Winter Garden City meeting includes Bollhoefer resignation, townhome discussion

Winter Garden City Manager Mike Bollhoefer announced, during the Oct. 14 City Commission meeting, that his tenure would be coming to an end.

“I’d like to thank everyone here: the residents of Winter Garden and staff and this commission,” he said. “I’ve been here 25 years, and tonight, I’m turning in my 30-day notice.”

Bollhoefer earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting  in 1992 from the University of Florida and his master’s degree in public administration in 2003 from Troy State University. He joined the city of Winter Garden in 1996 as a temporary employee and worked his way up to finance director and, ultimately, to city manager.

Bollhoefer and his wife will be moving to Frederick County, Virginia, where he has accepted the position of county administrator. 

“My wife and I decided it was time for a change in our life,” he said. “We wanted to go somewhere with some hills, trees, more of a rural area; so it’s really more of a change of location and life.”

Winter Garden Mayor John Rees proposed a motion to promote Assistant City Manager — Public Services Jon Williams to city manager. 

“I think anytime you can promote from within, it works well with all of your employees,” Rees said. 

Williams’ new contract will be on a future meeting agenda and, upon approval, would take effect at the end of Bollhoefer’s 30-day notice. It would last six months, until the appointment of a permanent replacement.

LAKEVIEW VILLAGE

Winter Garden’s Oct. 14 City Commission meeting included the first reading of a proposed ordinance to rezone 7.25 acres, along Story Road between South Lakeview Avenue and South Central Avenue, from R2 (residential district) to planned unit development for the construction of the Lakeview Village Estates residential project. 

Plans include 26 new single-family homes and three townhome buildings containing a total of 14 units. The project also would feature recreation areas, pedestrian walkways, landscaping and stormwater ponds.

“Staff has spent three years working on this project,” Community Development Director Steve Pash said. “We have worked diligently and changed elevations … every home must have an 8-foot-deep front porch. … There’s quality in the architecture, and it’s a housing type desired by many people.”

“There are aspects of this that I absolutely love,” Commissioner Ron Mueller said. “The part I’m not in favor of is the townhomes. … We’re trying to move away from that higher density.”

The goal of including townhomes was to allow the developer enough density to make money on the project without adding more duplexes to the area, Bollhoefer said. 

“They tend not to be as good in quality, they tend not to elevate a community,” he said of duplex designs.

“We have the ability to approve or not approve other design requests,” Muellersaid. “If you’re arguing (that) if we don’t approve this, then we might get duplexes, it doesn’t really hold a lot of weight with me.”

The second reading of the proposal will be on the agenda for the Oct. 28 City Commission meeting.

NO-BUILD OPTION

The commission also voted to approve a resolution supporting a no-build option for the Florida Department of Transportation/Turnpike Authority’s proposed Avalon Road interchange. 

“Almost everyone spoke in opposition of this,” City Manager Mike Bollhoefer said of the Oct. 7 public meeting at Tanner Hall, in which residents rallied against the Avalon Road interchange.

The no-build resolution cites the adverse impacts the interchange would have on Tucker Ranch Park, the Tildenville community and surrounding neighborhoods.

It states: “The city strongly encourages that the FDOT/Turnpike not design, construct or attempt to acquire or acquire any property for the project, and that the FDOT/Turnpike adopt the no-build interchange option.”