Proposed Winter Garden ordinance would dictate downtown house sizes

In a standing-room-only City Hall, Winter Garden residents weren’t shy about sharing their opinions about a proposed Downtown Residential Overlay District ordinance. 

City Planning Director Kelly Carson said staff and elected officials received concerns from the public regarding the size of some of the homes being built in Winter Garden. 

“Some of the residents feel the larger homes are out of scale with the neighborhood; they’re changing the character of the neighborhood,” Carson said. “New stormwater regulations to lift properties out of flood plains and such often require the land to be built up a little bit higher than their neighbors. So even if the size is comparable, they appear to kind of tower over their neighbors.”

Carson said a concern from residents is smaller historic homes are being demolished and replaced with larger homes that are two to four times the size of the original home. 

Carson said the average size of homes from 1920 to 2020 more than doubled, with the average size increasing from about 1,000 square feet to almost 2,500 square feet. 

THE ORDINANCE
The ordinance would limit the gross floor area for all new homes in the Downtown Residential Overlay Area zoned R-1, R-2 or R-NC. 

Homeowners would be permitted to build the same size structure that was demolished or 125% of the median gross floor area of the closest eight properties, whichever is larger. 

To exceed the limit, the homeowner would need to apply for a special exception permit. 

The architecture of the new construction also would need to be consistent with the character of the property, neighborhood and immediate environment. 

For R-1, R-2 and R-NC zoning districts, there are minimum square footage requirements for residential structures but not maximum requirements. 

Building setbacks, height limitations and maximum impervious surface ratio currently dictate the limits on how large a home can be. 

All the regulations would stay the same except what is specifically covered in the overlay ordinance. 

The gross floor area calculation includes interior living space, garage, storage and utility space, as well as accessory buildings and roofed but open side or rear porches that don’t front on a public road. Pools, pool screens and cages, at-grade patios and driveways, and open front and side porches that face a public road are not included in the calculation.

PUBLIC OPINION
Winter Garden resident Lori Trainer said the policy would “severely restrict homeowners’ ability to expand or renovate their property.” 

“(The proposal is) a threat to our dreams, our investments and the very spirit of Winter Garden,” she said. “Many of us moved here because of the charm of this historic town but also because of its potential. … This proposal will kill those dreams for so many of us that would not only prevent us from improving our properties but also have a devastating financial impact on homeowners who relied on those renovations to increase the home’s value. This policy risks turning Winter Garden into something that was never meant to be — a giant, restrictive homeowners association where the government dictates how we live.”

Winter Garden resident Matt Howard said there has to be a middle ground that can preserve the history of Winter Garden while accommodating residents’ needs. He said he spent “a great deal of money” on moderate additions to his home that under the proposed ordinance would not have been possible because his neighbors’ homes are smaller than his. 

“We have plenty of yard to do a tasteful addition within the parameters of downtown, within the spirit and without disrupting (the area),” he said. “We spend a great deal of money to preserve the heritage of downtown, and we put a lot of money into the house to preserve that heritage, but we cannot be tied to what our neighbors do as far as square footage. That’s not fair to us as property owners.”

However, not all residents opposed the ordinance.

“I feel like we need to find some happy medium, because the charm is going away,” Winter Garden resident Lauren Flemister said. “We don’t want to be Winter Park, but that’s where we’re headed. So why are we giving all these variances for these houses? We’re losing our historic charm. Some of us have been here all our lives, and maybe we don’t like you coming and building up where we can’t see over you or around you.”

Winter Garden’s Trina McWilliams said she and her family are facing water runoff issues at her home.

“We no longer have grass; we have dirt and a river,” she said. “We had to take out flood insurance on our property for the first time ever this year because of the water problem that we are having. There have been five of these houses built in our neighborhood, and it’s getting worse. They don’t fit in. We have one that’s built, and it looks like it’s from ‘The Jetsons.’ … We need to keep Winter Garden the way Winter Garden was. It’s an old-school, tiny, old-fashioned city.”