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>> [music] >> Heat. [music] [music] [music] Heat. >> [music] >> Good morning and welcome to the June 8th, 2026 workshop of the Orlando City Council. Commissioners, we have uh two
workshops today. We're going to begin with a workshop on the Pulse Memorial. Friday is going to mark 10 years since the Pulse tragedy. A decade has passed since the lives of 49 people were taken and countless others forever impacted.
We're continuing to send love and hope to the victim's families and survivors, first responders and medical professionals and all those impacted. And I'm proud that we continue to honor the 49 in many different ways that we'll mark this week. But one of them is the
creation of a permanent memorial. And obviously you know that we purchased the site a couple of years ago and have begun that process. And Heather is going to update us on that. >> Thank you, Mayor Dyer. And good morning, commissioners. Um we're going to do a
brief update on the Pulse Memorial. Is it on yet? Is it on there? Okay. >> To hit first, there we go. Perfect. Um, okay. Before we get started, I would like to start um
Okay, maybe not. Oh, here. Let me try the clicker. I would like to start by taking a moment of silence to remember the 49 angels. Commissioners, I'd like to note that the names on this slide um is an effort of an undertaking as part of the memorial
process. For the first time in the 10 years since the city team took it over, we have made contact with all 49 next of kin to be able to confirm how how they each want their angel's name spelled and if they have a preferred nickname that they would prefer to have used. And we
have also asked them for a preferred photo of their choice and over half of them have provided those to us. And so those photos will be used as part of the remembrance ceremony on Friday. And so there were some corrections to some names or some hyphenations or things like that. And so we're very proud of the city's team, the neighborhoods team
and our um staff at Greenwood Cemetery who helped to outreach to all 49 of the next of kin to help achieve that. and they're staying in contact with them throughout the memorial process to get keep them updated and to continue to get additional information from them.
So, a little reminder of how we got here because we do have two new commissioners since we've started this process. But in October of 2023, the city purchased the pole site with plans to build a permanent memorial. That was after hearing from family members who are concerned that the foundation was no
longer planning to build the memorial on the pulse site. In April of 2024, we began the memorial engagement process. Um, and then and that was really selecting a Pulse memorial advisory committee, which we selected 18 people
out of the 150 that applied to be on the committee. Almost all of them had a connection to Pulse, whether that was being an actual survivor, a family member of a victim, or they worked there, attended there. Um, the one had some design expertise that, um, we
thought was important to the process. So they held their first meeting in July and had meetings um throughout the remainder of the year. One or two was canceled because of hurricane since we live in Florida. That's always um something that we have to deal with. And
so in February of 2025 was the last time that I was here at council and we presented the conceptual design that the advisory committee had created. After that time, we went out for a design build RFP and um selected Gomez and Bellian partners as the city's design
and construction partners. And then in September of 2025, council agre approved that agreement and we began the design work. As part of that design, we also began working on the building and we removed several of the artifacts that were left within the building. things
like disco balls and chandeliers and posters, things that could help tell the story of what Pulse was before we took um the building down. And then um in Mar was it March? Yeah, in March we actually um took the building down and had our
30% design public meeting. We committed throughout the process to have two public meetings at the 30% and then at the 60%. We did the 60% design meeting just last month in May. And um we plan to commence construction in September.
And so with that, I will introduce the design team to talk more detail. George Barlli. Sorry. >> Thank you. Thank you, Heather. Good morning, mayor. Good morning, commissioners. It's an honor to be here and thank you. It's truly an honor to have been selected for this long awaited
important project. My name is Jorge Belli. I'm the principal president in charge of Belli Partners Architects. Uh with me here today is Steve Gomez. Uh sorry, sorry. Steve Caro with Gomez Construction. Uh they are our construction our build partner. Uh Dan
Turvich uh is a senior project manager and senior assoc our firm. He's the architect leading this team of of a thousand. [laughter] Um a lot of firms you know I won't go into everyone but two other key people in our on our team are out of New York. They're our exhibit our exhibition and
media uh design team. um they are helping with the interpretive message for this memorial and that is a local projects and they're represented by Nico Gillon and Amanda White. So this concept began with the committee
um and the committee developed a pulse memorial mission. Their concept echoed and reflected that mission which you see in this document that was developed and this is what the city used for the RFP and it was called the design control document. And you'll see the
elements in the lower right hand corner that include the memorial the the healing garden, the um memorial plaza, the survivors common, the the angel ellipse, the private gathering area, and the visitor pavilion. And we were we took this concept and we're bringing it
to reality now in the design build process. This is our 60% complete uh presentation and we're on track to meet the deadline and get the memorial started for construction. um in September. Uh more on that uh later in
the presentation. So here's our current um progress on the 60%. You can see all the elements are still represented with the Prism Tower Plaza on Orange and Esther Street. You see the large ellipse uh on um in the foreground of this picture and that'll be those will be
honoring the 49 angels. Dan will touch a little bit more on that in a second. the visitor pavilion you'll see kind of tucked into the existing trees to the to the left to the west side of the the image and then to the probably north corner is the peeking out of the existing trees tree line is the um
visitor pavilion and then the central you'll have the memorial plaza uh fountain reflecting pool and obelisk and Dan's going to jump uh jump into some more of the details of each of these elements so you can understand some of the design interpretation Dan
[clears throat] >> thanks Thanks, George. Uh what we're looking at here is a view from Esser Street into the memorial proper itself. Uh what was important to the design team was the degree of transparency, views, ventilation, and natural Florida sunshine. Uh but you also have an uh
element uh symbolically looking back in time from this perspective. Uh you're outside of the event in the tragic area which will be defined by the memorial pler itself. And the ellipse itself is an important element that radiates and pulses from the actual generation of
that tragic site. And it I'll go into a little bit more detail on some of that, but we wanted to be able to sit down and showcase the visual appearance and the visual process that a typical uh visitor will actually experience and particularly uh survivors and those of the family members.
This is a view of the inner ring of the uh angel ellipse. Uh what you'll see it uh encompasses the entire site, the memorial area proper itself just to the right. Uh the signal element to a lot of this is that this is an area where
family members and visitors can come to visit a particular angel. Uh you'll note that there are uh name plates as well as national identity flags associated with that as well as an alco for actual gathering of individuals family members
away from the main line of uh traffic throughout the site. The pillars themselves are are colorcoded and they they are colorcoded based on the entire range of the rainbow spectrum uh circulating the site. And then you'll if you notice subtly in the upper two
panels is a photo interpretive u um cutouts of a uh ripple um of the panelings themselves. The importance here is we wanted to showcase the the notion of layering in depth of color presence as well as that notion of a
memory ripple p uh going throughout time and reinforce the the notion of the ellipse doing just that. You'll see that in the heartscapes as well. This area here is within the private gathering area. It's located outside of the ellipse line looking directly towards that back wall uh which is
actually the survivors wall. Uh it's an important area for us to identify those areas uh where you can have a sense of healing uh a sense of retrospection beyond the tragedy itself. We have a specifically we're looking at
investigating a series of quotes specifically uh would be original to that. But the interior of the private gathering this is an area in which along the bench seating just along that back area that granite space those are actual capsules for uh personal effects of the
49 angels. And so in a very symbolic way this is the area in which you can come to be surrounded by those angels. Uh it's a very it's a very psalm place. It's supposed to be introspective, contemplative. It's there to also promote healing because much of this
tragedy occurred not only of the night of the event, but was um prolonged with that the lack of healing and the suffering and the trauma that resonated throughout our community. And we wanted to make sure that we provided a space where people can reflect and have a
chance to heal. uh and that was an very important concept as we took on the documentation from the design control documents is we wanted to provide those opportunities inherent with the design beyond physical elements which I'll talk about in a minute.
This is part of the the survivors common again outside of the memorial plaza itself. Uh it's an area for light gathering, contemplative nature to be in touch with natural elements, sunshine and and the environment. But in particular, we have a symbolic
architectural reference of a tree. Uh for that of of particular note, we're looking at utilizing an olive tree for all the symbolic elements for uh the that the olive tree represents the longevity, resilience, forgiveness, peace, solitude, uh as well as being
just a magnificent specimen. So we are looking at a at an age tree uh that is welldeveloped for this particular area and it's a fairly open common ground for people to gather kind of sit contemplate but it provides an opportunity to to detach yourself from a lot of the
triggering events of the the memorials themselves. Uh memorials themselves are not a passive element. They're they're they're an act of engagement and sometimes you have to have provide for that relief otherwise becomes overly dawn and we wanted to make sure that this memorial place was peaceful,
respectful and contemplative in nature and we have to balance that with the elements of remembrance as well and the act of engagement. This is actually several components all at once. Uh this is the memorial plaza. Uh the most specific element uh that
that I'd like to highlight is the perimeter of the memorial plaza itself. It actually outlines the original nightclub. Uh and it's done with rainbow band banding. Uh you can see a touch of it underneath the reflecting pool, but that colorization will actually go along
the entire perimeter of the actual memorial itself. Uh which actually encompasses the original building in the tragic tra tragedy site. The reflecting pool uh while having kind of artistic impressions of dance and movement and memory and that memor ripple again is
location symbolically within the the public gathering areas of the original building itself. So much of the community was gathered within that specific area. We wanted to make sure that we're representating uh that component very directly. It's bookend onto the right uh with a water feature
uh with quotes in both English and Spanish for those who wanted to dance by our our Daniel Foster uh as well as the Pulse Heartbeat logo. Um what you'll see below that is a listing of all the angel's names. It is here that they're actually represented in together as a
group within that pulse site. Whereas on the angel ellipse it's they're actually represented individually. So inside the uh perimeter of the site, they're collective, outside, they're individual. Uh in the very background, uh we have what we call the obelisk. Uh and that is
the site of the SWAT breach wall. Uh that that was the termination of the event. Um for many survivors, uh it is a a point of terror that they do not wish to remember. Others, it is a point of
salvation that their life began a new. Uh we know memorials are active engagement sites. This is probably one of the most challenging areas that we had to uh kind of develop and look at. Uh we do it very straightforward with a very stark feature, a very massive
feature with the concrete as well as representational of the anniversary date itself to acknowledge it. And then just to the right as you would pass by that's the survivors wall. That's the location I called attention to earlier. This is the
>> Let me I'll go back to it. Um George wanted [clears throat] me to point out one of the challenges that we had was not just elemental. It's not physical features. Uh the with it it is human nature in human psychology to get attached to things and places that are not normal. They're not
people, things you don't normally have a relationship with. Um it's the difference between what makes a house and a home different. Uh for this particular site, the community on the whole um many members of our design team as well as the community have direct
connections to this facility, our experiences and it became a psychic warehouse of our memories and experiences during that time period. the removal of that can be immensely traumatizing and that was a major
obstacle and challenge that the DCD team had to overcome and kind of get um agreement to by the family members and we heard the the city's struggle with this. Uh we saw how challenged this became and we took a moment to pause to sit down and say how do we address that?
We know we need to move forward. We need know we need to move past it, but how do we acknowledge this emotional connection we have with space? And our approach was to actually salvage much of the elements as we could from the facility. So that an area of the dance floor of the
original Pulse nightclub will be salvaged and by dance floor I mean the concrete section and will be placed and interred beneath the actual dance floor tying that moment and placed symbolically to that area. So so it's reused and re re gives life to it.
Likewise, uh the the breach wall itself has been uh salvaged uh in hull. Um and what we will be doing is instead of putting that on display because it is stark, it is incredibly striking. Um and while evocative,
it was too much. We wanted to make sure that we were taking a kinder, gentler approach to uh this trauma and reflect that. Uh and that was part of the balancing act. will be interring part of that the brereech wall itself in hole at the location of the obelis. We're
bringing those two elements together. Likewise, we're taking much of the concrete of the existing facility and we're salvaging that and we're going to be utilizing in part not so much in the concrete mix. I don't want any confusion that we're mixing in with the concrete, but we'll be adding it as elements to
the concrete everywhere we have concrete or aggregate. And we're going to be distributing that throughout the entire site so that the the building itself while removed is reinterpreted back into the living embodiment in this entire memorial. Uh and that is is something
you're not going to see. We know it's there. And with speaking with the family members uh and and survivors, uh we think this this is able to transcend that loss and allows them to kind of let go, move forward knowing uh as quote
direct as as uh I was told by an individual, they will always have a place to stay. My daughter will always have a place and she can always be here. And so uh immensely moving. Um it it was a very difficult decision uh but not one
you would see in renderings or boards. Uh this is the southeast corner. This is a prison uh tower plaza area. Uh it's a kind of a very communicative element to the orange avenue uh approach. We know that this is a signal component of it. Uh we wanted to be able to have uh
element to marquee element as well as referential uh the original pulse logo as part of a glowing element. Um, one of the the important elements of the Pulk Memorial design is the fact that it's also a day and nighttime facility. So, this this entire column piece will be
illuminated at night as well as much of the the remainder of the the memorial itself. [sighs] Uh, this is uh north view from uh Kayley Street looking at the visitor pavilion itself. Um, like what I said earlier, we wanted to have a
strong day and nighttime uh connection to the facility. This is Opia a 24-hour operational area and what you're seeing in the corner there uh is very directly the original Pulse sign. Uh we intend to have the sign not only showcased as a living artifact but actually uh actually
renewed. And so at night that sign will be reilluminated. And so we're incorporating kind of the elements of zoning and planning and public face with this element of being able to see [snorts] and experience the facility even after its closure. Uh the other strong element that we've kind of
interpretating is the rainbow color panel screening. And while the everybody can see the coloring, the intent is that we wanted to make a space that was inclusive, safe, and comfortable. And the language that was being used uh to
describe it is that people often feel they want to be held and embraced. So in a very literal interpretation, those screens, the arms actually do wrap around and kind of embrace the entire pavilion itself, the visitor pavilion. Uh and that was very intentional.
Uh this is more the public face facing the actual exhibit um or the memorial proper itself. And what we wanted to do was have a transparency between interior and exterior. uh again so that when you visit the site after hours you're able to look into and see the vast majority
of the visitor pavilion as well. Uh the curved wall itself is a a specific uh memorial feature. It's there to actually give acknowledgement to why we're here, why the memorial what was the purpose of memorial and to be a message of hope.
As you enter the facility itself, the first major public experience uh zone is going to be the simple timeline and and it is it is intentionally simplistic. Uh the language is text only. Uh there's no images associated with this and it's narrative in journalistic pros. So it's
very factualbased, very subdued with very limited but pointed emotional language. And so it allows the experience uh of to understand to walk past and through the the events of that evening. Uh and it start it reads from
right to left as you go towards the actual exhibit. And it's situated in a way in which if this was too evocative for individuals, they could bypass it without it interrupting the flow. It's not an absolutely essential, but it's presented there and and it's a it's a it serves as a narrative standing for the
actual facility itself. in the distance you get a glimpse of what you'll see obviously coming from another area outside you'd be able to see it but you do see the the major elements uh linearly going through the facility itself so there's a an artistic datam line going through the center of the
facility this is an al cove uh it's a very prominent one just behind the the radial curve of the exhibitory this is the chance to actually give visitors an idea of what pulse was like before the
tragedy itself. Uh historical framing uh there's some general some very light quotations. There's obviously this is the artifact collection zones uh between the posters, the entry doors, the the grand chandelier uh which we understand uh would have originally had been
purchased from the Grand Mon Mulan Rouge in Paris, France and brought over specifically. So there's a lot of precience that's that's a central major element. It is a massive chandelier as well as other figurative elements in interpretive form. So we have some of the textured walls that we had in the VA
please. And again you did not have to actually visit Paul's nightclub to get a very good sense of what Paul's nightclub was like and and how colorful and vibrant and larger than life that it was. The main visitor experience is centered
uh upon a radius uh in which the disco oversized disco ball rotates. The intention here was to play with light, the the notion of what a nightclub was and in particular how oversized in our minds and memories this nightclub actually was for for what it served in
the community. It also creates a experience in which the visitor is bathed in this light and experience as as it gently rotates around that room. I mean, we all have a sense of what a disco ball light is, but it's a unique way to bring the the idea of solemn
remembrance, but a transcendential element in space and time. Uh, within this area uh on the left is is essentially the global and international response uh uh to the pulse event and how the world stepped up and showed they cared and were in solidarity. Uh there's
a single line of text that kind of describes some of that in narrative form. on the right is the Orlando response. Uh and and it's centered quote is right now we're looking for Mayor Dyer's quote during that time period because it was characteristic of the
Orlando experience uh being Orlando strong and how we came together and it set the tone so well for the time period uh that we felt it still resonated in a classic timeless manner that still rang true today. So we're utilizing that with a a host of imageries uh associated with
that that we're still going through the curative process. This is the kind of the culminating element. Um and this is where we we host the 49 angels. Uh this is the area in which visitors are able to come in contact very directly with the indiv uh
the angels individually in in fairly large in size and format as well as having family members and loved ones come back and specifically remember their angels as well. Uh it's it's reserved intentionally. Um we did not want competing images. Uh it was a
desired effect to put more emphasis on the individuals and their absence and what's not there. uh and and that stripping of life. Uh it's it's again it's it's while it's a visitor center and somewhat of a a artistic impression
of these events, we wanted it to be an area for gathering rather than a holistic approach to museum uh programming and design. uh and what we wanted to make sure that we had uh the images of each of them uh by each of the
49 family members as as Heather recently said that all 49 at this point have responded in providing imagery and contacts and names. Uh and so we're seeing the progression on that as well. Uh but again this is the kind of the culminating feature of when you actually get to see the actual angel themselves.
