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ECON014IC &I2oW7H
While population more than doubled during the period
1977-1982, the number of businesses increased probably tenfold.
Five years ago, when the City seemed little more than
the hyphen in the Longwood-Oviedo Road, only a few convenience
grocers and a local utility company were doing business on
SR 434, and one manufacturer was secluded north of SR 419.
Some persons operated businesses from their hones. In total,
however, commercial activity in Winter Springs was barely
noticeable.-
. Even that there were 5,500 residents was inapparent
since most neighborhoods were set back off the arterial roads.
Two things happended that altered the 1977 status quo -
a population boom and a highway-widening project.
Winter Spings was a desirable place to live, close to
the vibrant Orlando core yet renewed just enough from the
hustle to be a good place to go hone, to get airily from it all.
The population grew and grew and reached - the point where its
number attracted the interest of the commercial sector as a
viable marketplace.
Then in 1979, in response to the growth of the whole
of south Seminole County and the congestion on existing
arterial roads in the region, the State LOT widened the main
arterial through Winter Springs, SR 434, from two to five
lanes. The road widening extended from Interstate Highway 4
a distance of 6 miles to the convergence of S_Rs 434 and 419,
a point coincidental with the extent of residential developnent
in the western half of the City. Too, during this period,
I-4 itself was widened. These road improvements made Winter
Springs an accessible hone for those employed 10 to 20 to 30
miles away in the Orlando economic core.
The resultant increased traffic flows carried potential
customers over the 6 mile stretch of SR 434 from I-4 to Winter
Springs and the response to this mobile rrarket was a coumercial
construction boom along the road. Increase in commerce is
seen most vividly in the ranicipality immediately west of
this City, but even here on the far fringe growth has been
significant. Still the main attraction to businesses in
Winter Springs is the market for basic goods and services,
. but as sites become scarcer west of the City for the next
• level of commercial growth, the larger commercial concerns,
whose market is note widespread and which generate erployment
opportunities as well as provide goods and services, will
select locations further east, in Winter Springs.
- Whether population growth begets road iuprovenents or
superior roads attract population, the emergent is commercial
growth. From a few businesses in 1977, the commercial sector.
of this City has expanded to over 100 separate entities, half •
of them located on SR 434. Even so, the frontage along the
highway has barely been tapped.
Winter Springs has the opportunity to prepare still for
the commercial growth to come there, by analyzing the effects -Such growth has had on other conmmnities along this and
similar roads, to allow the positive to proceed, but to _belay the pitfalls of the negative. ..
Similarly, there is time to design and coordinate light
industrial activity anticipated north of SR 419. This now
is in an embryonic stage but can, if well-conceived, become
. an asset as a generator of revenue and employment opportunities,
without becoming abortive to the natural environment, the
quality of nearly residential areas or traffic flow.
. Future commercial sites within two planned unit develop-
ments will need special scrutiny. Here the impact and benefits
will be localized and must be dealt with as such
Throughout the City, with each of the several types of
courercial areas poised for development, there is opportunity
to decide in advance whether these shall gcw as they have
elsewhere, with desired economic benefit in taxes but with -
attendant traffic, noise, and unesthetic architectural
qualities. Or would the citizens of Winter Springs prefer
to support their City mainly by residential taxes and
commute elsewhere for employment, in order that commercial
activity within their City may be muted and uno£fensive, .
providing goods and services essentially to a local market
in commercial centers designed in harmony with the intrinsic -residential character of the City? Or can there be a plan . .
devised to encourage revenue-generating commerce so well - - -
blended into the design of the community, as it has been in
a few nearby cities, that residential property values and
quality of life proximate to such unobtrusive commercial __
centers not only are not reduced but are enhanced?
