Oakland examines future development

The Oakland Town Commission held a work session prior to its regular commission meeting Tuesday, Dec. 13, to discuss the moratorium on multifamily dwellings and mixed-use buildings on West Colonial Drive.

In February, the town established the moratorium on processing applications for all development on Colonial to allow staff time to make sure the right standards, tools and policies are in place moving forward and to assess what needed to be added or modified. The commission extended the moratorium another 180 days, and it is set to end in February 2023.

“The discussion today is really just to put some vision on what Highway 50 (Colonial) could look like and try to put some things out there that might be helpful in talking to developers when they come in to develop,” Town Manager Steve Koontz said.

Mike Morrissey, of Morrissey Design Studio, and another consultant put together a draft document that focused on three pieces of property, all containing 20 or more acres, that will likely be developed in the future.

The town has a population of about 5,400 residents, which cannot support 60 acres of commercial, Koontz said.

“It’s going to be tough to get somebody to come in and just put commercial,” he said. “Over the last four or five years we’ve had multiple developers coming in and wanting to put in multifamily … but it’s always multifamily first with no real plan for commercial. … The idea is, how do we move forward as a town, as a commission, with a vision … that might include multifamily but it’s more of a true mixed use where a portion of this property has some meaningful commercial: grocery stores, restaurants, things that would keep people in the town and not having to travel to Winter Garden or Clermont … and be supportive and be successful.

“One of the things we have to be careful with is … not making things too hard for people to develop on,” Koontz said. “As far as traffic, nothing that happens on any the three properties is going to impact roads any more than the (Florida’s) Turnpike already does. We are looking already at roughly 105,000 cars a day coming off the turnpike. If all 60 acres is developed densely, it’s still going to be a small percentage of traffic on Highway 50. That’s one thing we need to stay away from is that it’s a traffic issue.”

VILLAGE CONCEPTS

Oakland officials are trying to address the issue of connecting neighborhoods on the south and north sides of Colonial.

“Folks want Mayberry, but the reality is we do have a six-lane arterial roadway going through the middle,” Morrissey said. “If we can create a sense of place in each of those (20-acre sites) and make something (that resembles villages).”

The idea is to increase walkability and pedestrian activity through mixed-use development. Morrissey said multifamily units paired with restaurants, retail and office space — with four or five different building types — will have a better aesthetic than a regular apartment or single-use commercial development.

The types of building materials also were discussed.

One of the three village concepts would be conducive to a large-format operation, such as a grocery store, Koontz said. Another piece of property has space that could be ideal for pedestrian, bicycle and golf cart connections.

“The idea is to not encourage owner-occupied type dwellings along Highway 50,” Koontz said. “It is the opportunity to diversity the tax base here in town with commercial development and multifamily as part of that.”

The town would require its Complete Streets program with its grid system be incorporated into each of the developments.

“I like this a lot on (Colonial),” Commissioner Sal Ramos said. “Is there something we can put in the developer’s agreement that keeps a master developer from coming in? Because I don’t want a bait-and-switch like we had with Unicorp.”

“I’m glad we are where we are right now, being cautious, but I think we’re in a good place,” Commissioner Joseph McMullen said.

Koontz said he will bring the document back to the commission in January and request it be accepted as a vision for the town.

IN REGULAR MEETING BUSINESS:

• Police Chief Darron Esan introduced a new officer, Chadwick Edmondson, who is retired from Clermont Police Department, and announced an assignment change for Officer René Castro, who will serve as a liaison to the commissioners and handle the Oakland Police Department’s community engagement and social media.

• Commissioners accepted the consent agenda, which included several items — a vote for Town Manager Steve Koontz to move forward with the execution and closing of the contract to purchase a .132-acre parcel of land at 19 Petris Ave. for $150,000, and acceptance of Oakland Park Phase 6B-2 infrastructure improvements.

• Koontz announced completion of the roundabout on West Oakland Avenue is delayed about two months and should be completed by mid-March.