Uh next steps coming up are kind of very uh historical months. Most of these we've already completed. Uh the pulse pulse site has been kind of cleared. The building's been removed and cleaning. We've we've hit our mark for the 30 60% design schedules uh which are very accelerated. Uh and then we have
commencement of construction starting in September 26. Another way of saying that is we're going to permitting in mid mid July. So literally in 30 45 days we are bringing this to to actual permitting process. uh and and we'll be moving
forward and we anticipate the completion date to be in the third quarter of 2027. We have every expectation we'll be able to achieve that as we close that out. commissioners um to note that city staff have played a significant role in the development um
from EDV um Richard Forbes, Doug Mezer, Tim Johnson, Marty Hudson and Donna and our office. They were part of the initial pulse memorial advisory committee and have continued supporting the effort throughout the time including um I should mention Jay Hood with Catalyst. He volunteered his services to
create the conceptual design with um Wayne and Baker Barios and he continues to be a connection point to make sure as we have to make changes the conceptual design to make it actually constructible that the intention of the committee um is still throughout that design and then of course Christy who's been leading as
our um construction project manager and our facilities team has been um extraordinary throughout this process carefully removing the items making sure they're packaged well so they can be restored again. Um and they were also very supportive throughout the site visits to make sure that the building was secure and safe for people to go
through. So as we close out the memorial this week um we have started the tenure remembrance events yesterday. Commissioner Shien and or not yesterday, Saturday, Commissioner Sheen, Commissioner Chapen and Commissioner Ortiz, I don't know who was the fastest, but they were all at our community rainbow run or who actually finished.
I'm curious if everybody finished. Oh, okay. >> [laughter] >> Um but that um we had uh more than 2,000 people come out for that run on Saturday. Um including um there was 15 sponsors who helped make this event possible, including Orlando Health,
who's been the presenting sponsor in Hard Rock, who has consistently supported this event with the Love is Love Lounge inside of City Hall. We had approximately 50 families and survivors participate and more than a hundred first responders. The rainbow run was created um at the first year mark by
students at um UCF as a way to honor um the 49 angels. And so that is one element that the city has continued on when we took over the memorial process. Also this year um the prayer ribbons that have been out there every year will be in front of city hall um as well this
week. And then we've added um a new opportunity for reflection. The created in community portraits of pulse art exhibit will be installed um on the first floor art gallery starting tomorrow. This exhibit features um 49 um
they're paint by number works that were done by family members um immediately after the tragedy and so those will be redised for the first time in many years and partnership with the history center. And then our pulse remembrance ceremony will be Friday at 5:30 at the First
United Methodist Church. And we've expanded it this year um in honor of the tenure. There will be some additional um cultural performances. The Orlando gay choir will always be will be there as usual. Um our poet laurate Kamara is doing a special poem that she has written for the occasion. There will be
a candle lighting ceremony as we read the 49 names. And then our angels, the angel action network um that were there and multiple places right after um will actually be part of the ceremony as well. And so with that um I guess here's
the slide with all of those events in case you're interested. And with that, we'll take any questions. >> Thank you, Heather. Thank you, team. Very well done. Uh Commissioner Sheen. >> Thank you, Mayor. Well, first of all, I want to thank everyone who's been a part
of this. I know this was a very um sacred and important, you know, role that all of you took and I and I appreciate the sensitivity and the way that you approached it and the way that you because it's not always easy dealing with people who are dealing with grief. You know, it's a very difficult process.
Everyone processes grief differently and some people process grief with anger and you know, I understand that it was a difficult process to go through. But I think that with the way that you took all of that and and and have put it together and and you know I have to also thank the city employees who you know
who have been a part of this since day one who I'm I've been so proud of. Many left their desks to assist the families and worked at Camping World and this has just been a city process and and you know actually from the beginning. So I just want to say thank you to everyone
who's been in you know a part of it. Um, I really appreciate the fact that you dealt with the breach wall in a very sensitive way. It will still be there, but it won't be a macob tourist attraction. That's what the concern was, that, you know, that it would be, you
know, a weird, you know, people died here. How are we going to handle that? I think you dealt with that in a very sensitive way. And, uh, the only And I love the olive tree. Wow. That's just a really beautiful touch. Um, I just had a question about the portraits. I just wanted to make sure, Heather, they were
all finished because I was part of that process and we didn't finish them all. So, are they now finished? >> They are not, according to Flynn, they are not finished because they were intentionally not finished by some of the families and so they've been left in that condition. So, some are finished and some are not by the >> As long as they're okay with that
because I know I did one for a family who asked me to paint it. But if but if that as long as they're okay with the process. Again, I just want to make sure that if we're going to do the exhibit that we we did it in a sensitive fashion. So, thank you for that. And um the the run was was lovely and I I love
how it brings everyone together. And you know, it's always touching is to see the handlettered signs by children along the route because and that's what happened when that happened. I mean, when those streets were closed for almost a month, you know, and and the neighbors were very much inconvenienced, they embraced
this and their children put out handlettered signs about love, which was really very very inspirational. So, again, I just want to thank everyone and and and mayor, you know, I mean, I'm glad that we got out of it. Let the family, you know, the politicians didn't need to do this. It needed to be a community thing. And I think it really
shows that this was done in a way that really honors the families and and and and uh and involve them. So, thank you, >> Commissioner Burns. >> All right. Thank you, Mayor. Uh and thank you, Heather, and to the team. I'd just like to say that I appreciate the
the um the care and the intention and the trauma trauma-informed approach that you all took to uh designing this memorial. My my questions are more from a um operational standpoint. Uh and so I have three I'll just
>> drop. So one is the operational control and oversight. Who will have the operational control and oversight? Uh but also the ongoing cost of the operations. Have we you know looked at that and then determine where that that comes from? And then the last one is
just um the availability of of of of the uh of this memorial. Will it you know can it be rented out for birthdays and things like that and can it be activated or will it just be um will those
activities be be allowed and then who will make those decisions of what types of events would be appropriate? >> So some of the most of the operational things we're still working through at a high level. Um, we are making sure that the decisions we make in the design are
low maintenance and so that there's we're having minimal cost for ongoing operations. It's envisioned that it'll be, you know, maybe part-time or minimally staffed. I think when the building o or when the memorial opens, it'll need additional staffing and then probably pair down over time. So, some
of those we're still finalizing. You know, we're kind of building the memorial as we go. So, um, we're kind of finalizing some of those. As far as events, the idea is not to rent it out to the general public for types of events. However, that family gathering area that's on the side was created
because families do have events there. So, we know one family, they like to put up a Christmas tree every year for their angel. We know some like to come for birthday parties. So, they'll be able to use that family gathering space for those types of activities. Um, and then we can follow up with you as we continue
um working through all the operational elements. FJ is kind of leading that effort more. um on the operational side and we'll but we'll keep you updated on all of those. But the idea is that this will be more passive and hopefully to keep operations um minimal.
>> Yeah. And I think we we also have to cuz I I I imagine based on these renderings that it will be a beautiful memorial and I'm thinking 10, 15, 20 years down the line we want it to be as beautiful as it is on day one. There's a lot of discussion that we have related to
materials that are used, types of trees so that how they, you know, the leaves fall off of them and the concern around some of those. And so we've spent a lot of time working through some of those details. I should also say as far as the memorial being opened, it's envisioned that the outside space will be
accessible 247 because we know I mean a lot of people go there at night given that the shooting happens late at night. The visitor pavilion will have hours, you know, more 9 to5, something like that where it will be closed in the evening, but the memorial will be open. >> And and for as far as security, uh,
because I think that should be a a a big piece in >> ensuring that that asset is protected and individuals who will attend there are protected. >> Yes. And we've had OPD involved throughout looking at SEPTED design principles and those kinds of things as well. So,
>> thank you very much. Great job, team. Okay, thank you very much. Great job. >> You guys want to >> now we'll move on to some really fun stuff. Uh [laughter] >> oh, Commissioner Ortiz. Uh hold on team. One sec. Heather,
>> I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you guys. I just had a quick question about parking. >> Nobody has talked about parking, >> but do we have access, you know, accessibility for this? So, um the parking off of Kaye where you saw the um visitor pavilion is
anticipated to be the um handicap accessible parking with additional spaces than required given that we know several you know survivors were injured and have those types of injuries. Correct me if I'm wrong, Doug, and those actually no planning things. And then um
we envision using Esther Street for parking for the as today for the remainder of that. So, >> okay. Thank you. So, uh we had scheduled this [music]
>> [music] >> Heat. Hey, heat. Hey, heat. >> [music] Part: 2
somebody. He Heat. Heat. Are you Heat. Heat. Heat. Hey, Heat. Hey, I want you.
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hey. I Hey, hey, Hey hey. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. Good afternoon and welcome to the June 8th, 2026 meeting of the Orlando City Council. We're going to get begin
today's proceedings with the invocation of the pledge of allegiance led today by Commissioner Tony Ortiz. >> Thank you, Mayor. Let us bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you with grateful hearts, thankful for the
opportunity to gather here today in service to our community. Thank you for the many blessings you have bestowed upon our city and for the people who make Orlando a place of hope, opportunity, and strength. Lord, we ask you, we ask for your guidance as we
carry out the work before us. Grant us wisdom in our decisions, discernment in our discussions, and the humility to place the needs of others above our own. Help us to lead with integrity, compassion, and a servant's heart. We pray for our residents, our families,
and our neighborhoods. Watch over those facing hardship. Bring comfort to those in need and strengthen those who dedicate themselves each day to serving others. Lord, remind us that leadership is a calling to serve. Give us humility and success, perseverance in challenge,
and integrity in all that we do. May our actions reflect a commitment to improve the lives of all of those who represent and strengthening the community we are privileged to serve. as we begin this meeting, unite us in purpose and guide our efforts towards building a brighter future for
our city and all who call it home. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. >> Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the stands one nation under God, indivisible
with liberty and justice for all >> Stewart Stewart used to do that. >> Okay, let's call the meeting to order. Madam clerk, would you call the role and make a termination of a quorum, please? Yes, mayor. Commissioner Keane. >> Commissioner Ortiz
>> here. >> Commissioner Japen >> Commissioner Shehan >> here. >> Commissioner Rose >> here. >> Commissioner Burns >> present. >> Mayor Dyer >> here. >> Mayor, you have a quorum with all members present.
>> Thank you, Madam Clerk. First ordered business is consideration of minutes from the May 11th city council and agenda review meetings. Second >> motion by Commissioner Sheen and second by Commissioner Rose. All in favor indicate so by saying I. I. Those
opposed. And so the motion carries. Okay. We don't have any awards presentations today. So we will go right into the mayor's update. And it is hard to believe but Friday will mark 10 years since the tragedy. And we all recognize
that this week is a difficult one for so many people that live here in Orlando as well as beyond. And I invite the community to our annual remembrance ceremony at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at the First United Methodist Church in downtown. And together we'll continue to
offer love and hope to the families of the 49, their survivors, and all those who are impacted. Um, we are also um in the process of creating a permanent memorial at the Pulse site. We had an update on the memorial this morning. I
want to thank Commissioner Sheen and the entire city council for their support and also recognize the work of our city staff and partners to ensure that those impacted in our entire community have a place to remember and reflect. also
remain incredibly proud that Orlando remains a welcoming city for all. June is Pride Month and our community once again reaffirms our commitment to valuing and respecting the LGBTQ plus community and every person here.
It's also um June the 19th is a holiday for our city of Orlando employees. Junth marks the end of slavery in the United States in 1865 and commemorating Junth allows us to celebrate civil rights
progress and also recognize the injustices that black Americans have endured. As part of that commemoration, commissioners Burns, Rose, and the city council are inviting the community to a resource fair on Saturday, June 20th at 11:00 a.m. at Grand Avenue Neighborhood
Community Center. Okay, I have just a couple items of note on the um agenda today. I want to congratulate Sonia Carnival for her appointment as the new director of housing and community development. Sonia, where are you? Here
you are. Since joining the city team in 2016, she's played a key role in leading our efforts to ensure that every rep resident, regardless of economic status, has access to safe, affordable housing. Sonia is succeeding Orin Henry, who is retiring after 13 years of service.
We're grateful for his commitment to creating and preserving affordable housing throughout our city. Items B2, B8, 4B, and 13E relate to advancing our downtown action plan. That includes two-waying streets,
increasing park space, and making downtown a more vibrant, walkable, and welcoming place for everyone. We have been making significant investments in our downtown. Everything from Creative Village to North Quarter, the Thornton Park, and we're seeing the private
sector follow suit. Unfortunately, in the case of our downtown historic district, which is at the heart of our city, it is not the case. And I think we can all remember when Church Street was a major entertainment district. Uh, in
fact, at one time, it was the fourth most visited destination in the state, but since this once active area has become evidenced by visible blight, long-term vacancies, and shuttered storefronts. So today we have two items
that are going to help as a catalyst to transform Church Street into a viable active space. Again, um one is a uh action to create a flexible festival street for events and outdoor dining. The other is
a temporary 36-month modification to the review and approval process for projects in our downtown historic district. Last item I would like to mention, I think everybody knows the Hoods Up location in Thornton Park or I'm sorry in in the
Milk District. Um on the other side of Thornton Park in the Milton district, uh the Usler Development Company has made plans to transform it into a new restaurant in partnership with the Good Salt Restaurant Group with Jason and Sue
Chin. So that's a great adaptive reuse. I was wondering what was going to happen there and that's another great partnership. Good luck with that, Craig. All right, with that we will move on to the consent agenda which is a number of items act upon through a single vote of council. We give each of our council
members an opportunity to comment on the consent agenda and important happenings from their district. We rotate the order that we do that and first up today is Commissioner Ortiz. >> Thank you, Mayor. Please excuse my voice. Today is a little raspy. Mr. But on May 13th, I attend a riven
cutting ceremony with Mayor Dyer and community and commissioner Beccari Burns for Town Oaks Flats, new place on Commissioner um Burns uh district, a beautiful place and and what is most exciting is about the the people are
coming in. It's affordable. We're seeing a lot more of that in our city. We're really trying to catch up to the people that are moving to the Central Florida region. And for those who have any doubts out there, please let me remind you that we are victims of our own success, by the by the grace of God, I
think we've been doing pretty good with our community and that attracts a lot of people. So therefore, we have to build a lot pretty fast. Sometimes it's not not as fast as we as we can, but u uh it's a beautiful and and very uh welcoming building for people affordable housing.