:..'s
Commerce and Xn4ustry - Rpr%l It 't
Commercial Premises
No. %
Banks 2 3.3
Professional Offices 18 29.5
Service Businesses 15 24.6
land and Rental Agents 7 11.5
Retail Stores 5 8.2
Grocers 7 11.5
Restaurants, Tavern 4 6.5
Golf Courses 2 3.3
Utility 1 1.6
61 lOU.U%
Home and Mobile Occupations
Services 15 38.5
Professions 7 17.9
Saes 9 23.1
Construction 8 20.5
39 100.0%
Industrial Sites
Manufacturing - 2
Service 1 ,
Sales 1
T
S6dre e
ELEMMEW7-- CoMMSlea AL 0rEVEL0i' r4 ?Ir
Of the 450 acres zoned for more appropriate to their location,
industry and commerce in 1982, only commercial rather than industrial.
a very small proportion is yet
developed. Commerce
Industry There are nearly 300 acres
zoned for coimrcrcial development,
North of SR 419 there are 148 but although 61 businesses are in
acres designated industrial. These operation, the commercial lands
are marginal lands near the lowlands have hardly begun to be developed.
contiguous to Lake Jessup. Nearby
to the north are tracts already In the Tuscawilla PUD, of
set aside as environmentally 129 acres designated commercial , 2
sensitive. acres are developed - one with an
office complex and one with a utility.
The industry that will develop This PUD acreage is comprised of two •
in this setting will be only light, large parcels, 89 and 40 acres in
non-polluting enterprises that do size, The 89-acre property is in
not involve extensive alteration of the heart of the PUD, surrounded
the land, The one major industry by residential areas; the 40-acre
that so far has proposed to build site is on the eastern perimeter
there is an electronics assembly of the PUD and will be buffered by
firm which intends to establish its an easement along a creek separating
headquarters there in a parklike it from residential developments.
setting, preserving the natural Both these tracts of land are sizeable
environment for the enjoyment of enough for centralized planning.
its employees. Each will constitute a commercial
focus the impact of which may be
Industry already in operation muted by proper traffic design and
north of SR 419 consists of four coordinated architectural theme.
wi4dely varying enterprises all Under the provisions of the City's
small in scope and located on remote PUD ordinance they should not evolve
sites on unpaved roads, piecemeal but as unified projects.
Because of the multiple land- In the western half of Winter
owners in this region north of SR Springs, 140 acres of commercially
419, a road construction program to zoned land lie astride SR 434 from
open the area up to unre development one-fifth of a mile east of AS 17-92
will need to be coordinated by an to the SR 419 intersection. This
owners' group or by the City, acreage has numerous owners and
will develop as many individual
Away from SR 419 there are 4 parcels uncoordinated except by
acres of industrially zoned property City requirements. There are 50
the City wishes rezoned to land use businesses operating along SR 434
at present all developed as can function without a formal
separate sites except for one 10 commercially zoned headquarters
acre shopping center, until they may be established
enough to warrant investment in
The proposed land use plan business property.
would augment this highway frontage
with a commercial parcel of Synthesis
approximately 30 acres on either
side of the extension of Moss Road No organization or plan has
between SR 434 and SR 419. A evolved to lead commercial growth
property of this size would lend in Winter Springs away from the
itself to integrated conmercial hodgepodge of development that has
projects not feasible on SR 434 occurred in other nearby communities,
alone. where totally uncoordinated activities
are cramped into the smallest feasible
Enterprises sites, as the signs erected by each
clamor for the attention of the
Although still rudimentary, prospective customer and the motorist
Winter Springs' commercial develop- passing by. Such development, as
ment is already becoming diverse, has been repeated over and over in
and the City's population is now this area, is mislabled free enterprise.
sufficient to support some duplica-
tion of services, that is, Real enterprise is needed to
competition. free the individual businessperson
from having to operate in a maelstrom
Professions and services of unesthetic, unenticing commercial
comprise more than half the enter- activity. The subsequent element on
prises in business at present. community design will propose
Such businesses require less initial measures the City can institute With
investment and smaller premises and the help of commercial property owners
generate greater per-customer income to create a commercial neighborhood
so are logical as the first ventures wherein business can thrive in an
in a new commercial area. Sizeable environment that will attract
population is necessary to provide customers rather than repel them.
a market for retail concerns, the
advance cost of which especially
for inventory, is great. There are
now 16 retail stores, grocers,
restaurants, and taverns in operation
in the City.
