Winter Springs leaders urge Seminole to reject proposed self-storage facility
A developer’s plan to build a three-story storage facility nearly double the size of a Publix store, tucked between two residential neighborhoods in the heart of Winter Springs, has riled residents and leaders of this Seminole County city, with one commissioner calling it an “abomination.”
Residents filled a Winter Springs commission meeting earlier this month to protest the proposed structure.
A day later, Mayor Kevin McCann pleaded with Seminole commissioners to reject the project, saying a storage facility of that size and so close to new homes would harm his community.
“It’s right in the heart of our city,” McCann said at the Jan. 10 county meeting. “It would be astronomically damaging to our community. … And it goes right up in front of brand-new, single-family homes. It would be devastating for all these new families who have all moved in.”
The mostly wooded 5 acres sits within an enclave of unincorporated Seminole County east of Tuskawilla Road at the Avery Lake Drive intersection.
Anna Ondick, a Winter Park resident whose family has owned the land for more than half a century, said it was the former site of a slaughterhouse and later a meat processing facility, a relic of the county’s agricultural past. The property has sat vacant since the early 2000s.
Over the years, Ondick has received offers from buyers to purchase the acreage and build storage units. She’s also had an offer to develop it into an assisted living facility and nursing home.
“For me [a storage facility] would be a positive for that area,” she said Thursday. “I would think that with that many homes and that many apartments there, it would be very convenient for the residents. As long as it’s a nice structure, and it fits in with the community.”
Last March, David Axel, of Axel Real Estate in Oviedo, submitted a preliminary application to Seminole to build Tuskawilla Storage. Plans show the building would be about 116,000 square feet and not higher than 35 feet. It would have 75 storage bays, a locking gate and open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The land is currently zoned by the county to allow a warehouse or a self-storage facility.
The application is still under review by staff. A public meeting before Seminole’s planning and zoning board or the county commission for approval had not yet been scheduled this week.
Rebecca Hammock, Seminole’s director of development services, said her staff has been working with the developer during the application process to ensure that the storage facility would be compatible with the surrounding area.
Winter Springs Commissioner Cade Resnick said there are other areas of the city more suitable for a storage facility. He would rather see a development at the site that would draw residents.
“It could look beautiful, but it’s not the right location for a storage facility,” he said. “It would be better to have an entertainment venue, where people could go to restaurants, maybe a breakfast facility.”
He added that Winter Springs — a city made up of mostly homes — has long struggled with attracting shops, restaurants and other commercial development.
“We need more destinations for our residents,” Resnick said. “More places for them to go within our city.”
Winter Springs Deputy Mayor Rob Elliott agreed, saying that a storage facility would not fit near the Avery Park and Tuskawilla Crossings residential neighborhoods.
“It is an abomination,” Elliott said of the plans at the Jan. 9 Winter Springs meeting. “It’s in no way compatible with the folks who live around there or with our community in general in this location.”
He proposed the city purchasing the property.
“We’ll put a library there,” he said. “We’ll put something there that really fits the community and benefits the community.”
Winter Springs could not annex the county enclave unless those property owners agreed. And Ondick said she’s not interested in making her land part of Winter Springs.
City officials acknowledged that ultimately the decision about a new storage facility is up to county leaders to decide.
Even so, nearby resident Karen Myer told city commissioners that a storage facility of that size is not “the proper place” for her area.
“It would devalue the residential properties in our community,” she said.