So congratulations, Commissioner. Beautiful structure there. On May 15th, I had the pleasure of attending the UCF Global Community English Program graduation celebration. Another great asset we have in our community. A lot of people moving to our central Florida region and they do not speak the
language. It could be languages from different countries, not only Spanish, but you know, u Haitian, u French, Russian, whatever. And UCF has this great program where they're teaching people. There's a lot of professionals coming from other countries and they find themselves here having to take on
jobs that are not exactly of their professions while they study, what they practice in their countries. They come here and uh UCF Global is helping them catch up uh in terms of being able to speak the language and practice their professions here. So that's a great asset to our community especially
there's so many needs are there that we need to attend to. So congratulations to UCF Global and Miss uh Jennifer Hadad and all her team over there. On June 20th, I joined community leaders, healthc care professionals, and residents for the Reb cutting celebration of Orlando family
physicians. For more than 20 years, the organization has provided personalized health care services to the Central Florida, serving more than 100,000 patients. Um, this milestone reflects his continued commitment to improving health outcomes and delivering quality care to family throughout our region. On
the 27th of May, I attended Days to Shine session of Estifan Kitchen Orlando. Yes. When you think of Estifan, yes, it's uh the lady from uh Miami Sound Machine, her husband. She has this place. It's called Estifan Kitchen Orlando. and they had this great event
over there that empowers Hispanic women across Central Florida through mentorship, professional development, and meaningful connections. The evening brought together community leaders, entrepreneurs, and change makers committed to creating opportunities and uplifting others. It was also an honor
to meet Amelio Stefen, whose leadership and contributions continue to inspire generations. Thank you to Evelyn Betton Court, Shiny Magazine, and everyone who helped uh make this impactful event possible. May 26, we concluded the final session of the Government Academy. This
year's government academy, bringing to a close 12 weeks of learning, engagement, and civic education for participating residents, especially in this day and age where there's so much confusion about government. I want to thank all of the instructors, city staff, and department leaders who share their time
and expertise throughout the program, helping residents gain a deeper understanding of the many services and functions of local government. When you take this academy at no cost to you, you graduate with two continued education credits from UCF. So you guys
are welcome to take it. Okay? Is 12 weeks. We do it in Spanish and English. The next session is going to be in Spanish. It starts in August and the next one in English starts in February next year. So we look forward to celebrating the accomplishments of this year's class. The government academy graduation
June 6 to 4th to the 6, Florida League of Cities Board of Directors and nominating committee meetings. We uh attended the Florida League of Cities Board of Directors nominating committee. Among the key topics discussed were the legislature proposed property tax reform which this morning we had a nice
presentation from Kyle Shepard. Uh we'll be discussing this a little further in your communities. So you guys know the difference and what kind of impacts this is having. And the mayor made a great point in in comparing the impact of uh the increase in in insurance compared to
the increase in sale in property taxes. Actually, property taxes that has been an increase because the the millage has stayed the same here in the central Florida region. But those who are purchasing new homes may have seen a huge impact that we may have to address. But when we compare to the needs that we
have and how the legislature had kind of a put aside uh dealing with the actual issue which is the impact of those insurance companies and the insurance uh fees that we're paying which is what do you said mayor over 100%. >> In my case 150%
>> 150% that's uh that's a big difference and and I think uh we we are falling into the wrong uh notion of what we need to really be addressing here. So, let's discuss that further. And finally, last but not least is the community rainbow
run this past Saturday. Staff, that was fantastic. Uh, I know the Commissioner Chapen was there, Commissioner Shehan, who led the efforts. Thank you. Great job, Commissioner Shihan. It was a lot of fun. Yes, we did ran the whole thing.
And uh, well, we jog and walk and and ran. >> I cannot tell a lie. No, we didn't, Commissioner. I some of us, you know, attempted it. So, uh, but it was fantastic seeing more than anything else is seeing the camaraderie from every walk of life.
People coming together, celebrating, talking, mingling, you know, having a good old day as a family, as a big family, Central Florida region family. That's what this is all about. And being able to enjoy such a great day. It was a beautiful day. Did you Did you ask for that directly to the Lord upstairs?
Okay. So, it was great. So, mayor, with that being said, thank you. That's all I have. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Chapman. >> Thank you, Mayor. Um, since the last uh city council meeting, I had the opportunity to join our solid waste
crews and actually ride on the back of one of our uh garbage trucks throughout Lancaster Park and District 4, Commissioner Sheen. Uh, beautiful neighborhood. It's where I grew up. and um uh their professionalism and hard work. Uh it was hot and it was hard
work. Uh and I did not last an entire shift. Um but uh riding on the back of a dump truck and maybe throwing out the first pitch at a little league game are like top five for me. So I'm already, you know, two of my top five. Uh I had the opportunity to attend a celebration
for Bill Jennings who's a College Park resident has served for uh the last 15 years as a crossing guard for Princeton Elementary. And Bill has also been deeply involved in the College Park Neighborhood Association. Had the opportunity to attend the 2026 Ivanho
Main Street State of the Village uh in District 3. And it was inspiring to hear about the investment and growth happening in the district. had a lot of businesses there, a lot of board members there, and some members of the public. We've got a lot going on uh in that Main Street district. Uh so that was an
important meeting. Uh had the opportunity to attend a ribbon cutting for Key Foods in Rosemont, a muchneeded and greatly valued addition to that community. Um, this weekend we celebrated the 25th anniversary of
Baldwin Park as a cherished part of District 3 and I was proud to present a proclamation during the anniversary festivities on behalf of Mayor Dyer and myself and the commission. Um, also just this what's today? Monday.
What is today? Yeah, last week uh had the uh attended the Orange County state of the county address on Friday and it was uh a great delivery and a final address by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings on uh hearing about the progress
and initiatives under underway and lots of partnership between the county and the city. Um uh proud that the city and the county partner well together on so many important endeavors. And I'd also like to express my uh uh uh continued
prayers for Mayor Demings on his recent uh health diagnosis which he claims he has caught early and is treatable. Um over the weekend uh it is true. Um my wife and daughter and I participated in the community rainbow run. It was a
fantastic event. It was fantastic weather. Uh city staff did an amazing job. Volunteers did an amazing job. Uh, Commissioner Ortiz, you said it was inspiring to see families, first responders, residents, and everyone cheering us along the way. I thought I was doing pretty good and then three
police officers ran by me with all their vests and gear on. Um, so I I I you know, I realized there were a lot of people passing me, but uh made it all the way through and I know we stand united as a city and look forward to honoring the 49 angels whose lives we
will remember always. Uh today's agenda item 3E4 on the consent is an installation agreement for a new mural at Gas and Edwards Park within the Ivanho Village Main Street District. I'm thrilled to see this cultural addition coming to the village. And as a reminder, mayor, from uh
consent agenda review, I will be voting no on 3D1 variance uh 10007. >> All right. Thank you, Commissioner Sheen. >> Thank you, Mayor and Council. Well, this uh this week marks 10 years since the Pulse massacre. It is something this
community will never forget. As a proud member of the LGBTQ plus community, this is very personal and it hits home every single year. To the families and survivors, we can't take away your pain, but we we will honor you and your loved ones. The memorial will be a beautiful
and lasting tribute to them. This weekend was the Rainbow Run to raise funds for the memorial. It was a day of joy and resilience. I saw many families and survivors there. I want to thank the city of Orlando staff for putting on a beautiful event. Many have supported and
helped since day one. Many of the folks here at city hall went to Camping World to help with immigration status, to help with funeral um you know, arrangements to all kinds of things that you could have never known that would happen on such a large scale, referring them to counseling at the center. And they have
done such an amazing job through this entire 10 years. and thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone on the city of Orlando for everything that you've done since day one. I see your heart and your sincere desire to help others and you inspire me every single day. Um, gay pride is not about special
rights. It's about equal rights. It's about being able to be authentically yourself without fear of losing your job, your housing, and even your life. Celebrate Pride Month. We may be in a We may reside in a state of hate, but we live in a city of love, Orlando United.
Um, I also want to wish Mayor D Demings good health and healing during his health concerns. I was disappointed to hear that he had to to um to suspend his candidacy and uh he's been a wonderful leader. I've known him since he was chief of police. Solid community
advocate and um wonderful person and I don't know why bad things happen to good people, but that's why we have faith. So, we wish him well during his his healing. Um, on the agenda today, I also want to congratulate Sonia Carnival as appointed to the director of housing and community development. And I also want
to thank Orin Henry for his many years of service. And every now and then we'd have a little hair pulling about something, you know, because uh um, you know, because we sometimes we saw things differently, but he did a great job for the city of Orlando. Um, and he will be very missed. So, we're going to miss
you, Orin. But I uh I do I do know that you will enjoy your retirement. you and Lisa will enjoy your retirement. Um, on the agenda today also is the Virginia Forest Karine Drive to Bennett Road project. We're finally getting something done in this area. Commissioner Commissioner Chapen and I share this
project and I'm delighted to see it moving forward. I just hope it happens within my lifetime because I actually live in that area. Um, also the milk district vision plan. I want to thank staff for taking the community input seriously and uh bringing it back to
make sure that we utilize all of the planning stuff and consolidate everything to make sure that we address all the concerns over there in the Milk District main street. And also I'm delighted on uh item 3D 3D2 the historic preservation board the nomination of the
Lancaster Arches at local land as local landmarks. I just hope that we will take these landmarkings seriously and take historic preservation seriously. And that's all I had. Mayor, thank you. >> Thank you, uh, Commissioner Rose.
>> Good afternoon, Mayor, Commissioners, and everyone here today. Um, it's been a busy and productive few weeks in District 5 and across our community. Um, I also echo sending prayers to Mayor Jerry Demings and his family as he goes through his medical procedures.
Um, I want to thank the Salvation Army for their unwavering commitment to our community. Um, for those that don't know, they don't just have a homeless shelter. They also do addiction uh, rehabilitation in our community. And so grateful for their partnership. Uh, kicked off Salvation Army, National
Salvation Army uh, several weeks ago with them. I want to thank Crew Orlando for inviting me to serve as a panelist alongside our future leaders. It was a great opportunity to discuss exciting growth and opportunities happening in our downtown Orlando. For me, it's a
great opportunity to give young people um insight where they may not be they may not have the time to come to a city council meeting or keep up with the municipal planning to hear the questions, concerns, and the vision of where we're going and where we're heading in downtown.
I'm proud to share um the city of Orlando is now eligible to receive swim lesson vouchers through the state of Florida. I want to give a special thank you to the FBR team, um, Anthony Williams, Brenda Scott, Dr. Patricia Rita, and Rodney Williams. Um, when I
first reached out to staff last year and said, "Hey, we should be we have several of our pools that are now classified as uh 365 and so making sure that we can um provide swim lessons. I also sit on the Orange County Water Safety Task Force.
um wanted to expand our opportunities to receive uh to help our zero to four year olds, which has now changed to seven year olds um to get swim lessons here in our community. For those who receive Medicaid um in the community, they get something called a swim voucher. So, I reached out to staff and said, "Hey, we
should get on the list to be able to offer the swim lessons." And due to staff's steadfast work, thank you, um Rodney, um we are now approved to receive swim vouchers from the state of Florida. And this will help and make sure that we increase um zero to zero to
seven year olds and um swim lessons here in our community. Um for those that don't know, Orange County is I want to say third in the state for the most drownings. And so when we start building a lot of our apartment complexes in our communities, they have retention ponds, etc. And so making sure we're increasing
um swimming lessons is really important for me. So thank you Rodney and team. Uh thank you to Grow Incorporated for continuing to engage our community. especially our youth. Uh, Grow is an organization that um promotes trade careers and trade training and they even
offer in scholarships in partnership with Valencia College. Recently, we hosted a youth talking and speaking engagement panel session to kind of talk through and engage with our youth to show them that you could um do non-traditional uh higher education, get
a trade, and you could be making anywhere from 50 to $60,000 starting with, you know, from electrician to plumbing, etc. I want to thank the Orlando Zetas and byg grace mentoring for hosting an annual the annual blueprint to our future event. This engage with our young people. Uh
different speakers come out and talk to the youth from how to build resumeums, ways to dress and carry themselves from a young age so they start making the right decisions from early. I want to congratulate Magnolia Towers community uh right across the street. They have been serving our seniors here in the
community for 60 years. Um, and some of the seniors, if you've never been over, check out and I would say spend some time. Um, for those that don't know, sometimes seniors, their families send them off to a senior living facility and forget all about them. Um, so just stopping into some of the senior facilities around our community means a
lot. I want to welcome and congratulate Ocala Supermarket. It's the newest Caribbean grocery store in our community. Um, it's on 601 North Powers Drive. Together we continue building a stronger, safer, and more connected
Orlando. Now, on to the agenda. Um, congratulations, Sonia. Look forward to continue to work with you. Um, Orin gets to retire for a second time. Um, I want to congratulate the board, the individuals who have been appointed and
reappointed to our city boards, but a special shout out to district 5 resident um Deborah Settles uh for joining the code enforcement board and Oliver von Trap for being reappointed to the nominating board. Um, thank you everyone who steps up and serves on any of our uh
advisory boards or committees here in the city of Orlando to help shape the city, the future of our city. Um, so there's a lot happening in and around um on the agenda. Mercy Drive is part of district 5 and it's one of the communities that is growing. What people
don't realize is with the packing district, Mercy Drive has become um I would say more populated with individuals wanting to be closer to work um closer to the opportunities that are happening. Um I want to thank Corey and public works for continuing to pay
attention to the Orange County portions of Mercy Drive. And so on the agenda, we will be um doing a treatment uh storm water treatment with Lake Lawn. We do not own Lake Lawn. who do not own the park, but we are making sure that our residents have safe streets and we
reduce flooding. So, um, for those that don't know and have not, so on the agenda, I'm glad to move forward with the service authorization to sells USA LLC for design bill services for solo tables of connection project. Um, thank you Mike Hes and the
sustainability team. For those that do not know, and you should visit one of our parks, um the one that I the one that is one that stabilizes the willows. So, we have something called Table of Connections where you can it's solar powered um
stations inside of our parks. And so, it's a partnership with FPR, but it's stations where you can charge your phone, you can use Wi-Fi services for free in our park. Um, it's our commitment to sustainability and uh smart city goals, but it's also opportunity to make sure in the communities everyone has access to
charging as well as Wi-Fi. Um, together we continue investing in the people, infrastructure, and opportunities that make district 5 and the city of Orlando stronger. And that's all I have here. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Burns. >> Uh, thank you, Mayor. And, uh, good afternoon, uh, fellow council members as
well as all in attendance. Uh June is mental health uh men's mental health awareness month and uh unfortunately there's still stigma around men and mental health uh making it more difficult for men and boys to uh seek out the help that that they need. You
know some men may feel still feel that uh they are expected to hide their uh their emotions and man up and just kind of deal with it or suck it up. Uh but we have to as a community as a nation we have to try to change that narrative. So
we can uh encourage men and boys to seek the mental health uh care that they that they need because unfortunately we're seeing a increase in uh suicide amongst men. Uh so again let's work uh together. So uh you know fellow men let's reach
out to our family, friends, colleagues uh and check on them and you know and our women please check on the men in your life and encourage them and uh also let them know that it's okay to seek uh to seek help. Uh we have a few housing updates as Commissioner Ortiz me uh
mentioned uh we had the grant of the ribbon cutting for Towno Oaks apartment in Holden Heights. we're currently uh leasing uh that's affordable housing for community members of all ages also. So if you want to apply you can reach out
to Town Oaks at 4079880827. Uh also we're excited about uh Grand East Village, another affordable uh housing development coming up in District 6. This one is a affordable senior housing development. So, it's uh restricted to for people individuals who
are 62 and above. Uh we're anticipating the movein would be uh sometime in July of 2026. So, if you're interested or know people who are interested, please have them to reach out uh to uh Grand
East Village at uh 833-9586789. And again, I just want to uh applaud Mayor uh Mayor Dyer as well as our entire city commission for our commitment to ensuring that we are getting affordable housing not just in district 5, not just in district 6, but
throughout uh our beautiful city. So, uh thank you for for your leadership, mayor, in that. uh also with uh around community engagement. Uh on the tw uh May 16th, I had the uh opportunity or the pleasure of participating in the
third annual mental health awareness day that's put on by generational mindset. This is a um uh mental health organization led by a young African-American male uh who seeks to provide uh therapy but also educate our
community on uh mental health and mental health awareness and mental health fitness. So continue to uh be glad to support them. Also on May 18th I attended the closing ceremony for the Henkins Park Tennis Camp. And I'd like to say thank you to the Darcy Foundation
for putting this together. It was a free camp uh that was a eightweeks camp uh where all the participants got the skills for uh around tennis, learn the game uh and it was a great time. My daughter actually had a chance to participate and I think we've uh
developed a uh tennis lover in the uh in the family. I also like to say thank you to Axiom Bank for their support of this initiative. uh on May 20th uh had the pleasure of participating in the uh Spectrum News scholarship presentation
uh for Jones High Senior Briana James uh who will be attending uh my alma model Florida&M University uh and she'll be uh studying prefarm pharmacy. She was validictorian of Jones High School in uh 2026 ranked number one out of 350 with a
GPA of 5.25. I didn't know they get it got that far. Uh but I apparently it does. So just just and I think she is the first of her family to uh go to college. So we're very excited for her and what that means
for her future and and her family's future. Also on May 28th, uh along with Commissioner Rose, we uh acknowledged and celebrated the birthday of our Commissioner uh Butler who recently
passed. And Commissioner Butler had a uh a routine of always serving the seniors on her birthday. And so, uh, several of us have gotten together to continue, uh, serving our seniors, um, as we acknowledge and, um, and thankful for
the work of Commissioner Butler. Also, on May 29th, um, I attended the Athletes Connection Foundation scholarship event. This was a scholarship event where we are uh, acknowledging uh, seniors. I think there was over 20 some odd scholarships that were uh, that were
given out. My office actually sponsored one of the scholarships. So we'll continue to uh to support those endeavors. Uh also on May 30th, I hosted my uh second annual uh for student success scholarship brunch. This is an
opportunity where uh I award scholarships to seniors uh who either live in district 6 or attend school in district 6. So we had 17 scholarship recipients. So, we're uh excited to continue to support them because, you know, we know that going to school is
not just about the tuition or the books. There are also uh additional uh costs that are not actually uh sometimes thought about. So, we're uh excited to be able to give um one 17 $1,000 scholarships to seniors in District 6. A
few upcoming events. Uh, Central Florida Mobile Diaper Distribution will happen Tuesday, June 9th at the Grand Avenue Center starting at 9:00 a.m. Families can receive diapers, hygiene items, and community resources while supplies last.
