PFT Media

TRANSCRIPT: Hi it’s Mark Baratelli from The Daily City, Orlando’s number one choice for smooth jazz and R&B. Let’s get to the news!

An urban orchard may be coming to an Orlando Park if the Citys’ Parks and Rec Department wins a $20,000 grant from the National Recreation and Park Association. They  had to to send in three ideas for the grant. The orchard is the most creative of the three but all three are pretty great which I have to say because one deals with disabled kids and the other one deals with a neighborhood called Malibu Groves… I mean…

1. Creating an orchard at Dr. I. Sylvester Hankins Park near the neighborhood center building at 1340 Lake Park Court

2. Installing outdoor fitness equipment at Ivey Lane Neighborhood Center.

3. Installing adjustable basketball goals to allow children and people with disabilities to play basketball at the Engelwood Neighborhood Center.

If Parks and Rec wins the grant, which project of the three to be funded will be decided on through an online voting process.

Orange County Public Schools requested a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to establish an Edgewater High School agricultural education facility, a public benefit use in a residential zoning district. It’s got funding from 4Rivers, Dr Phillips Charities, Kiwanis and Florida Blue. The name of the facility will be 4Roots Farm. According to the renderings provided to the City, the facility will include a greenhouse, several above ground garden boxes, a large garden patch and… a bathroom. I am all for this. I love walking by or standing still or driving by the gardens in front of East End Market and seeing living thriving food-providing plants. I’m a grown ass woman with a full time job and in the hustle and bustle of owning a thriving small business and raising two imaginary children, I forget that gardens exist.

After an August 2017 courtesy review and a March 2018 final review, Appearance Review Board Staff recommended approval with conditions for the Major Certificate of Appearance Approval Request for the Cambria Suites Hotel project at 170 E. Washington Street.

Cambria will be a 7 story, 155 room hotel with a roof bar, 82 parking spaces, a ground floor restaurant, an exterior amenity deck on the third floor and other associated ancillary uses.

During the August 2017 courtesy review, the ARB staff was “very pleased with the building design.” They had a few concerns including the west facade being blank, the balancing of pedestrian and vehicle needs along E. Washington Street and how the realities of practical development requirements such as transformers, back flow preventers and stormwater systems may impact the final design and configuration along Washington Street.

After the courtesy review the applicant team collaborated with the ARB Staff to resolve several building functions, including: solid waste pick-up and loading and unloading areas and procedures. These discussions led to design solutions that increased the functionality and the appearance of the site.

During the March 2018 final review Staff showed excitement about newly added golden metal mesh covering the elevator tower on the Rosalind facade. Staff said it “delivers a more refined Mid-Century Modern feel to the hotel, retro and cool. The same metal mesh is also being used as a new treatment to screen the second level of the parking garage. The blank wall on the south facade remained unaddressed by the applicants. They must continue to work with staff to improve these ares prior to submittal of building permits.

A Downtown 5-Story Townhouse Project Got theThumbs Up from ARB Staff. The Kinchla—Fountain Vu 5 Townhouses got the thumbs up from the Appearance Review Board Staff Thursday after a February 2018 courtesy review and March final review. They recommended approval for the Major Certificate of Appearance with conditions. The Municipal Planning Board public hearing for this project is scheduled for this month. The project is located at 330 Broadway, one block from Lake Eola Park.

The developer, Mark Kinchla, stated in the Master Plan request that one of the benefits for the future residents of Fountain VU 5 is the “close proximity to the historic district.” Kinchla is a Orlando Historic Preservation Award Winner and is responsible for several downtown developments including Sansara, a former church turned million dollar condos.

It’s ironic because this project will cause the loss of a home built in 1921 and place a 56.5-ft high townhouse project on the edge of a max 35-ft high nationally historic protected neighborhood.

The project is only possible because of the property and home’s long and odd history. The property and the home built in 1921 were supposed to be included in the Lake Eola Heights Historic District, but due to a statement in 1989 by a City Council person and the City siding with the property owner in a legal dispute, the property was left out of the historic district, therefor left unprotected from development.

Here are Changes Listed in the Final Review:

Between the ARB member’s discussion during the February Courtesy Review and the concerns addressed in the letters received from residents of the Lake Eola Heights Historic District, several project-related items were identified that either needed additional information provided or required additional design revisions or considerations.

Lake Eola Heights Historic District residents suggested the project should face Broadway , the street the house built in 1921 currently faces, not Ridgewood, the street that intersects with Broadway and that would place the front of the townhouses facing Lake Eola Park. The lot across the street has the same site geometry and the house on it faces Broadway. But, Staff said “the site geometry is more efficient if the townhouse units fronted onto E. Ridgewood St” AKA the developer will still get to sell townhouses with a fifth floor view of Lake Eola. The Staff also say that 323 Broadway is “only one” structure along Ridgewood that faces Broadway.  What?

Staff also noted the Presbyterian Church on the north side of the same block does not front Broadway. That church was constructed in 1925, four years after the house. Also, that church lot’s site geometry isn’t the same as the project’s.

HOWEVER… Staff felt the Fountain Vu5 project should address and respect the Broadway Ave. frontage, so a scallop shaped canopy has been added to the plans over the side door.

The architecture has continued to evolve since the February 2018 Courtesy Review, but not much. The 4th and 5th floor have been shoved 2-feet towards Ridgewood to alter the massing. The third floor cornice has been widened making the southern shift of the 4th and 5th floor appear to be even greater. The separation wall between the units on the 4th floor terrace has been reduced in height, too. MMkay…

ARB Staff stated  “the applicant has made substantial strides defining and refining the architecture and appearance of the Fountain Vu5 project and is therefore recommending approval so the project can move forward.”