mail ballots are requested and printed on demand for the convenience of electors who appear in person to request them.” It also explains that the attending supervisor will designate the no-solicitation boundaries.
“It is the responsibility of the supervisor of elections deputy assigned to each polling site to enforce the rule, it’s not the city’s responsibility,” Knight added, and advised that distance complaints be directed to the facility’s pole deputy. He also said that sidewalks should not be blocked by signs or information tables, and that signage cannot be placed in the right of way or affixed to utility poles or street signs. “We’re equal opportunity offenders and (will be) taking away everybody’s signs that are affixed in the right of way,” he said.
Vice Mayor Todd Weaver noted that, historically, signs have always been part of the landscape at city polling places and asked if the rules were a recent addition. Knight said a lack of resources prevents constant enforcement on election day but enforcement during early voting is not new, though he admitted the new Events Center has created a new priority. “To have it littered with campaign signs all up and down the right of way, it’s just not right for those people spending a lot of money to rent our facility.”
Commissioner Marty Sullivan suggested a commission work session be scheduled before the next election cycle to review all parameters and rules to avoid confusion. Mayor Sheila DeCiccio agreed and staff were asked to follow through and schedule the work session at a later date.
CRA extension and expansion
Mayor DeCiccio began Wednesday’s meeting with an announcement that Winter Park’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is closer to an awaited 10-year extension and geographic expansion, thanks to approval from the city of Orlando. “Next week is our meeting with Orange County for the final approval,” she said, “so we’re very happy about that.”
The CRA was established in 1994 to foster development and economic growth. Improvement projects are funded through Tax Increment Financing (TIF), consisting of a percentage of the taxes collected by the city and county within its boundaries that include Lee Road and Webster, Interlachen, Fairbanks, and Orlando avenues. In recent years, the CRA has funded street repairs, stormwater improvements, and Sunday hours for Winter Park Library.
The agency is scheduled to sunset in 2027, but the proposed extension would take it through 2037 and the expansion would include 142 acres bounded by the Fairbanks Avenue corridor, U.S. 17-92, I-4, and Minnesota Avenue. The proposals were unanimously approved at the March 27 commission meeting, but they also had to go before the county and the city of Orlando for agreement on delegation of authority and on the properties to be incorporated into the expansion. The extension would continue the CRA’s mission within the original boundaries while addressing four problem issues within the expansion that were identified by the city and county:
- A lack of affordable housing
- Issues with stormwater and sanitary sewer infrastructure
- Outdated development patterns and parcel layouts
- Traffic and pedestrian safety issues
According to city documents, the existing CRA is projected to generate approximately $40.7 million in TIF revenues through 2027. The expansion and extension would result in a projected revenue of between $181.6 million and $213 million through 2037.
The next City Commission meeting is scheduled for November 13 and only one commission regular meeting will be held in November and in December due to holiday schedules. City meeting schedules and agendas are available at cityofwinterpark.org/meetings.