Um, also, uh, on June 17th, we'll be having our district-wide, uh, district 6 districtwide town hall, uh, meeting, which will be sponsored by OU, the reliable one. This will happen June 17th
uh, at 6:30 at the Dr. James R. Smith Center. So, we encourage residents and, uh, of District 6 and, you know, throughout the city to come attend. We'll have representatives from a lot of our departments sharing information, asking uh answering questions. Again,
all in a um in an effort to ensure that we are educating our our residents because oftentimes what I found as uh this being my sixth year as a commissioner is that there are a lot of resources that the city has. The key is connecting those resources with our
residents. So, we're we're uh being intentional about that and a lot of that will happen at this District 6 town hall. Uh also was mentioned uh excited for the uh Junth celebration happening Saturday, June 20th at Grand Avenue uh
neighborhood center. Mayor on the agenda, I also would like to say congratulations to uh Sonia Carnival. Uh I've had the pleasure of uh working with Sonia prior to me joining the uh the city commission uh through my work with the healthcare center for the homeless
and she's been very instrumental in some of our development. So thank you for that. But I do look forward to working with you in this new capacity. I know you're going to do uh do a great job and also like to say thank you to Orin for his time uh for his service. He did a lot spent 13 years and did a lot of good
work here and we thank him for all that he's done. Also, uh, as Commissioner Rose mentioned, I just like to acknowledge 3A2, the citizen citizens advisory appointments and say thank you to all of those who are being appointed or reappointed. We cannot operate our
uh, great city without these types of volunteer boards. So, please, if you haven't looked into joining the board, look into doing. I first served at on the municipal planning board before becoming a uh, a commissioner. So, you learn a lot, but also it's an opportunity for you to serve uh our
great city. Also, I'd like to uh 3E1 funding agreement with 4C support that funding agreement as well as 3E2 and 3E3 funding agreement with the Orange County School Readiness Coalition, one for their baby institute program as well as
their early care and learning program. Then the last but not least, um, uh, under the ordinance for first read, I'd like to express my support for the renaming of Alexander Place to George Stewart Place. Uh, Commissioner Stewart,
uh, outlined earlier many of the accomplishments of his father and the great impact that his father had on our great city. uh and the late Ron Rogers told me uh probably about 10 or 12 years ago that uh George Stewart Senior was the first businessman in Orland in the
Orlando area to hire a black salesman. Uh and I thought that was uh I thought that was important because that was almost unheard of during that time. And so I just enjoyed hearing uh Commissioner Stewart talk about all that his father has done. So again, I am um
glad to support uh the renaming of Alexander Place to George Stewart uh place. And that's all I have. Mayor, thank you. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Keane. >> Thank you, Mayor. Good afternoon, everyone. Uh to start out, I want to thank everyone who helped uh me helped
me make my inaugural Springfest a tremendous success this past weekend. I know we had a lot of things going on this weekend. Uh this event brought together our community, showcased over 80 local businesses. I'm grateful to the many uh city departments and staff that joined me on a Saturday to make that possible, including, and I'm just going
to read them out, office of local assistance, office of sustainability and resilience, code enforcement, Orlando wetlands was out there, transportation department, who, by the way, uh sized and fit 70 children with new bike helmets. Uh public works and solid waste
uh division were also on site. I want to give a special thanks to the Orlando Fire Department local uh 1365 uh who was on site with retirees, new recruit uh cadetses, as well as offduty firefighters manning the grill all day uh in 90 degree weather. And thank you
Chief Teamer for making your team available and equipment out at the site. I also like to thank the OPD color guard and Corporal Glattis Justaniano for kicking off our event with a national anthem and a pristine presentation of the flag. And thank you to Chief Smith
uh for coming out and enjoying the day with us as as well. Uh and also like to give a shout out to my staff for making the Springfest uh run smoothly. It's truly a team effort and your commitment uh helped to create an enjoyable experience for everyone who attended.
Now, one big highlight from last week uh was the great big backpack build out at the convention center. Thankful to continue my partnership with the Gift for Teaching. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of volunteers, we were able to fill thousands of backpacks with school supplies to help students start
the school year coming up here in August and be prepared for success. On the uh consent agenda today, item 3K1, I'm very pleased to be voting on on that today for approval of a cost sharing agreement with CFX for the traffic signal at the intersection of
State Route 417 and Lee Vista Boulevard. A long awaited improvement that will enhance safety and mo and mobility for residents in the area. As one of the fastest growing corridors in Central Florida, this intersection has experienced increasing traffic volumes,
making infrastructure investments like this critical to keeping pace with growth. I look forward to the positive impact it will have on reducing congestion, improving traffic flow for everyone who travels through the corridor. And with that, sir, like to move the approval on the consent agenda.
Motion by Commissioner Keane, second by Commissioner Burns. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. >> Those opposed. And so the motion carries. All right. Without objection, we will recess the city council meeting. We'll convene the CRA meeting. The first
item of business 4A is meeting minutes from May 11th for the CRA. Is there a motion? >> Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Sheen. All in favor indicate so by saying I. I. Those opposed. Motion carries. All right, David, you take the rest of those.
>> Afternoon, mayor, and good afternoon, commissioners. Couple items before you today. Item 4B is an exciting one. Mayor mentioned it in his opening comments, and this is item. >> Is it off? All right, we got me now. >> Perfect. I'll start at the beginning.
Good afternoon. Ju just kidding. Uh, so 4B, uh, from that aspect is an exciting one for downtown and for the CRA. Mayor, you mentioned it in your opening comments. Uh this is the ranking for design services for the DTO 2.0 implementation project. So we are
actively underway implementing the action plan. Uh we started with Magnolia earlier this year. We're already 60% complete with that. Uh and getting positive feedback from both the businesses as well as customers in that corridor that are starting to utilize some of the two-way traffic, some of the
additional parking spaces. Um, but this is for uh kind of the next round of projects that we'll be working on. It'll be the two-way of Orange and Rosland North Quarter District two-waying uh our Magnolia final project, the ultimate vision for Magnolia as well as Church
Street and our Livingston Corner Park. So, uh this authorizes our procurement officer to go ahead and start negotiations uh with the top ranked firm uh and then the subsequent firms after that. The top weight ranked firm was Keley Horn who is here today uh as well. and I'm happy to address any questions.
>> Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Burns. Discussion hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. Those opposed. And so the motion carries. 4 C. >> Okay. Thank you, mayor. 4 C. Uh again,
uh DTO action plan project uh getting ready to move forward. This is the award to Atlantic Civil Corp. uh for the construction of Church Street, our phase one, which is from Garland Avenue all the way to the railroad tracks. Um this is going to deliver our festival street with wider sidewalks uh a festival
landscape so they'll be seamless from sidewalk over to the street. We'll have overhead lighting as well uh creating a great atmosphere uh for more activation into that corridor. Uh the lowest bid came in from Atlantic Civil Corp. Uh and it is just over $4 million. And I am
happy to address any questions. Motion by Commissioner Rose, >> second by Commissioner Burns, Commissioner Sheen, and then Commissioner Ortiz. >> Yeah, I I just want to explain my my no vote. Um I'm just concerned about everything that's happening with this
historic preservation and using Church Street as a justification. And so I'm not supportive of doing things that are going to destroy downtown, you know, and and and and things like that. I mean, I think we should make investments that make sense. And and so I will be voting
no on this today. Commissioner Ortiz. >> Thank you, Mayor. I was just trying to check how many parking spaces we lost from under I4. >> It had under eye originally had about 900 spaces in that context. What are
coming back in the final vision is about 300. >> So, we lose about 600. >> Correct. >> My concern about this is how this has an impact on now the fees that we're having to increase for parking lots because we don't have we're not making enough. we're not generating enough. Therefore,
we have to increase the uh the other parking fees. How how can we supplement without >> Sure. So, that they'll be monitored. Basically, it'll be new parking revenue to that extent. Uh this particular item is not addressing that. This is just Church Street from Garland over to the
tracks. So, it's not the Canopy project area. However, uh that will be new revenue generation that we haven't had since ultimately the Ultimate I4 project was started. Uh it was a dollar an hour uh at that given time, but will be coming back under the city's traditional parking system.
>> We're still losing 600 parking spaces. >> It will be. You can look at it that way, commissioner. You can also look at it as adding 300 more than we have today. Uh in addition to ride share, drop off and pickup area. >> I went downtown talking to some of the businesses and one of their concerns is uh they don't have enough
a lot of customers are not visiting according to them. I'm not there. Um because there's not enough parking spaces adjacent enough for them to be able to >> to draw that clientele. So I was I was just wondering how else can we address this issue?
>> Absolutely. So as part of our DTO 2.0 component when we're going and twoing our streets like I mentioned on Magnolia in many of those areas we're adding parking directly in front of businesses right on the street level. So uh on Magnolia alone in our interim project we're adding about a 100 spaces just to
that corridor. Uh we'll do the same on Orange and Roslin everywhere appropriate. So we're going to be increasing inventory uh of publicly available spaces significantly. >> Right. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Further discussion hearing? None. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I.
>> Those opposed. >> No. >> And so carries. Um okay. 4 D. >> Uh 4D mayor. This is the final item before the CRA today. This is uh budget amendment one for fiscal year 2526. So
earlier this year um um we had the approval to move forward with our bond issuance to go ahead and take on our DTO action plan items. Um this is now taking those uh bond proceeds and putting them into the appropriate projects uh that are associated with that. They're
projects like the Canopy 30 South Orange, our Lakeola Gateway, uh the two-way of Rosland as well as Orange, our North Quarter two-way conversion, the Lakeola master plan, uh as well as Church Street. Uh in addition to that, um there is a $650,000
um shift from our business retention, well going into business retention and recruitment and moving from our CRA real estate fund. And I'm happy to address any questions. questions. Motion >> approval. >> Second. >> Motion by Commissioner Sheen, second by
Commissioner Chapen. Discussion hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. Those opposed. And so the motion carries. Further business? David? >> There is not. Then as the CRA will stand
adjourned and we will convene the OPE board of directors and we have two items to discuss as the board of trustees for the OPEB trust fund. First item um OPEB's investment consultant has
recommended minor adjustments to the asset allocation of the fund and additional investments in private equity, private debt, and the real estate sectors with the hiring of three new managers. This recommendation has been reviewed and approved by both the investment committee and the finance
committee and now is before us for final move approval. Do I have a motion to >> so move? >> Motion by Commissioner Chap, second by Commissioner Sheen. Discussion hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. Those
opposed. And so the motion carries. Second item is approval of the updated OPED investment policy to incorporate the changes that we just voted on and other changes relating to Florida State Law Chapter 112. Once again, this
recommendation has been reviewed and approved by both the investment committee and the finance committee. Is there a motion? >> Motion by Commissioner Chapen. >> Second by Commissioner Burns. Discussion hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I those
opposed and so the motion carries. There is no further business to come before the OPED board of trustees. So we will without objection adjourn that meeting and we will reconvene the city commission meeting. It brings us to
hearings ordinances on first read. Madame Clerk, would you read Ordinance 2026-14? >> 2026-14, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the city's adopted growth management plan to update figure C8 entitled urbanized
disturbed lands to correct a mapping error providing for conflicts, severability, correction of scribers errors, and an effective date. >> Second motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Sheen. We have one request for a public appearance.
Lana Gellzer. I had the map. I wish I had have saw you earlier so you could show it to the people what is getting ready to happen to this um Lana Gellzer 815 Hill Street.
You know, I'm looking at this dense map. I'm looking at what's going on. I'm looking at what you're proposing to do and I'm looking at there's nothing in place to protect those who are there. So
my question to you is what procedures how did you make this mistake first of all mapping wise and then you expanded it more than what it's supposed to be to me when you do real dense
construction and development it causes problems when you don't put sustainable and things in place. So whether y'all realize it or not, I invited you all last Thursday or last to
our pres presentation from the EPA grant that we received and we're studying the air quality and we're looking now at the water quality. See, we're not just saying it. We're collecting the data. And what I'm saying, when you put so
much density in building and you don't put the right things in place, what it does is bring harm to those individuals in the community and the harm is health related. And so I'm not saying no. Yes, I am.
Enough is enough. When you continue to change growth, management, development, whatever you want to call it, it does harm to businesses, homeowners, people who live in the community because you don't track that information. We do now
because we had no alternative but to track it. And the reason why we're tracking it because you're not putting our health and our well-being first. You're putting special interest groups and development. And so
I just have a problem with you. First you made a mistake. Now I'm looking at it and you have nothing in place to make it better for the community. And you say it's about economics development. That's what it falls under. It's just given a
road path for everybody continue to do what they want to do. Increase traffic in these communities. All you're going to do is keep building more roads in these community, which harms our air. It just shows you don't care by your
actions, what you're doing. You could do a better job. If I saw you planting the right type of trees or anything, I would say, "Oh, great. I'll be with you. We've given list of what trees you need to plant in these communities. We've done all kinds of things to make it better.
We have tried our best to give you the best solutions possible to make it where we are working together and not against each other. So, I know you're going to go ahead and do this, but you didn't put things in place to protect the community
when you allow more development in these communities. Thank you. >> I'm gonna go around discussion top you >> hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. >> Those opposed? So the motion carries. Okay. Let's move to hearings ordinances
on second reading uh 12A. Ordinance number 2026-8, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, relating to solid waste management amending chapter 28, article 2 entitled solid waste collection and disposal to revise collection and disposal fees and rates
for residential and commercial premises providing for severability, codification, correction of scrier's errors, and an effective date. >> Motion by Commissioner Sheen. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Burns. All right, we have one request for public appearance. Lana Gellzer.
>> Okay. Solid waste. I was here earlier today when we talked about maybe the proposed property tax and everything. What's going to happen? And we were talking about we might have to increase fees, fees, fees, fees. And
this right here is a rate increase already before budget time coming. And it might be something you had planned to do already, but I recall that we used to have our trash picked up twice a week and then um
recycling once a week. We went down to one week, one day a week to pick up and recycle, but our fees went up. So, you're charging me more for services and now you're getting ready to charge me more for an increase in services. I know
gas prices are high. I know everything is high, but based on what's might happen in November with the vote, I'm concerned. Will I see more fees? If I'm getting beginning to see rate increases already, I'm concerned about can I
afford to live? Well, actually, I can. I'm talking not talking about myself. I'm talking about citizens. Well, we have to make that decision how we're going to be able to afford services in our community. So, right now, budget that we coming through. We're getting
ready to see things and you're proposing to increase our rate and all the way up to 2030, 2026. We gradually see increases. All I'm saying is if you're increasing, I didn't see if you was gonna give me better service or it was
going to reduce my services. All I saw was another rate increase. And I'm very concerned as a taxpayer, as a person who has said over and over again, it took 40 years to pave my road. It might not be related, but the services that I've been
paying for over the years, I've never received. Still today, I don't have sidewalks. You can say I should not have them, but the bottom line is you never came and did a study. And 40 years to pave a road is ridiculous. So I'm beginning to see
increases in services, but I have not received the services I should I paid for over these years. All of these years. It's ridiculous. Thank you. All right, that's all the public comment we have. Discussion
hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I I >> those opposed and so the motion carries. 12B. Madame clerk. Ordinance number 2026-9, an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending
chapter 39 of the city code regarding parking by amending the hours and days of operation for parking, civil penalties for parking violations, delinquent fees, and immobilization device removal and replacement fees, providing legislative findings, and for severability, codification, correction of scrimmage errors, and an effective
date. >> Okay. Do I have a motion? Motion by Commissioner Sheen. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Chapen. We have one request for public input. Michael Verah, going once, going twice.
Okay. Discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the motion. Indicate so by saying I. I. Those opposed. The motion carries. >> Okay. 12 C. Ordinance number 2026-10, an ordinance of the city council of the
city of Orlando, Florida, relating to regulation of sewer use, amending chapter 30 entitled regulation of sewer use and rates to revise wastewater treatment rates and fees providing for severability codification correction of scrier's errors and an effective date.