Nearly 40 percent of the total
business activity still is operated
away from commercial sites, as hope
or mobile occupations. Such businesses
41'Armb¢ron-Aprrainl Pisa
GOAL
To coalesce commercial development by means of community-
wide leadership to establish design standards to apply to all
comercially designated property, to produce well-organized
business growth with architecture, landscaping, sign control,
and traffic circulation coordinated to enhance the total
community.
OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES
Refine the C-1 commercial zoning ordinance to separate
those low traffic generating, unobtrusive enterprises, which
would have less negative impact on arterial highways and
therefore be more properly located there, from high-volume
businesses dependent on overt commercial appearances allocating
the latter to interior sites within larger coimmercial areas.
Create another C zone within which the more visually
commercial uses may be allowed, and administratively rezone
the properties within the arterial traingie (SR 434, US 17-92, '✓
SR 419) to this zone.
Create, by such rezoning and ordinance amendment, tran-
sitions between residential areas and overt commercial areas
by retaining in zone C-1 the professional, office, and service
categories to act as a buffer zone.
Follow the same philosophy in PUD commercial areas by
approving only preliminary plans which locate low-key commercial
uses on the perimeter of developments as buffers beyond which
full commercialization may occur.
Significantly offset intrusion of commercial activity
on residential neighborhoods by limitation of corrnercial
activity adjacent to homes to enterprises normnlly operating
only during daytime hours.
Establish perpetual committees or boards composed of
residents and commercial property owners to formulate
architectural guidelines for nonindustrial connercial sites.
Reinforce such standards by ordinance.
Enhance the City and the ultimate value of commercially
zoned property by application of these guidelines.
Revise C-zone ordinance site development standards to be
more specific and to implement the above guidelines.
Adopt specific preferred traffic designs for access to
commercial properties and apply these requirements equally
to all business sites.
Adopt minimum landscaping and ongoing maintenance
requi: nts for business construction.
Add to the C-2 industrial ordinance more specific site
development standards, to ensure a desirable work setting.
Protect the environment in the sensitive C-2 properties
north of SR 419 by consolidating preservation as the key to
esthetic development.
Provide superior accessibility of all commercial and
industrial properties by overseeing construction projects of
all undeveloped roads, acquiring jurisdiction over non-Owned
but platted rights-of-way when necessary.
2ake the initiative in all commercial and industrial
areas to offer the City's expertise in coordinating efforts
among various landowners to develop their properties
profitably and successfully in accordance with the City's
broader goal, to their own as well as the citizens' benefit.
Communicate, through chambers of commerce and individual
business contacts, the City's plan for designed commercial
growth, elaborating on the value to accrue to still un-
developed commercial properties by virtue of implementation
of guidelines so that adjacent, developing business properties
meet standards derived to make them an asset to the community.
.EzEMcnr— coMtlwwIre C)S.510.A,
It should be obvious when one appearance of continuous roadside
enters Winter Springs and when one frontage parking, commercial parking
leaves it. More than city limits may be precluded from at least the
signs should signify its boundaries. front if not also the side yards of
commercial developments. Tb re-
Rather than become indistin- legate parking to the rear would
guishable from surrounding communities enhance the view traveling through
as vacant lands are filled in, Winter the business districts, emphasizing
Springs needs to evolve a design the structures and their landscaping
scheme that is implemented along the and preventing the impression from
corridors through which residents and becoming that of a giant parking lot.
visitors pass daily - the arterial
roads - starting at each boundary and Relatively standard front set-
extending to the far side of the City. backs from the road right-of-way
The fact that one is in Winter Springs may be variable enough to add interest.
