Seminole County approves storage facility despite opposition from Winter Springs
Despite objections from Winter Springs officials, Seminole commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a developer’s plan to build a three-story storage facility within a county enclave tucked in the heart of the city’s commercial and residential districts.
But county staff and commissioners pointed out that the vacant land of nearly 5 acres on Tuskawilla Road has long been zoned for industrial uses, which allows for a self-storage facility. And that Winter Springs officials never made any substantial efforts over the years to annex the property just south of Michael Blake Boulevard into their city and change the zoning.
“This is very unfortunate that we arrived here today,” Seminole Commissioner Jay Zembower said. “It’s a tough decision to make. We want to be good neighbors with our cities. … But the city clearly said they were not interested in having a joint planning agreement” with the county.
Winter Springs resident Dexter Glasgow, whose home sits a few hundred yards from the mostly wooded land, urged county commissioners to oppose the development plan, saying it will be an eyesore.
“Putting in a self-storage facility doesn’t do anything to benefit the community,” he said.
Other residents and city leaders said the property sits in an area that Winter Springs has long wanted to be developed into restaurants, shops and other commercial activities. The city has even designated the nearby commercial areas as the Winter Springs Town Center.
Winter Springs city attorney Anthony Garganese, who spoke on behalf of the city commission, said a self-storage facility goes against the county’s land development regulations, which promotes approving developments to fit in with surrounding areas.
“The Winter Springs Town Center is an epitome of a unique, distinct and attractive place to live,” Garganese said to county commissioners. “This proposed development is incompatible with the local development trends. You need to consider the fact that it’s in the middle of the town, and a self storage facility is incompatible by nature [to the surrounding area].”
But attorney Brent Spain, representing David Axel, who submitted the development plan, said the 116,000-square-foot storage building would be architecturally designed so that the storage bays would not be visible from the street. The facility would only be open during the day, and generate less traffic than a commercial property.
He noted the county’s future land use designation of industrial on that property was put in place long before the Winter Springs Town Center.
“We were industrial before anything around was changed,” he said. “It was the city of Winter Springs that changed that surrounding land use.”
The property, filled with woods and scrubland, was the former site of a slaughter house and later a meat processing facility. The property has sat vacant since 2007 when the plant was demolished.
County commissioners said Winter Springs officials should have either tried to annex the land into the city and changed the zoning, or worked with the county on a joint planning agreement.
They also noted that the land owner, Anna Ondick of Winter Park, and the developer have property rights to develop the land within the county’s regulations.
“Quite frankly, this piece of property is surrounded by the city. And I can’t for the life of me understand why this wasn’t annexed into the city,” Seminole Commissioner Lee Constantine said. “I would love to support the city and their future. But frankly, I don’t see any competent and substantial evidence that the applicant hasn’t done what they were supposed to do. … I think the city dropped the ball on this.”