>> Motion by Commissioner Sheen. >> Second. >> Second by Commissioner Chapen. Have no request for public comment discussion. Hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. >> Those opposed. And so the motion carries. All right. Let's move on to
ordinances on first reading number one or 13A. Ordinance number 2026-11. An ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, annexing to the corporate limits of the city's certain land generally located north of Corin Drive, east of Janice Avenue, south of
Marble Avenue, and west of East Winter Park Road, and comprised of 0.22 acres of land, more or less, providing for severability, correction of Scrivener's errors, and an effective date. >> Move approval. >> Motion by Commissioner Chapen, second by Commissioner Sheen. We have no request
for public input, discussion, hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. >> I. >> Those opposed. And so the motion carries. 13B. Madam clerk. >> Ordinance number 2026-12. An ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the
city's growth management plan, designating certain land generally located north of Corin Drive, east of Janice Avenue, south of Marble Avenue, and west of East Winter Park Road as neighborhood activity center on the city's official land use maps, and designating the property as neighborhood activity center of the city's official
zoning maps. Providing for amendment of the city's official future land use and zoning maps, providing for severability, correction of scrier's errors, permit disclaimer, and an effective date. So move >> motion by Commissioner Chapen, second by Commissioner Sheen. We have no request
for public participation, discussion. Hearing none, all in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. Those opposed. And so the motion carries. 13 C. Ordinance number 2026-13, an ordinance of the city council of the
city of Orlando, Florida, relating to a street name change renaming Alexander Place, which is depicted in reference in the plaque create a village phase 3 according to the plat thereof as recorded in plat book 109, page two of the public records of Orange County, Florida, generally located between North Huey Avenue and Chatham Avenue to George
Stewart Place directing amendments to the official maps of the city of Orlando, Florida, providing for severability, correction of scrier's errors, and an effective date. Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Sheen. I have no request to for public
participation discussion hearing. None. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. Those opposed. And so the motion carries. 13D. Ordinance number 2026-15, an ordinance of the city of Orlando, Florida, amending the land development
regulations for a portion of the Fern Grove 2 Senior Housing Plan Development Zoning District, which is generally located north of West Colonial Drive, east of Mercy Drive, south of WD Judge Drive, and west of Ferguson Drive, and comprised of approximately 9.9 acres of land providing for severability, correction, of Scrivener's errors,
permit disclaimer, and an effective date. Motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Sheen. I have no request for public comment. Discussion here. None. All in favor of the motion indicates so by saying I. I. Those
opposed. Motion carries. Okay. 13E. Ordinance number 2026-18. an ordinance of the city council of the city of Orlando, Florida, relating to the downtown historic preservation overlay district imposing a temporary moratorium for the 36 months on the requirements processing and consideration of certificates of appropriateness prior to
the erection, alteration, restoration or demolition of exempt historic landmarks or structures within the downtown historic preservation overlay district. Adopting findings of fact providing for extension or early termination of the temporary moratorum and procedures. Providing legislative findings and for severability, correction of scrier bar
errors and an effective date. Second >> motion by Commissioner Rose, second by Commissioner Chapen. Let's see. We do have a few requests. Let's uh actually have a presentation first. Okay. We're going to have David Barilla, our director of DDB, and our
city's planning official, Jason Burton, uh give us some background on this ordinance. >> Thank you, mayor. I'm going to put our presentation up here. See if we can get it flop on the screen. We good? All right, there we are. All right, good afternoon
again. Um, thank you, mayor, and good afternoon, commissioners. um wanted to talk to you a little bit about some of uh the exciting investments that are actively in progress in our downtown right now and some of the observations and feedback we receive uh from the
community, our property owners as well of our as as well as our businesses. Um so it as I mentioned it's an exciting time for downtown. Uh we have not had this amount of public activity in downtown I think in any time that I can
remember. Uh it is all guided uh by a number of the components that we talked about today already. Our DTO action plan um which as you know was vision driven. It was researchbased all focused on providing a set of actions of how we can create a downtown that's vibrant, create
a downtown that is competitive and be longstanding in that context for years to come. Uh what that has put us in is in the midst of one of the largest coordinated improvement projects in the history of downtown Orlando. Um you'll
see some of the images on this slide before you and recognize some of the projects that are underway right now. Uh so we have the canopy which is the area just under uh Interstate 4 that connects to Church Street and then goes all the way up uh to the central and Washington
area. Um, you see there the Lake Eyola Gateway uh at the heart of our downtown and will now be the main entrance to our uh Cherish Park, Lake Eyola. Uh, Art Squared there uh in our lower left, which is is a new great spot. Hosted some great magic, watch games just uh uh
just I guess a few weeks ago to to that extent. and a great place for the community to come together and experience not only great local food uh but just time uh with their friends and their loved ones and the immense uh undertaking uh of really reconstructing Lake Eyola uh in and of itself with our
Lake Eyola master plan. In addition to that uh there's a number of other projects that are actively underway with your support uh uh just today. Our two-way of Orange and Rosland uh our festival street which we talked about uh a little bit as well as one North Orange uh which I will share a little bit more
on. uh later. Uh as we have done that in our public sector improvements, we have also seen uh some immense private investment in downtown over the past 15 years. Our downtown has continued to grow uh and we couldn't be prouder of some of the projects that have been
delivered. Uh uh to highlight some of them, you see here uh up in the upper left, that's Truist Plaza, our newest office tower, really right across the street from where we are today. Uh on the right uh that's the society. So, a great new project right across the street from uh the courthouse on Orange
Avenue. Uh then you see Modera Creative Village on the lower left and MAA Robinson on the lower right. Uh in addition to that, our EA Sports headquarters in Creative Village up there on the left, Ridley on Maine on the right, that's just south of us here,
uh uh right by our Lake Lucern area, City Tower uh down in our Southola area, and then the GI building coming in on our Thornton Park uh neighborhood. And then kind of the final slide I wanted to show on projects, even though it is not all of our projects, is this one because
uh uh we have Camden in Thornton Park up there on the left. we have the Julian uh in the upper right that's in our Creative Village area, our Radius apartment tower just which is just north of our our our tremendous Lake Yola. Uh and then in the bottom right are Union
West uh at Creative Village. Um so as you can see uh it's an immense amount of investment that we've had going on over the past 15 years. Uh and if you look at this map, it kind of places it all for us. So, uh, the yellow on this map depicts over 20 different investments,
uh, that have been over $5 million, uh, in the past 15 years. The pink is the public investment that we're making right now that I highlighted with our DTO action plan. And then the green is our DTO historic district. So, as we can see, our public investment uh, is coming
right through the core of our downtown. Uh, you see that big spot on the left with the canopy. You see the two-way of Orange and Roslin as well as Magnolia which I highlighted Church Street uh uh which will be getting started here in the coming weeks and then the Lake Eyola Park and then you start to notice how
the yellow areas that private investment has really kind of looked to enhance the core all around. We see everything going up from the northern side uh on the left which is where Creative Village is. You can kind of uh place yourself with the lake dot. Um you move south throughout Paramore and you see a number of other
components. Uh then when you look to the right, you can kind of place yourself with Lake Eola and you see things really starting up uh even in our north quarter area moving all the way down Orange Avenue and even in our South Eyola area. Uh but when you look into the core into that historic district that we have, the
green area, um you'll notice that there is not any yellow in that area. Uh because we have not seen the private investment been able to move in to the core uh of our downtown u to this point. Uh so we started uh and are always listening to constituents and our
businesses as well as uh the number of different stakeholders that we have. Um and when we talk to the community uh we hear a lot of the great things that really align well with the DTO action plan. We hear they want downtown and its core uh to be to have more investment. I
hear that we hear that they want it to have more activity. We hear that they want it uh to be more vibrant than it is today. Uh um the building that you see here on the right is on Church Street. Uh you may recognize it. Uh it's just next to our 55 West building um that is
there. Um but we can see the context that that has happened in a lot of our areas of downtown. And when we bring the communities desired to a lot of our property owners and our business owners to try and help um get them to a place where they can help uh activate the
corridor and create that vibrancy and create that activity uh that everyone desires. um we hear what has potentially uh uh been some of the barriers that they haven't been able to deliver just yet. Um one of those components is what we're considering today. It really
enhance uh locks itself around the unpredictability of what they would be able to do uh in these various buildings. Uh and as much as we want to preserve them to the best extent possible, they are best preserved when they are active, when they are vibrant
and when they are being utilized. Um so over the past decade in our downtown core uh um we've seen that the number of residential units though it has uh nearly doubled in our downtown uh in our core it has been unchanged. We've also seen some office space been shifting
there which has uh decreased a bit and we are actively looking to be able to enhance that. Uh we are now investing with your approval over $220 million uh in this area and we wanted to make sure we took on everything that we could do, all of the public space for
the most part uh that is within our control. We wanted to make sure we made those right investments. Uh but the the return on investment to that extent, the bang for the buck so to speak is when the private sector can come along with us uh and then start to improve the things that we don't control. Uh so some
of those projects that we're actively working on that again are in the historic district are before you on this slide. Uh we're in design right now in that upper left park there which is in the core of our historic district right at Pine uh in Orange bringing a great respit area to the core of our downtown. Uh you see up on the right that is kind
of the the concept drawing for what our Orange Avenue and Rosland Avenue uh will be. Commissioner Ortiz you see the on street parking there on both sides of the street uh in that context that you mentioned before. Uh in the lower left uh that is uh Church Street uh which we will uh be breaking ground on here in
just the coming weeks with wider sidewalks. You see that overhead lighting, the seamless transition between the roadway as well as uh um um the the pedestrian and vehicular areas. And then the project on the right uh which is one north orange which I really think is a testament uh to what we are
discussing today. This is a historic building. I think it's in the historic district. Um, and it has sat vacant and unutilized and deteriorating for approximately 20 years. Uh, um, the county was the last real owner of it. The the the two owners after Orange County uh, from that perspective were
developers that tried to activate that building. They tried to redevelop that building. It was unsuccessful. Um, the CRA with your approval u uh was able luckily to step in and purchase it. Uh, and later this month we'll be releasing that to the open market. uh obviously with the right structures behind it to
deliver a great adaptive reuse that will preserve that historic building and reintroduce it to downtown. Uh the challenge is we don't have the ability to do that with every building in our core. Uh we really need to make sure that as we uh take on what we can do uh
and want to come along the private sector to activate buildings that they can come alongside us as well uh and make the investments that we need to really achieve that vibrancy uh as well as achieve uh the level of activity and atmosphere uh that goes beyond us just uh as I call it setting the table and
improving uh the public space in downtown. Uh so now I'll turn it over to Jason Burton, the city's planning director, to talk about some of the mechanisms uh on the proposal. >> Good afternoon, commissioners and Mr. Mayor. So I'd like Mr. Ortiz,
Commissioner Ortiz have a little bit of a raspy voice, so we'll get through this together. Just to let you know, I want to go a little bit over the processes that are being proposed for this particular item and giving a little bit of additional context about the growth management plan
and and what the proposal is before you today. Just to let you know, Orlando, of course, is the central city within the central Florida region. We're expected to grow tremendously until 2050. And I think since I've been here working for the city, we've grown over 100,000
people. Um, our strategy in our growth management plan is to encourage urban infill development and redevelopment within mixeduse activity centers of which downtown really is the center and most dense of all the activity centers
that we have in the city. In fact, it might be twice as dense as any of the development rides that we have in any other activity center with the city. As such, what we wanted to do is we really want to encourage mixeduse development in that context so that you can
accommodate the anticip growth that we really need to do to make our city successful and that establishes the protection of our surrounding neighborhood districts which are protected when we choose to do urban infill and walkable activity centers. So
urban infill is also the most efficient pattern because you don't have to rebuild roads and you can enhance existing infrastructure as well in order to make sure that people can live at the center and actually have the the choice of not having to use an automobile or be
able to get around by having an active downtown. Um this is a a map showing our actual downtown activity center. And as you know we have the highest concentration our byite intensities and densities
within the downtown are 200 units per acre and 4.0 FR. With bonuses you can go up to 9.0 F and 400 drilling units to the acre. you need to get that um those development rights in order to realize
those development rights. A lot of our our downtown doesn't meet those requirements of either the buy right density or densities with actual development bonuses associated with it. We have a different future land use policies that support our compact urban
form encouraging redevelopment and making sure that we are able to redevelop blighted areas. And we want to also encourage a concentrated urban form in order to accommodate this projected resident population that would be increasing all the way to 2050. We also
want to strengthen and diversify our local economy and expand our local tax base and stimulate job creation. Just to let you know, this is slide just shows a little bit of the different types of uses that are associated with the downtown historic district as it
sits today. commercial development is approximately around 2.0 F with the one and two and sometimes threetory buildings that are within the the downtown historic district. it's at 50% of the byite intensity whereas density
which is usually uh an aspect of how much residential um development you have in a particular area we're at 15% and was supported only by the recent improvements for the salera and the 55 west um also inside of that particular
district you have a significant amount of vacant commercial buildings a significant amount of bars and nightclubs as you can see nearly 20% % of of the area is actually um done with um nightclubs and bars. We do have
government and private offices as well as well as offices which are shrinking actually in this particular historic district too. >> Um of note here, Orlando has six different historic districts. um or
downtown Orlando is the one in red that you see that has the downtown historic district and the periphery of our downtown is lined by wonderful historic districts. Now, when you go to the historic preservation office and you're trying to
improve a property, you're required to get what's called a certificate of appropriateness from either historic preservation board for a major review or for a minor review from the historic preservation officer themselves. Now those historic districts that are surrounding the downtown is they are
flourishing with redevelopment either with infill of vacant properties, expansions of contributing structures or remodeling of the interiors of the buildings themselves or adding accessory dwelling units and whatnot like that. We're primarily looking at the the
concentrated commercial downtown historic district. Another thing that I would mention is that it's really unique that there are really no similar midsize cities within the United States that has a historic district that is essentially
at the main and main of of your downtown, your central business district. There are some exceptions to that. Um, for example, Savannah, which is not quite a similar type of city, has a humongous historic district that incorporates all the downtown and the
surrounding neighborhoods with thousands and thousands of buildings. But if you look at our our similar types of cities, whether it's Fort Lauderdale, St. Petersburg, um, Charlotte, Nashville, Austin, none of them will have a historic district at
the exact center of the downtown. One thing about the historic preservation process is it reviews all the exterior changes to structures within the historic districts. And like I said, a certificate of appropriateness is required by the historic preservation
offices. They utilize the national standards for the secretary of the interior for historic preservation. And as I mentioned, major reviews typically include things like new buildings, additions, demolitions, and also recently, I think in the last few years,
we've only seen major modifications for remodeling the facades of buildings that have gone before the historic preservation board. But what happens is that projects that are proposed to do major expansions of buildings don't make
it past the pre-application stage with our historic preservation office because they don't really meet the interior standards and don't have any support by staff. Minor review projects are signs, windows, re- roofs, and other projects that do not have an impact on the overall building itself, but are
additions, if you will, to those buildings that are are minor in nature. Um, so what's proposed here is an alternative review process to pause on the need for a certificate of appropriateness from the historic preservation office. As as a result,
those projects will be reviewed by the appearance review board and they'll have the responsibility for looking at those projects for a period of 36 months. They utilize different standards than those national historic preservation standards. They use the downtown design
guidelines which are based on good urban design principles but not the more restrictive historic preservation standards that are national standards and a much more discretionary if you will. Um of note um permits for the
demolition of buildings still will require staff level historic preservation review and approval of demolition cannot occur until a new replacement project is proposed for a particular site. And you might ask, well, what happens during that particular review? Well, there's really three things that happen during that
review. Number one is if there are any other types of um historic fabric that are incorporate into new project that whatever agreements that the city has done that that historic fabric has been appropriately incorporated into any type
of a replacement project or if a project is demolished or a potential building is demolished that it's adequately documented and photographed. And third, it's a final check to make sure that the proper permits are in place to ensure that a building doesn't come down
without a replacement project. Now, the appearance review board, like I mentioned, they're used to doing all the different projects outside of the central commercial district, um, the central historic preservation commercial
district in the downtown. So, they they obviously a lot of those buildings that Mr. Verilla showed you they've been the ones that have reviewed those particular ones and they're based on the downtown design guidelines and as I mentioned they don't use the secretary of interior
standards for historic preservation and they do similar types of major and minor reviews. Of note, I wanted to mention this that there are nine locally designated historic landmarks within the downtown historic district and there's also one
building that is a national register um historic landmark, the Tinker Building. But one of the reasons why the historic preservation district, the central district was made in 1980 is there was a high concentration of historic landmarks
in this particular um district. In fact, there's seven of these particular buildings that are on Church Street themselves. And an example of one would be like the Crest building. These were all done with separate ordinances to that 1980 um designation of the downtown historic
district and they're subject to separate ordinances. As a result, the the proposed ordinance before you today has an opt-in procedure where they must inform the planning official in order to take advantage of the ordinance before you today.