should be apparent from the coordinat , .Within the front setback, however,
ion of structures, landscaping, traffic each commercial enterprise may be
and parking according to a plan to be required to landscape, so that
devised to produce an esthetic and ultimately the right-of-way may be
efficient commercial area. - paralleled by geenspace 15 to 20
feet in depth framing the commercial
Where the proposed business area structures tiered beyond it. With
expands north of the arterial road, parking and loading areas obscured
along a boulevard collector, the City to the rear, the view of Winter
itself may take the lead in promoting Springs' commercial enterprises may
desirable development trends. On the be not only more esthetic but also
west side of North Mess Road, the City more efficient. The identities of
plans to construct its permanent businesses would be more apparent
municipal complex - a City Hall and a in structures so located toward the
new police facility, along with the front of properties and not occluded
present fire station and public works from view by parking. Variability
compound. Selection of building in the lay of the land can be
materials, seclusion of parking areas accommodated by allowing drainage
away from view from the road, and retention and swales forward of
significant landscaping on the City buildings.
property can set the tone for future
development along Sass Road. The Tb direct parking and thus
City complex can become the focus from traffic to the rear of commercial
which the concept expands in all structures would eliminate a hazard
directions. too common on arterial roads in this
general area - that of numerous
As both SR 434 and North Moss driveway cuts directly into and out
Road develop commercially, parking of each distinct business. As has
areas will multiply. Tb avoid the been accomplished already with the
existing professional buildings on with median cuts, to deter excessive
SR 434, ingress and egress may be turning traffic.
only from side streets, thus utilizing
intersections with the arterial. that Minimization of driveway cuts
already exist as the only perpen- onto these two commercial roads
dicular access points. should enhance the safety of side-
walks along them to promote pedestrian
Rear traffic patterns should traffic.
not be impossible to develop even
when commercial blocks are subdivid- In addition to standard street
ed into several parcels because the lights along Moss Road and to augment
land development ordinance requires State-maintained lighting on SR 434,
that a development plan be submitted additional lighting, possibly decor-
whenever properties are subdivided ative, may be required within the
into more than two parcels. Under frontal landscaping with each commercial
this ordinance, no legitimate parcel structure. Besides added safety, such
may be created to have no access to lighting would add to the attractive-
a side street unless so approved ness of the conmercial areas.
by the City. The City may therefore
require rear traffic patterns based Signing in commercial areas may
on common access agreements behind be subject to review along with the
several parcels so that few driveway architectural design of commercial
cuts directly onto SR 434 should be buildings, so that all signs may
necessary. complement the area. Not the content
but its manner of presentation would
The same standards may be be relevant.
applied to the proposed commercial-
ization of North Moss Road, so that The preceding suggestions are
landscaping and structures are in implementable now in planned unit
forefront, with parking screened developments by virtue of the PUD
from view and interior traffic zoning ordinance. To some extent
circulation distinct from Moss they are within the purview of the
Road traffic. Site Plan Review Board to require
now in commercially zoned areas.
In that North Moss Road is Ordinance amendments and additions
yet to be constructed and an 80 would be necessary to extend these
foot right-of-way exists, a concepts fully to western Winter
landscaped median may be constructed Springs.
both for esthetic purposes and to
control traffic by limitation of The success of fulfillment of
median cuts. Only desired access an areawide community design effort
points between the road and the would be dependent on participation
commercial areas should coincide of the citizenry and business community
and the realization by owners of com-
mercial properties that implementation
of the plan would increase the value
of their lands.
AfPirr*a fion -A?pra;sal 1924
GOAL
Create a unique identity for Winter Springs by evolving .
guidelines for development along its main streets that will
• produce a distinct atnnsphere within which Corcialization can thrive without detraction to the residential character.
of the City. Actively seek participation of comercial -
property owners in establishment of the commmity design plan.
OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES .. _. . .
• Implement the 1977 Land Use Element specific policy that
•
commercial areas shall develop according to a predetermined
and generally accepted plan.
Appoint a group of development and construction experts
and landowners to propose to the City design guidelines to
apply to all commercial building sites.
Adopt the approved guidelines as the City's official •
community design standards, and publicize this to all con ercial
landowners.
Amend the Site Plan Review Ordinance to empower the
implementation of the guidelines in review of site development
. - plans.
Adopt a landscaping and buffering ordinance to speoify
proportions between geenspace and pervious development,
- applicable to commercial and multi-family zones, paying - -
particular attention to requirements for heighth and width of
manmade or natural buffers between unlike land uses.
Adopt an ordinance requiring perpetual maintenance of
exteriors of all commercial and multi-farmily structures, signs,
•
buffers, and landscaping.
•
Require undeveloped sites within the commercial frontage
along main roads to be unwed or otherwise tended, to complement
the developing commercial areas. -
C rrmunicate to owners of all undeveloped business properties
the fact that the City's land development ordinance requires
an engineered plan for the total area of any tract divided
}
into more than two parcels, so that development does not occur
piecemeal but as sizeable areas, engineered as wholes and
designed as units regarding traffic circulation.
Update the portion of the zoning ordinance dealing with
number and location of parking areas to more precisely apply
to allowed uses in commercial zones, distinguishing more
clearly between professional, retail, and industrial requirements.
Encourage inclusion within commercial and multifamily
developments of pedestrian walkways, to reduce the need for
vehicular traffic to, and from and especially within these
areas.
Add exterior lighting provisions to be made part of all
site plans in such a manner that the safety and appearance
of commercial and multifamily developments will be improved
without causing lighting nuisance to other nearby residents.
Add guideposts and maps along commercial roads to direct
motorists and pedestrians to the various business activities.
Similarly, construct signposts along collector roads
identifying adjacent neighborhoods and listing their internal
streets.
Clearly mark all public park areas, to maximize their
usage.
Encourage citizen groups to participate in landscaping
of park areas and roadside rights-of-way. Confer with the
State Department of Transportation and Seminole County to
assure right-of-way m=i ntenance alongside SRs 434 and 419
and Tuscawilla Road is adequate.
At key points along SR 419 and along the collector road
system to be constructed to link eastern and western Winter
Springs, indicate by signposts the optional routes of travel
to the various residential neighborhoods to reinforce the
concept of the City as a unified entity.
SEMINOLE EDITION
CHARLES GUTHRIE, County Editor
AB grown,-up
THE CITY of WinterSprings is one growth tear
the likes of which haven't been Gaon in Greater
Orlando in years. -
The boom started two years ago and has been
picking/up steam.-This year, the 9,O0O-population city's tax roll
will increase 25 percent, much higher than any
other municipality in Seminole.The increase is due primarily to $12 million in
new construction completed in 1978 and hitting
the roll this year. The entire roll totals 585.7 mil-
lion, up from 588.7 million. The extra $5 million
came from reappraisals.
What this means: is more tax revenue for the
cfiy\treasury without having to hold a referendum
for resident approval to exceed the state-imposed
5 percent tax increase ceiling_Winter-Springs. officials,haver shortchanged
residents long enough by holding the tax millage
at a level that fails to produce revenue adequate
to provide satisfactory city services.
The police department has a virtual revolving
door because so many oftfcers stay only a short
- time due to low pay. -
Planning Planning for the growth has been slow and dis-
jointed. The city has only one, that's right, one.
building inspector. .
. The city has long grown beyond the time it can
be run like a one-horse town with petty politics
- and personality clashes.impeding progress- to-
ward a professionally run, efficient municipal
government. ... - - .
The residents deserve no less. And if the city
government doesn't act soon, the problems will
accelerate at a pace disproportionate to any rea-
sonably set time frame. - -