And just to note, this is the downtown historic district. To zoom in on it a little bit more, it goes from the Dollof building where the Anthem nightclub is and the the old historic courthouse. goes through Orange Avenue, Magnolia Avenue, down to Church Street, and even
a portion of the former um well the the former Amry Center, the I forget what it's called, the Kia Center these days. There used to be a contributing structure that was on that site that was demolished to make way for it. And that's one of the reasons why um a portion of that historic district is
over at the Kia Center today. But you can see that concentration of seven historic landmarks that are on Church Street themselves, the Crest building, the Hunting Building, Nicholson Kiler Building, the old depot, Bumby Hardware Building where
Hamburger Mary's used to be, Simmons Department Store, Rogers Keane building, Beach and Theater building are off those two last ones are both off of Church Street, the Beach and Theater building up on North Orange Avenue. And of course, the city arts factory is at the
Rogers King building. The first national bank is a former Walgreens. It's on the corner as well. Um, of note, the CRA is looking to create a program to incentivize the renovation and restoration of historic structures, both contributing and
landmarks within the downtown historic district. The idea is that if they incorporate historic fabric into its redevelopment, um, a program will be developed and rebought back to the CR board, which is you, but it needs to go to the CRA
advisory board should we proceed. Um, that if you incorporate some historic fabric into a project, you might be eligible for 50 to 75% property tax refund for a period of 10 years. that that coincides with the the
the expiration of the CRA itself in order to finance that. So some of the criteria would be is it located within this downtown historic district and does it preserve architecturally significant elements of the buildings themselves. It
doesn't restrict them from not expanding though because they could take advantage of of of the the ordinance before you today as part of this proposal. The desired outcomes um is to balance historic preservation with economic
development, encourage the redevelopment of properties significantly that have gone into more vacancy and abandonment over the years. encourage a broad reuse of these properties and hopeful adaptive reuse of these particular properties
themselves. It also allows the property owners to realize the large AC3A zoning which has those development rights that are associated with it at 400 units to the acre and 4.0 200 units the acre and
4.0 F and double that and sometimes even more than double that for the F for development bonuses. And then also it coincides with the investments of over $200 million to see if we can get um an
induced private sector investment in our downtown as the public sector is also investing in our downtown simultaneously. The the idea is to study the effects of the redevelopment on this particular stimulus in the downtown core and
determine whether a permanent change is need necessary or unnecessary after a period of three years to see what the experience is. Um, it could be that we reinstate the historic district, could be that we come up with a different regulation, or it could be that the
historic preservation district could be abandoned potentially in the downtown at the end of that three-year period of time. But it would be up to the council to give direction as to what would happen. And of course, we as staff would track development over that time. And you'll probably be seeing that as part
of the Senate programs that would be come before the CRA board themselves. Um, just to go over the proposed timeline, the next step today is the ordinance in first reading. And I'm sure you'll be hearing from lots of concerned citizens about this proposed because it
is a major change to policy. And of course, the second reading potentially could be depending on your direction would be this um second reading would be on June 22nd. And as I mentioned, those consideration of the incentive program will be going to the July CRA advisory
board and would be brought before you in August as a CRA board or the city council sitting as a CRA board. And with that, um, David and I are both available for questions should you have any. >> Okay. Are there questions for David or Jason? Mr. Sheen.
>> Okay. Um, I'm going to hold my comments till the till the public speaks, but I did have a question about this map that says public and private investments. Um, basically this map says that no redevelopment is happening within the
historic core. Where is 55 West on this map? >> 55 West is on Church Street. So, if I go and zoom into the actual building itself, >> and that's from the last 15 years obviously, >> but That's it. Well, that would that
happened within the historic district. That's what I that's the point I'm trying to make. This map does not indicate developments that have happened within the historic district. That has happened within the historic district because 55 West was in the historic district. >> Yeah. 55 West is partially within the
historic district. So, if you see my cursor, this is the building just left to number three, the Nicholson Coiler building, Yol Antigua building. that's within the historic district and that accounts for the 15% um potential of of residential density
that's allowed in that particular area. >> But what I'm saying is the map does not reflect the fact that there have been developments within the historic district. >> It's 15 years commissioner 55 West was delivered prior to 15 years ago. So this >> this map is misleading because the
historic big district has been for a long time. So basically what you're saying is you're only doing the last 15 years because you don't want to reflect the fact that there was redevelopment within the historic district. >> That's my point. >> Entire development in downtown over the last 15 years.
>> Okay. Concede that in the last 25 years there's been one development >> and is adjacent. All right. >> And the plaza. Correct. >> All right. Now >> okay so um does this reflect any of the substantial renovations like the Anguilt
that's a very successful building they red redid their first floor this doesn't show any of the substantial redevelopment that's happened in the historic bu building >> yeah we're talking about the potential to expand um different properties
certainly and it's not I mean I mean David I mean there there are things that have been obviously remodeled inside of the historic district, but not to the extent that it needs to be to have a a successful >> but but that's my point. I mean, we're not actually showing the investments that have happened within the historic
district. I I my problem is this map is misleading because it makes you think that there has been no redevelopment and and no new projects and no investment within the historic district when that's just not the case.
you in the context of what you're saying, commissioner, uh the projects that you're mentioning are accurate. They have happened. Yes. The context for what was delivered on the map follows what we do something uh with the CRA's major development profile where we track investments uh large investments that
are $5 million or more. Uh so that's the source of this uh to that extent. But those projects, they just didn't meet that criteria for that. >> It doesn't say within the past 15 years. It doesn't it's not it's not clear. It just makes it look like there's been absolutely no redevelopment and no
investment within the historic district and and my contention is that's just not true. So I I'll just leave that there. Thank you, Mayor. >> Okay, any further questions, Commissioner Chapen? >> Um why three years? Why not two? Why not
five? What's the magic number with three? >> This is a temporary moratorum. I know we don't like that word necessarily, but in order to act on a moratorum, it has to be temporary. And 3 years tends to be the upper echelons of being something that's temporary. Um, in order to also
effectuate a development project, it might take you a year to get an actual development team together, get through the actual entitlement and permitting process, and then get to actually start a project. So it wouldn't be fair to do it for let's say a year's worth of time
because that's not a realistic time frame in which to execute a project. So the idea is that and without getting rid of the historic district you could put it aside if you will for a period of time have alternative standards and review that and then review its
effectiveness after three years. >> Thank you >> Commissioner Ortiz and Commissioner Rose. >> Thank you mayor. Thank you for that presentation, Jason. Uh, something I wanted to expand and ask because I met with some of those owners
of those properties and a common complaint was that it was almost impossible to revitalize some of these buildings because it's so expensive to meet the criteria stipul stipulated by the historic national whatever uh system district or whatnot. So for example, I
was even asking about one of the most popular ones that we talk about it is the beach club. And the beach club for a lot of people that don't know when it used to belong to gentleman of the last name of let's see Mr. Wararez back in
the days in the 1980s they were going to demolish that building >> and it was the actual owner now who saved it because he wanted to maintain the historic valley but it's costing him an arm and a leg to maintain that building because it's is it's really
expensive. It's old. So a lot of these investments being proposed is also to revitalize some of the things but there's so many minute and so many particular requirements that it's almost impossible to meet the standards. So uh when I when we talk about this I said what do you think about this particular
mortorium? He said it's Christmas it's Christmas time because we'll be able to do things that we have not been able to do in the past because of this particulars that we have to meet this uh requirements that we have to meet in order to to meet the criteria of the historic. So uh there's a lot of people
are been really waiting for this especially owners of some of these buildings. Um, only thing I would respond is that typically the national standards for historic preservation by the Secretary of Interior are meant for the rehabilitation, restoration of historic buildings and obviously people
that might want to do something different to actualize some of their development rights. you, it puts a little bit of a damper on what they can do because not only is it very discretionary how you interpret it, but let's say if you want to expand a
building, you not don't want to actually see it from the street, if you will. So, it makes it very difficult to expand and realize your your development rights in the middle of a downtown because you'll meet with the staff, they'll say, "Well, if I can see the expansion from across
the street, that's not appropriate to the mass scale materials or whatever have you um of of of a particular project itself." >> Something I've noticed is because I've been inside the uh what is it? American tile bank uh on the corner of uh I think it's Pine and French. Not quite certain
if that's the exact address, but first floor is a bank and then you have second floor, third floor, but to go up is really that building is really narrow. It's really uncomfortable. The stairwells are really narrow. So, so they don't really meet the criteria of today's standards in order for disabled
people uh and for other criterias that we have to deal with in this day and age. And I'm not saying I love the historic part of it because I think it it adds value to our city in so many ways, but at the same time, how do we make it where we can find a a common ground so we can still also uh uh bring
it up to date so so modern, you know, uh technology or modern uh needs, let's put it that way, because wheelchairs now are not the same ones they used to be or whatnot, uh can meet where those buildings can meet the criteria while we press while we meet the standards. of
the National Historic Society or whatnot. So, I think there's there's in many ways we have to take a look and I'm glad that we're looking at this because we have to review all these standards that have been established in the past. >> Um, Commissioner,
>> am I helping you here? >> Perhaps I don't know if there's a question in there, but certainly there's no question. And I'm just >> the the idea is that there would be a balance between both economic development and historic preservation with the addition of the potential incentive program to retain historic fabric and projects that incorporate.
>> No, there's no question. I'm trying to state the the the current needs that we have in order to be able to to make these buildings sustainable, you know, to today's standards while maintaining preserving some value, you know. So,
>> thank you, Commissioner Rose. So, a couple things. As the commissioner who represents the core of downtown, it is uh my responsibility to ensure we can meet the needs of current property owners, stakeholders, as well as futures um who are looking to invest in our
downtown. As you look at the map, there's a lot of private investment happening outside of the historic district. And when you talk to developers and builders who want to come into downtown, there is a lack of um opportunities within the historic
district. So creating the opportunity for us to do economic development and long-term sustainability is important. We've got to redevelop a lot of the buildings. Um, we're a growing evolving downtown and if we want to evolve and
continue to evolve and grow and bring new opportunities into our city, we've got to change with the times and we've got to hear from the people who have the funding to come into our communities. Um, this isn't forever. The policy allows for us to stop at any point when we want to. Am I correct, Jason?
>> Yes. The council at its discretion could um suspend the moratorum, if you will. >> Okay. and and temp and and and and reverse it if you want if you after a year or two there's a provision I think it's section five in the actual
ordinance itself that allows the council to act >> okay and but you know we've got to continue to create um adaptive reuse of the properties that are existing there's a lot of empty buildings a lot of dormant buildings and we are better than that here in the city of Orlando we are
better than that downtown and so we've got to actually hear from the people and continue to serve the people that elected us to do the right thing and that's create opportunities for economic development here in downtown. >> Okay, we have quite a few people who would like to weigh in on this.
So, um for those of you who have not testified before council before, when your name is called and I'll call three or so so that you're aware you're in the queue, come up, state your name and your address and you'll have three minutes to address council. So the first three are
Tim Giuliani, Craig Usler, and Kino Martinez. Don't run, Tim. So, >> I took the long way. I thought Craig would just jump in. >> Um, no. Thank uh thank you, mayor and commissioners. Um, Tim Giuliani, 200
South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida, 3281. I'm here to speak in support of the temporary suspension of the historic planning board review of development in an economically critical area of the central business district. The Orlando Economic Partnership fully supports the
city's efforts to strengthen our downtown and promote economic development and we want to commend you for the important investments you're making that were described earlier um by David. This will have a positive impact on restaurants, retail, and other small
businesses downtown. And the Canopy project will also help downtown to be more welcoming and improve connectivity between east and west downtown. But as we all know, development in the heart of downtown has stalled, and it's hindering our downtown from reaching its full
potential. The downtown historic district is a small area but extremely important to economic development, not just in downtown, but for the entire region. The proposed temporary suspension will help spur development in the central business district and have a
positive impact on corporate recruitment as well as residential housing development. We encourage you to support this important ordinance. We certainly value our partnership with the city and look forward to supporting you as you
take efforts to improve our downtown. Thank you. >> Thank you, Tim. Craig Ller, Kino Martinez, David Martins. >> Good afternoon, Mayor. Uh, commissioners Craig Usler, 800 North Orange Avenue, sweet 200 Orlando 3281.
Um, this is a tough issue, uh, to be honest with you. It's it's not it's you know I'm speaking as an Orlando and as and as a developer. Uh it's two different things. Um I love Orlando. Uh I've spent the past 25 years of my career investing and building projects
only in downtown Orlando because I do it for the betterment of our town of our hometown, my hometown and our city. And I don't take that responsibility lightly. Um I could build anywhere I want to and I choose to build in Orlando. Uh, my two favorite buildings in downtown Orlando are the Crest Building and the First National Bank
building. The Shyone building. My grandfather's building is the first first National Bank building in downtown Lindo. Um, I I respect the historical context of our city. Another one of my favorite buildings is the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center. Uh, brand new building. Uh, great cities have great
old buildings and great new buildings. It's not one or the other. Um, the Historic Preservation Board itself is is kind of a victim of these overly restrictive standards. it is charged to implement if that makes sense. I think the motivations of the people that serve
on that board and that board itself are are noble and important to our city, right? I think historic preservation districts and Lake Yola and Lake Heights and all stuff are wonderful neighborhoods and and make our city better. So, this is a it's just a weird issue where everybody's well-intentioned. I respect everybody's
opinion, but I do think it's it's just we just we got to kind of get a pendulum, you know, a balance here uh between economic development and and historic context. And and I applaud the city for for trying to do something. Um you know, I'm it's heartbreaking
honestly to see the vacancy and underutilization uh of a lot of the properties downtown. I'm trying to every day to do my part to make it better and and I think we can get some momentum here uh through this action and and I really hope that's that's the outcome. I mean it's really just one of those things. It's not a silver bullet. It's
not I mean I I don't want anybody to think this is like oh my god it it just turns on the real estate development business kind of like turning a barge. I mean it's not the easiest thing to kickstart it but this is the right thing to do in my opinion and and we should try it. Uh, and I think it's it's it's a
reasonable and thoughtful approach to trying to make something better and and I want our town and our downtown to be better. So, I' I'd appreciate uh your support. Thanks. >> Thank you, Craig. Kino Martinez, David Martins, Jeffrey Thompson.
>> All right. Good afternoon, mayor, uh, commissioners. Kino Martinez, 215 North EA Drive, Orlando 3281. I'm here in support of ordinance 2026-18, a three-year moratorum on obtaining a
certificate appropriateness from the HPB. That would be a meaningful acceleration tool for downtown redevelopment, but it should be understood as a targeted procedural pause, not a repeal of preservation policy. I want to talk to you about how avoiding
the review could spur downtown Orlando development. First, it reduces entitlement uncertainty. The HPV process creates an additional discretionary layer for adaptive reuse, facade work, additions, and new construction. and the uncertainty affects underwriting.
Removing or pausing that layer for the downtown historic district could shorten timelines and make downtown projects easier to finance. Second, it makes older buildings easier to reuse. Many downtown buildings are not economically obsolete because they lack value. They
are obsolete because the cost, time, and risk of reuse are too high. A temporary pause could encourage owners to renovate vacant or underused buildings, especially if review is redirected through predictable downtown development standards. Third, it can attract earlier
private capital. Capital follows certainty. A three-year window creates urgency. Owners, developers, and tenants know there's a temporary period in which projects may move faster. That could accelerate reinvestment decisions that would otherwise remain parked. Fourth,
it supports restaurant, retail, and office recruitment. Restaurants and retailers need activated streets and improved building stock. Office users need modernized buildings and amenity rich environments. If the moratorium helps bring vacant or underused downtown properties back into
productive use, it can improve the core downtown environment that premium tenants require. And finally, fifth, it can reinforce Orlando's existing downtown development strategy. Orlando is already advancing district scale projects such as create a village west
court and the packing district. A targeted moratorum could complement that strategy by improving the smaller scale building fabric between major projects, filling gaps, activating storefronts, and reducing dead zones. I would just note that the proposal represents a
thoughtful balance between preservation and revitalization. And I think the 36-month time frame um is a measured and responsible approach that allows the city to evaluate results before considering any further changes. Thank you.
>> Thank you. David Martins, Jeffrey Thompson, Tim Hayes. >> Hello, my name is David Martins and I live at 229 East Ameilia Street, Orlando, Florida 3281. I oppose the proposed ador ordinance for
the historic dist downtown district. I would like to share my qualifications because I think to have an opinion I would like to know where it comes from. My wife and I and a few others started the Lake Yola Heights Historic Neighborhood Association about 40 years
ago and I was the president for the past 19 years. In 2022, Mayor Dyer appointed me as the neighborhood champion award winner for that year because of my achievements as a neighborhood leader and the work I
have done to promote our historic neighborhood. I have served on the histo city's historic preservation board for the past two years and count myself as a major advocate for Orlando's history, especially downtown. I am shocked
shocked that this is the first since Wednesday that I have heard about this program. Why hasn't the historic community, the historic preservation board, why have we
not been engaged to be part of the planning of this redevelopment opportunity? Instead, we've been held in the black, out of it. Totally. Commissioner Ortiz brought up the fact, you know, it's vital that we have a
downtown historic district. It's important. Engage us. Bring us together. But we were ignored, passed over. This is not the way to do good government.
Good governments where we work together as a partner. I am willing to work on a board to work together and to come up with a solution. This is not a solution. Do you want to be responsible to see the
Medcaf building tore down, Church Street Station torn down, the Crest building torn down? Do you want to see that happen? Because of your vote today, you could do that because it's going to bypass historic preservation. Why not engage historic preservation
in this plan? Give me a call. Thank you. Jeffrey Thompson, Tim Hayes, Justin Core. >> Good afternoon. My name is Jeff Thompson and I live at 600 East Amelia Street in
the Lake Yale Heights Historic District and I thank you for your time today. I was born in Orlando and grew up in Simol County. I moved to downtown after college because of its sense of history. I love the excitement of what then felt to be very urban and sophisticated. This
is what pre preservation is all about. Connecting with people, making memorable experiences, and creating that sense of place. I bought my first home in Thornton Park and then later moved to Lake Yellow Heights when it became a historic district in 1989 because of the protection and stability
it afforded. It was about this time that I first sat on historic preservation board. I think I may be the longest serving board, historic preservation board member at 18 years in counting. Um, I was appointed by Mayor Frederick, Mayor Hood, and twice by Mayor Dyer. Thank you for that.
I appreciate it. Um, so, um, I'm currently serving as the chair of the board, so I must be doing something right. After 18 years on the board, this is the first time I've ever felt compelled to speak here regarding a preservation issue. At the last HPB
hearing, the board cast a unanimous vote in opposition to this moratorum, but today I'm speaking on my own behalf. I believe the current ordinance functions well. The city has said lately we're a hindrance to development, but I believe we're prodevelopment. And I and remember as an advisory board to city council,
you could override any decision we make. You don't have to base your decisions on the um national standards. You can you can rule in whatever direction you want. What's telling is in the past five years, the Historic Preservation Board
has not turned down any action that's come before this board from that district. HB HPB boards have permitted redevelopment over the years. The entire southside of Church Street Station was redeveloped under HPB review. awnings,
balconies, colonades, covered walkways, even the bridge over Church Street were permitted where previously none had existed. The HPB approved the demolition of the McCroy's Warworth building. All they ask is that the facades be remained or be be incorporated into the tower
beyond. The developer did not agree, so appealed to city council, which overturned the decision, as is their duty if they don't think it's right. This project was not a panacea for downtown, though. The developer went bankrupt. The building was foreclosed on and the theater and many of those retail spaces sit empty. The Orchid Ballroom
was demolished three years ago for a tower and has sat vacant ever since. And as already pointed out, the Kia Center is even in the district. It's hard to for me to accept the argument that HPB does not have flexibility nor permit redevelopment. There are there were bigger problems downtown. the one-way streets, the
incessant cruising down Orange Avenue, the out of control bar culture, uh the weekend street parties where people were shot and killed, and then CO was the final straw. These are the things that have kept people from downtown, not historic preservation. I applaud the city for addressing many of these items,
but they will need time to bear fruit, and new incentives should be provided. All right. Sorry about that. >> Thank you. >> But I I was trying to go out on a high note. >> Okay. Tim Hayes, Justin Core, Diane Martins,
>> Tim Hayes. Oh, there you are. Okay. >> Seats. >> Good afternoon, mayors, commissioners, and staff. My name is Tim Hayes. I live at 7-Eleven East Ridgewood Street in Orlando, Florida, Lake Eola Heights.
I currently serve as the vice president of the Lake Yola Heights Historic Neighborhood Association and I'm here today to ver to urge you to vote no on the proposed moratorum on the downtown historic overlay district in downtown. Cities are judged by what are often
judged by what they build next. But cities are also defined by what they choose to keep. As we celebrate 150 years of the city beautiful, downtown Orlando has grown tremendously and growth is something we should celebrate. But growth and preservation are not
opposing forces. In fact, the most vibrant and desirable cities in America are those that successfully balance both. Historic buildings tell the story of who we are and how we got here. Once they're gone, they're gone forever. I
understand the desire to reduce barriers and encourage investment. But removing historic protections, even via moratorum altogether feels a little bit like solving a leaky roof, by removing the entire house. The historic preservation district is not about preventing
progress in history and has shown that the HPB has not been an obstruction to development. We got the KIA center, 55 West, and even the loved plaza building. Love the theater. Those are all within the district. The HPB is about ensuring
that progress respects the character, identity, and heritage that make downtown Orlando unique. Future generations deserve more than photographs of the places that shaped our city, and they deserve the opportunity to experience them firsthand.
I respectfully ask you to reject the proposal as written that places a moratorum on the downtown district and instead work towards solutions that support that support both responsible development and preservation. Thank you for your time and your service to the community.
>> Thank you Justin Core Diane Martins's Tana Porter >> Council Justin Core 236 South Lucern Circle. Um, I just want to say I agree with Craig wholeheartedly. The uh development and historic preservation can coexist. Um, the residents of of of
downtown are hungry for a revitalized Church Street with certainty. I think we all agree on that. There are properties on Church Street that could be phenomenal by any city's standards and they should remain. They should be reinvested in. The whole reason we have these protections in place is to
encourage reinvestment. However, this ordinance will certainly incentivize owners of these properties to move towards demolition because it is going to uh probably make more sense financially. But there's a playbook. You
let the building deteriorate. You avoid leasing it. You point to that as a reason to knock it down. You request a minor review, which is what will be uh be be the direction of this ordinance. Um, this is not the blight that is
spoken about in this in this ordinance. This is developer induced blight potentially. Um, and we don't want to reward that. We don't want to reward that kind of behavior. Um, we've taken no input from residents on this. I mean, this is a 4-day, 5day, a week ago. I
think this came out at night. Um, this needs to be discussed with the neighborhood and the residents that are going to be ultimately supporting it. um attempting to go behind the back of the resident board, the historic preserv preservation board that was in place specifically for this purpose. We have
citizens on this board um that live in the neighborhood. They're residents you appointed to weigh in on projects that touch our community. This ordinance um routes right around them. The current approach seems to me deceptive,
certainly insincere, uh to the to the point where we've had these DTO studies done by paid consultants that um encourage development north and south of Church Street. That was the findings. And so we're going around our resident boards, we're ignoring the output of the
consultants the city has hired. Um it to me it seems uh seems like we are doing a disservice. Um, furthermore, the city uh are the city planning consultants and the citizen boards all just pawns for show like what are we doing? Bring this
to the citizenry work in tandem with us. Here's my kind of final questions. Who drafted this ordinance and when? How long has this been sitting on someone's desk in plans for this moment? Um, how long has are there plans that are already in place? Have any of you
seen plans that are going to be coming before the board on June 23rd after the second reading of this passes? And I have to believe that those are in place because 36 months for some de developments like this really isn't long enough to start from scratch and get to a point of of of permitting where uh
where you would expect it to be. So, um that's the questions I really want answers to before we see this thing go any further. >> Thank you. Diane Martins, Tanya Porter, Scott Sidler. >> Good afternoon. My name is Diane Martins
and I'm here to uh say that I think it's a really bad idea to have the moratorum. Um, in my opinion, staff has tried to convince the public that investment in the five block core of the downtown business district is being held back by the district of historic buildings.
There's been no transparency of a supposed year-long study that supports the claim other than a map of investments with Miss Sheen brought up and uh $5 million or more on select parcels. There is no map of the smallcale investments.
It's important to note that the comparisons are not apples to apples as the parcels and the historic district generally are smaller. Actions taken by previous downtown development boards have done more to deter business by 1
million streets, limited on street parking, broadening roads, and non-compliance of design code that promotes storefront activity than by historic districtricting. The current model of urban design in Orlando is just another one-way street,
if you would. basically the city telling the public what they want rather than the public telling the city what they want. You only have to look to the success of the main street programs in Orlando which you've all brought up um to see that the model truly works in the
Mill Street. Main Street once vacant buildings along Mills Avenue and Colonial Drive are now teameing with a variety of small business investments in the Ivanho Main Street. Streets have been tapered to reduce speed, increased on street parking, and introduced controlled crosswalks. The Sodto main
street has also reenergized once defunct buildings and improved on street parking. Even once strip centers have been brought back to life, such as ones in Ottabon Park, Main Street, parking is readily available on both of the streets and in rear parking lots in most
districts make it easier for customers. Many of the 11 main street districts are nationally recognized examples of urban rebirth of once depressed areas. The return of the public investment has been a success.
All of this has been done without de demolishing of any buildings. One of the pillars of success in main street program is the reuse of existing buildings to create a sense of place. The economic development department needs to go out to downtown out of
downtown and do a study on what's driving the success of surrounding businesses in the main street districts before caving to the pressure of developers. And thank you for listening to me. Thank you. Tanya Porter, Scott Sidler,
Val Moley, >> Miss Porter, you probably want to pull that mic down. >> Pardon me. >> You You got it. I just wanted you to pull the mic down. Um, I've heard a lot of talk of ordinances and moratoriums, economic advantages and growth
incentives, but I have not heard much about the downtown historic district itself, what it is and why it is there or of the collection of historic buildings that encompasses. Those buildings, most of them historic. Once home to some of Orlando's earliest
businesses, comprise the city's first economic center. The downtown historic district, Orlando's first historic district, was created in 1980 to preserve and protect those buildings, then nearly a hundred years old. Joseph
Bumby, Elijah Hand, Henry Metaf, WM Slemens, and many others who built those buildings and the businesses that occupied them are long gone. But they have left Orlando a wonderful legacy. Excuse me. And to lose that is to lose
part of the city's character and identity. It would be an especially sad loss coming just a year after Orlando celebrated its 150th anniversary. A milestone made possible by the vision and ambition of the pioneer businessmen
and the strength of the moral city they built. We don't put historic buildings in museums. They are museums, living museums. They connect us with our past. They help us understand who we were and how we got to be who we are now.
buildings document what the city looked like in the 19th century and why the arrival of the South Florida Railroad in 1880 and its imposing Church Street Station in 1889 generated so much of the growth. Historic buildings are
themselves cultural and historic artifacts and their inherent value merits the protection of historic districts. Historic districts and the buildings within them must remain for the enlightenment of future generations. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Scott Sidler, Val Moley, Raymond Cox. Back to a different level with the microphone. Uh, Mr. Mayor, city commissioners, Scott Sidler, 635 Delaney Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801.
I've called Orlando home since June of 2003, arriving just in time to watch the demise of the Mercury Woolworth block and the rise of the plaza along with the world's most treacherous parking garage for anything larger than a bicycle. I was excited. I believed in the promise of a better downtown. I visited the
movie theater. 23 years later, that's not the story we got. The plaza never brought downtown to life. It churned through tenant after tenant, and today it sits largely empty. The city's own director of economic development said it plainly. The majority of the retail spaces are empty. I served this city on
the historic preservation board for multiple terms, including as chair. So, hear me clearly. The claim that the board blocks progress and development is pure fear-mongering. We have approved change after change in the district over years, not denying development, but offering creative solutions. Our
recommendations aren't even bound by the preservation ordinance the way the city staff are. And time and again, we voted to allow work the ordinance. itself might discourage. I'm a contractor. I understand development economics, but I work in historic preservation and adaptive reuse. And there's another side
that rarely gets said out loud. A 2011 Georgia study found that preservation creates 22% more jobs per dollar than new construction. In over 30 years, the federal historic tax credit has created 1.8 million jobs and offers developers already a 20% tax credit only available
to historic buildings. Preservation isn't the sentimental choice, it's the smart one. As the mayor said, Church Street Station at its 1985 peak hosted over 1.7 million visitors annually, trailing only Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld in attendance. That was all done under Bob Snow and the same rules
of the preservation district we have today. Done right, historic preservation works. We don't need less protection. We need better development ideas. We have only few blocks of history left. strip the protection and enough will be lost or changed beyond repair that in three years the city will likely come back and
tell us there's too little of our history left to justify our historic district anymore and we'll be left with more empty buildings and more of our history in our landfill. The reason you see less development in the historic core is because it's already built out. Before we tear down our historic buildings, let's build out the empty
lots first. There's a saying among those who fight for preservation in these circles. A city without old buildings is like a person without a memory. Mayor Dyer, city commissioners, please do not be the reason that Orlando forgets who it is. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Val Mobly, Raymond Cox, Tom Price. >> Hi, city council. I'm Mayor Val Mobly, 226 West King Street, College Park. So, I've lived in Orlando for 40 years.
That's not as long as many of you have. You've been born and raised here. But my time in my time here in these 40 years, I have seen a lot of change. Some of it good, some of it not so good. I personally love the art deco
architectural style. And I love many different kinds of architecture, but I'm not a fan of glass and steel monolithic buildings. I believe that we as a people need to cherish what has come before us. Building materials and building codes
have evolved over the years and yes, we need to keep up with those changes. However, that does not mean that we should demolish buildings that some deem as not modern enough for the tourist capital of the United States. My first
question about ordinance 26 2026-18 is why now? What is the hurry to put a moratorum in place on the historic preservation of buildings in the downtown core? Yes, there are buildings that are empty
and probably need some love. Why can't these buildings be repurposed into apartments or condos? The interiors of these buildings can be completely gutted. I'm looking at one North Orange. I love that building. I would move in
there if there were condos in there. Um, as long as you keep the facade, isn't that what the what y'all want? Let's keep the facades of these buildings to be admired by all who see them, all our
tourists. If the building in question is not tall enough for the developer to make a good profit, then why can't we let the building go up in height with the exterior matching the existing facade and then you can put in there whatever you want. Surely there are architects in
this city who can do that. Adaptive reuse. Isn't that what you said? Um given that the public had only five days notice of this action uh and before a vote is taken, it seems like it seems to me like something fishy
is going on here. Do you want to not want to hear from the public or has the decision already been made behind closed doors? The current administration is only 18 months left in office and has been here for over 23 years. So why now?
What is the rush? I'm concerned about the ethics of this decision. I understand that the ethics and conflict prohibitions of the city state that the abuse of position is when officials are prohibited from using their position to obtain a disproportionate benefit for themselves,
their spouse, children, or business associates. You, the council, should avoid any uh action that might even appear improper or unethical. There's a statement. There's a standard conflict of interest.
>> Raymond Cox, Tom Price, Lana Gellzer. >> Raymond Cox is not available today. >> Okay. Tom Price, Lana Gellzer, Jill Vaughn. >> Tom Price, 554 Lake Avenue, Orlando 3281. architect practicing in Orlando
since 1971. I live through this entire history. With me is former partner Jim Stro who served with me on the historic preservation board when it was founded in 1980 until 1992.
The reason the secretary of the inter interior standards which are precise was imposed is that it enabled owners of historic properties to apply for and receive a
20% in some cases 25% investment tax credit which was a big deal when you're spending $2 million as one of my clients did. They were two partners. They got a $500,000 tax credit. Not a tax shelter,
but a tax credit. They didn't pay taxes for the rest of their lives. In return for that, though, they restored the building. Now, I see I've seen develop here a false contention going on.
Nobody who sits on the on the preservation board historically or concurrently or currently disagrees with the goals of de development. My my recommendation, my hope is that
the city of Orlando rather than removing chairs from the table would bring everybody together, that is the downtown development board, historic preservation board, city staff,
mayor and council, and who whoever needs wants to look in on it and work this out. You will find that you will reach a critical mass by putting all these int people together with this intelligence and experience and imagination that you
will reach a solution to this problem that can incorporate historic buildings sensibly and effectively into new developments. They can encourage and inspire new developments. Thank you so much for the opportunity.
Thank you. Lana Yellser, Jill Von, Joseph Westlake. Lana Gellza, 815 Hill Street. The question was posed. Why now? Cuz you can. I see you. I know what moratoriums can
do. I know what happens when you want to do what you want to do. We send them. I remember Tinkerfield National Protected Historical. You tore it down anyway cuz you wanted to. I remember this national protected
headquarters of Waka Springs. John Young Mercy Drive area. 8,000 trees gone. Been there millions of years. You tore it down. That's why we have flooding now. It's not 500year flooding. It's man-made
flooding because of what you voted on. We fought you for 5 years. You still did exactly what you wanted to. We had a moratorum in the Paramount community for no more homeless shelters in the 1.4 square mile community.
Every time you want to do something, you resend the memorial the u moratorum. Last year we got 256 more beds at the coalition. This year we're going to get another 110 beds at the coalition. We got two buses last year. We keep seeing
what was put in place to make sure the community shares but you have moratoriums in other communities. You just resend them. So welcome to the club everybody. That's what happens to you. No matter how many times you come up and give them
solutions, this is what happens. And why you just hearing about it, that's the way they do business around here. That's what I've learned in the past. We brought ideas. I I heard great presentations today. I heard the community saying, "Why so quickly? I
have an idea. I have a theory." But I'm going to go back to one of the presentations that you made about the park underneath I4. Now, did you really look at the study that we've been doing with the EPA? They have the worst air quality under I4 possible. We wouldn't
have gotten this EPA grant had we not provided the proper data. You don't need to be underneath there. You need the proper shrubbery. You need whatever. I don't see you put beautiful, beautiful rendoms up there, but
sustainable health related. you are not listening to what is being provided to you. Overdevelopment and not sustainable development, smart growth, it's the problem we're having. So yes, I think it's a conflict. I have my theory, but
I'm going say this. I'm sorry this is happening because I think that we could do a better job as a city. And like I said, my family has been here since 1948. I have seen a whole lot. But I can say to this, the decisions
that are being made by staff and why you doing stuff behind closed doors, remember guys, the the McCoy building, they tore it down at night. They tore it down at night while nobody was looking.
>> Jill von and Joseph Westlake. >> Good afternoon, Mayor and Commissioners. Jill Vaughn, 333 South Garland Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801. My name is Jill Vaughn and I serve as the president and CEO of the Downtown
Orlando Partnership. The Downtown Orlando Partnership was established 65 years ago to promote business and champion business in downtown Orlando. And I am here today in support of the proposed amendments to the downtown historic district development review
process. On a personal note, I have always had a deep appreciation for history, for historic preservation, and for architecture. I believe our historic buildings contribute to the unique character and the sense of place that
make downtown Orlando special. Preserving and celebrating that history remains extremely important. At the same time, we must ensure that our policies support the investment, the redevelopment, and the adaptive reuse
needed to create a thi thriving and a vibrant downtown. Over the past several years, many properties within the historic district have remained vacant. They've remained underutilized and in a state of deterioration. I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance
by maintaining respect for our historic assets while creating a more predictable and efficient path for reinvestment and redevelopment. A healthy downtown depends on attracting residents, attracting visitors, businesses,
restaurants, retail, and new activity. Streamlining the review process can help unlock opportunities for property owners while encouraging project pro project, excuse me, encouraging projects that contribute to the long-term vitality of downtown Orlando. Supporting this
proposal is not about choosing development over preservation. It's about finding the right balance between honoring our past and creating the conditions necessary for downtown Orlando's future success. We appreciate the city's thoughtful approach to this
matter and respectfully support the proposed amendments. Thank you. >> Thank you, Joseph West Lake. >> Hello. Uh my name is Joseph Westlake from 533 Lake Avenue. I'm here because I care about historic preservation. I grew
up playing in the Lake Cherokee parks. The historic character of my neighborhood is not an abstraction to me. It's where I'm from and a part of who I am. I'm asking the council to con to take a broader view of the problem. This ordinance acknowledges the current historic preservation structure
fossilizes. It's led to decay and underinvestment. The staff and board culture have become activist rather than preservationist. The result is a process that operates on opinion rather than expertise and subjective preference rather than code. The ordinance provides
relief for downtown, but its revival depends on the health of its surrounding neighborhoods. And this ordinance does nothing to unburden homeowners. On the same street in our district, two homeowners asked to replace asphalt shingle roofs. One family was approved.
Another was required to install bespoke expensive metal roof. The board approved yet another homeowner to remove a metal roof and install asphalt. Same board, same district, three irreconcilable rulings. My own new construction project was held up for 18 months. Approval came
only after spending hundreds of thousands and legal counsel was involved and it was conditioned on changes with no connection to code. It's no wonder historic properties have sat on the market for extended periods. These gems would have sold quickly and likely for
far more elsewhere. Ownership in the historic districts is often uneconomic, leaving preservation to depend on passion and emotional ties that will only carry so far. The city has insulated itself, pushing through projects that were voted down or
receiving special treatment. The Beardall Center window replacement is a vast improvement, but that very same window style has been denied on homes in our district. While the code can be improved, most of our problems come from a mismatch between staffing and the
intent of the work. We need the right skills, temperament, and judgment to preserve without stifling. I speak not just as a resident, but also as the founder of a successful software company built in downtown. Building here was an extension of living here. People invest
where they live. There's a great deal for us to do to turn around downtown core. I'm excited for the Magnolia and Lake Eyola projects. We have earnest leadership at the CRA and I'm hopeful that this ordinance paired with protections for historic structures and
further reforms for homeowners can build momentum for a better downtown. I've prepared a list of reforms and I'll submit to your offices in writing. Thank you for your time and for your service to our city. >> Thank you. Okay, that's all the public comment that we have. Is there
discussion? Commissioner Sheen. >> Anyone who knows me knows I love history and historic preservation. I live in a 1928 bungalow. I love my neighborhood which is disappearing to McMansions and tandemss. I was
disappointed when this board would not give a designation to the Luba House a couple of months ago. We promised to save the building at least. And now we have today's proposed ordinance which I must agree with me members of the public. I just got notified like a couple maybe maybe a week ago. And just
as an example, when I work with staff on something like um you know duplex restrictions and things like that, it takes six months or more. We have to go through all these readings and all this process has to go all through all the boards and then this just comes directly to us. And I don't blame y'all on the
Historic Preservation Board and the Historic Preservationist for being upset about this process because I'm deeply upset and offended by this process. And I'm sorry. I'm apologizing to all of you because you deserved to be treated with
respect. If you're going to put the time, effort, and energy to serve on our boards, we should respect your opinion. And this should have gone to your board. And I'm very deeply embarrassed that that did not happen. and I think it was the wrong thing to do. So, I apologize.
All right. On the city's behalf, if if no one else will and no one else will acknowledge you, I will. I voted against the demolition of the McCrory's building, which is now the plaza. It is a strange layout with garbage all over the service bays, a dirty plaza, and an ugly billboard on
its side. Cars can barely navigate the parking garage, all because of the bad layout. If we at least had followed traditional city guidelines, we would have had a better product. Now we have a bad building at our main and Maine, which was the justification for moving
forward with the de demolition at the time, which I think the historic I thought the historic preservation board did not go ahead with the de demolition, but I'll have to go back and and check that better development was supposed to happen at that corner. We had more retail shops in the old
McCory's building than we have now. We allowed the demolition of the Church Street Ballroom. Now, that's not in a historic district. It's it's adjacent again for progress. It sits a vacant lot. More missing teeth in the core of our downtown.
Many successful businesses were shuttered on Church Street and are vacant. I wondered if because they catered to the LGBTQ community, always excuses to tear down historic buildings. And I want to say that 55 West instiller and the plaza were in the historic
district and were projects that were built within the historic district. So I I I'm deeply distressed that that map is not um was not a fair representation that was shown to my colleagues. Bob Snow is rolling over in his grave. For those who don't know, he was the
king of Church Street, founder of Rosio Grady's and the entertainment venues on Church Streets, and one of the proponents of the downtown historic district. He sold his venues and no one has been a proper steward of this area since. This area is in is not not successful
because it's not cool. It's not successful because nobody who has purchased it has given a damn about it. I believe in progress. Sometimes change is good, but there are alternatives to simply throwing away our historic district. This council can and has
overridden specific projects. We could encourage facade protection. We could incentivize facade protection, build high and intense behind the facades. We could give outdoor cafe exceptions to our preservation code on a case-byase basis, not throwing away our
protections. 49 buildings are going to be impacted by this. Nine are landmarks and will lose all protection. And I've only heard of two instances where they're concerned over historic preservation. Isn't this a lot of overkill? And I want to read read off
the list of the nine historic landmarks that are now going to lose if we vote on this today are going to lose their protections. The Crest building, the Hunt Brandon building, Nicholson Collier building, Old Orlando Railroad Depot building. I love that building, Bumpy
Hardware Building, Seaman's Department Store, Rogers Keaney Building. Thank God we own it, but who knows what we're going to do now. The Bechum Theater and the First National Bank. Are those all so not unimportant as historic landmarks that we're just going to say, well, you
know, we need to make it easier, so we're just going to we're just going to bulldoze them. Buildings we can never get back. We're bulldo bulldozed for progress. The San Juan Hotel, the Opera House, Woolworth McCroy, historically black businesses that were demolished for the Kia Center. We have restaurants
and new businesses every week getting approval in the CRA. Redevelopment doesn't always bring new business. We require firstf flooror retail that sits empty because developers only care about the money-making residential units. They
don't care about the first floor and they don't build it out. And that's the a lot of the problem in downtown. We do have challenges in downtown, but the answer is not to do away with historic buildings that add to the fabric of our downtown. The same people who complain
about historic preservations are the same ones who complain about permitting. And we're not talking about getting rid of that. Residents who live in historic districts have to make improvement based on HP rules. We aren't following our own rules and are setting a terrible example. And that's
what I'm concerned now. Let's let's let's throw away the historic preservation in the neighborhoods, too. I am a vehement and passionate no. This goes against everything that I believe in. It goes against the the people I represent. It I have knocked over on on
tens of thousands. I've knocked over thousands of doors when I've when I've run for office and I've talked to the people who live in the historic districts and they're passionate about this and they're not just passionate about where they live, they're passionate about our downtown as well. And this is a slap in the face to people
who care about history and I'm horrified and I'm a vehement no. >> Commissioner Jacob. >> Uh thank you all. Thank you mayor. Thank you staff for the presentation. Thank you residents for um coming and giving input. Um, I'm not the oldest person on
the board. I'm not the youngest person on the board. Um, but I have been here 55 years. My earliest memory is feeding the ducks at Lake Eyola. I've got a picture to prove it as a young toddler. The Christmas parades downtown. My first sports jacket purchased at JC Penney on
Orange Avenue. Uh, as a teen and early adult, my first job was at Church Street Station. Um that was the ownership group after um uh >> Snow Bob Snow. Yeah. Um as a young professional uh moving back here from
college, I was involved for a decade with the downtown Orlando Foundation whose sole mission was to fund sponsor initiatives aimed at civic improvement, cultural development, economic prosperity. Uh and I was married at the Cathedral of Church of St. Luke. Um these memories were created by people and experiences.
The historic overlay may have been created to preserve the past, but today I think we have to ask ourselves honestly whether it's preventing the future. If our goals, and they're the ones we talk about every day, of more housing, greater affordability, better transit, increased walkability, more
investment, and a vibrant downtown, then we need policies that advance those goals, not policies that make them harder to achieve. We talked about uncertainty as being that was a common thread through many of the people that that spoke here today. Um, anyone
looking to build or renovate uh anywhere has basically the building department and the fire marshal and um you may not like the answer, but you know the rules and you know what's required and you know what success looks like. In the historic overlay district, you layer in
a third regulatory obstacle, the historic preservation board. And unlike the building department and fire codes, it's often subjective, which is okay. But that results in no clear timeline, no clear standard, no predictable outcomes, multiple rounds of design, a
constant back and forth that creates frustration, tension, and most importantly, uncertainty. Uh speaking to the owners of one South Orange Avenue, which is a magnificent building, as someone pointed out, um they wanted to take down an awning. The
awning was not historic because it wasn't original and it was a a uh it wasn't up to code, so it wasn't safe and they didn't want it. Um, 1.5 million later, a awning was built in Canada and uh the owner was forced to uh install
that even though they didn't want it and even though it was not historic. That person is a huge proponent of downtown preservation. Uh, and I don't think he would go through the same process again today. Um, housing and affordability. Downtown
Orlando has a housing shortage. Every discussion about affordability eventually comes back to supply. If we want housing to become more affordable, we need more housing. The most successful downtown are places where people actually live. As a city, that housing and density
should be occurring downtown. Again, we talk about less traffic, more walkability, more transit, greater sustainabilities. These goals require more people living downtown. Some of our historic buildings are charming and unique. They are also
difficult to modernize. Modern tenants need ADA accessibility, fire suppression systems, commercial kitchen ventilation, grease exhaust systems, modern life safety infrastructure. We cannot say we want better businesses, better restaurants, and more investments
in downtown while making it nearly impossible for those business to operate in many of those older buildings. What has actually worked? We saw instead of uh debating theory, we looked at the results. Downtown Orlando's greatest success stories over the last 15 to 20
years have occurred outside of the historic preservation overlay. What do they have in common? They brought people downtown. Residents, jobs, businesses, energy. I began with a simple question. Has the historic overlay, despite its good
intentions, become an obstacle to the future we say we want in downtown Orlando? A future of more housing, more affordability, more walkability, better connectivity to transit. We can honor our history without standing in the way of our future. In
fact, with the incentive program, it looks like we are going to do just that. And I would add that with the expiration of the CRA in the next 10 years, that is a reason uh a significant reason to try this now before that clock ticks out uh
in 10 years. Uh that's why I believe a moratorum is appropriate at this time. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Ortiz. >> Thank you, Mayor. Well, well said. Commissioner Chapen, uh, let me just ask a few things. As we ask everyone your
opinion, in many cases, we don't like government to tell us what I'm the first one to say that I like lesser government. We don't like government to say to tell us what to do, but at the same time, we want to tell other peoples what to do with their
buildings. Have anybody asked the owners of these buildings what they want to do with their buildings? Can they afford to continue to maintain these buildings? Has anyone talk about flattening all these buildings around here? Because I don't I don't remember anybody saying
anybody anything about taking all these buildings down. We want to revitalize some of these buildings. We want to see what other ideas are out there. We're doing a moratorium to see what's out there. Nobody has talked about taking a building taking buildings down yet or ever. We're just talking about how
we're going to address these issues we're dealing with. We want a better downtown, but we we want to stop the progress. So, how are we going to do this? How are we going to balance this equation? I agree. I think I heard Mr. uh Morton's little Morton. Did I pronounce that right? I want to make sure that I don't mispronounce the name.
Gentlemen, uh I would be more than willing, Martins's be more than willing to sit down and listen to you, but at the same time, I want to make sure that is an objective conversation because we have some issues and these owners of these buildings are having issues,
financial issues. Inflation is incredibly out of our control. And these are things that we cannot control all the time here because these are things that are imposed by others other levels of government and by things going on around the world and people are trying to
survive and people are trying to find housing as Commissioner Chapman was saying and we're trying to move forward with our communities. So what are we going to prioritize here? And I think it's time for us to really sit down and and look at the equation and see how we can make this happen for all of us.
So yes, we should be talking to each other, but at the same time, there's decisions we have to make that are not easy decisions. Nobody's trying to steal anything from anybody. No, nobody's trying to be sneaky. It's not easy. It's just not easy. I've talked to people downtown. I've talked
to u u some of the owners of those buildings and as I said before, some of them said Christmas. I said, "What that means?" I said, "Well, it's good because we have all these expenses and it's really hard to to deal with them." So, okay. So, that's good feedback. I even they even told me the story about
the beaching club, which I didn't know. Back in the days, they were trying to flatten this place. Had they flatten it, we wouldn't have that historic building today. So, let's sit at the table. Let's talk about this. And this is one of the reasons why we're doing this today. That's why we're
listening to you. We're trying to see what the feedback is. What What do you think about this? I'm pretty sure we're going to come up with something. So, let's let's not get at each other. Let's let's not become too negative about this. I think we can move forward as a community as we have done in the past
and the outcome is going to be great because so far, please don't tell me that you don't think Orlando has done great. We have our issues. We do have our issues. But look back 20 years, 25 years. I've been here for 42 and I know this is a much better Orlando than the one I I came to.
So, let's continue working together. That's all I have to say. Thank you. Further discussion hearing none. All in favor of the motion indicate so by saying I. I. Those opposed. >> No. >> Okay. Passes 61. >> Ed, could you get us ready for general
appearance, please?