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Hourglass District


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Pro or Anti?

If it is against, I'm curious as to how a beat up Citgo with trucks parked everywhere is better?

That's a huge factor in why I didn't think said piece of land was worth half of what was paid for it.  $90k for a bowling alley lot next to a gas station with massive trucks parked about 20' from where my bedroom would be?  Granted, I was banking on improvements.

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9 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Unfortunately, you may be right.

Here's one of the drawings that most closely reflects what's there now, with the convenience store and gas island still in place...

Here's a street view of the property from the angle of view indicated on the drawing...

As nearly as I can tell, the trees with the check marks on them appear to be the ones represented in the drawing, while the two with the X's on them, look to be gone.

I don't know if the city can prevent their removal or not. I hope they can and do.

If not, let's hope sanity prevails and somebody is persuaded to build around them.

The good thing is that these are all very preliminary plans right now and according to the article, they haven't even found a developer yet.

Anybody know how the land use change hearing went?

The placement of the tree closest to Henderson looks too set back from the street to be the tree that is currently there, but I would love to see the trees saved!  I love your thinking JFW657; it would be devastating to the character of the neighborhood to cut those trees down!  The property is technically in Orange County, which doesn't have protections for historic trees, but if I had to guess, the largest tree on that property is 300 years old.  The canopy is so wide that they would have to build all 3-story structures on the south side of the lot, up against the houses on Carlton, and a row of structures parallel to Bumby, behind the commercial building.  If they did that, they might not be able to fit all the buildings they want to fit to maximize the zoning.  I have a feeling they already have a developer, based on who is present at meetings and how this thing is just rolling forward.  I also know that three adjacent businesses were all approached to sell by a 'rude' lawyer associated with the development.  I am planning to go to the public hearing on rezoning this Thursday, but if you want to speak, you have to submit a request to do so in advance.   

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1 hour ago, HankStrong said:

Pro or Anti?

If it is against, I'm curious as to how a beat up Citgo with trucks parked everywhere is better?

That's a huge factor in why I didn't think said piece of land was worth half of what was paid for it.  $90k for a bowling alley lot next to a gas station with massive trucks parked about 20' from where my bedroom would be?  Granted, I was banking on improvements.

Those that are against it, are opposed to the density and the 3-story structures, which are not really compatible with what else is here.  The planned development would introduce a population overnight that is as large as the current residential population in the 4 streets surrounding it combined.  The required parking would exceed 100 spaces.  34 multi family units and 7,500 square feet of commercial space, plus 100 parking spaces on 1.74 acres.  Traffic will become a nightmare, as there are zero cars driving to and from the lots now, yet it's still often impossible to turn left/North onto Bumby at this intersection.

Edited by killawatts
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17 minutes ago, killawatts said:

The placement of the tree closest to Henderson looks too set back from the street to be the tree that is currently there, 

Those are conceptual drawings and are only approximations. They aren't to scale or meant to be overly accurate representations of what's there, so the trees probably aren't placed in exactly the right spot. Basically an artist's concept.

I do hope there's enough of a public outcry to save them, though.

Keep us apprised of any new meetings if you hear of them.

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30 minutes ago, killawatts said:

I love your thinking JFW657; it would be devastating to the character of the neighborhood to cut those trees down!  The property is technically in Orange County, which doesn't have protections for historic trees, but if I had to guess, the largest tree on that property is 300 years old.  

Found this old OBJ article from 2001. I wonder if it offers any hope...

Orange County adopts tree ordinance

Orange County commissioners approved an amended tree protection and removal ordinance 5 to 1 on Tuesday night.

The ordinance is designed to protect trees in unincorporated Orange County, control their removal and prevent clear-cutting by developers.

Under the new tree policy, developers can't bulldoze trees more than 24 inches in diameter. They must maintain a buffer of trees along the edge of a construction site if within 200 feet of bordering a tree. And trees as small as eight inches must be protected.

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2001/11/05/daily22.html

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1 hour ago, killawatts said:

Those that are against it, are opposed to the density and the 3-story structures, which are not really compatible with what else is here.  The planned development would introduce a population overnight that is as large as the current residential population in the 4 streets surrounding it combined.  The required parking would exceed 100 spaces.  34 multi family units and 7,500 square feet of commercial space, plus 100 parking spaces on 1.74 acres.  Traffic will become a nightmare, as there are zero cars driving to and from the lots now, yet it's still often impossible to turn left/North onto Bumby at this intersection.

I did do a legitimate bit of research into the area, so I'm very familiar with what existed 18 months ago.  I was thinking of building a home a few hundred feet from there.  I don't agree that there are zero cars now.  The trucks coming from the grass lot, the vehicles from the transmission shop, and the residents put some traffic out onto Bumby.  I know it's not a massive intersection, but there is some traffic.  I went out and visited the street a bunch of different times of day and different days.

I agree that all of that and 100 parking spaces on 1.74 acres would be nuts.  I don't, however, see the option you mention happening.  100 parking spots is roughly 0.80 of an acre, which leaves less than 1 acre for 34 apartments and 7,500 sq feet of commercial space.  I like density, but that's Kowloon Walled City density.  One of the other options has to be their real plan.

 

 

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2 hours ago, HankStrong said:

Pro or Anti?

If it is against, I'm curious as to how a beat up Citgo with trucks parked everywhere is better?

That's a huge factor in why I didn't think said piece of land was worth half of what was paid for it.  $90k for a bowling alley lot next to a gas station with massive trucks parked about 20' from where my bedroom would be?  Granted, I was banking on improvements.

A lot of Anti.  The meeting was dominated with people not wanting to see a densification of the area (which is understandable as exampled by killwats post).  They had a hard time understanding that's what the meeting was for.  I kept explaining that change is coming and its meeting like this that prevent something wild going up.   Right now nothing keeps Walmart from deciding to build a Supercenter where the Winn-Dixie plaza is if the price was right.  Once I explained it like that some people started understanding the purpose of the meeting.  There were a lot of strong opinions in that meeting, and a lot of people generalizing whole groups/classes of people as bad etc.  Typical public meeting stuff.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 4/17/2019 at 12:26 PM, HankStrong said:

"You can never underestimate the stupidity of the general public." - Scott Adams

"I hate the public.  The public is stupid." - Ron Swanson (Parks & Rec)

One thing that's consistent about the public comments is that they're inconsistent.

https://www.orlando.gov/Initiatives/Curry-Ford-Vision-Plan-Community-Meeting-2-Minutes#section-3

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Has somebody already mentioned the revised plans for the car wash area of Hourglass. If so I missed it. It was originally going to be open air dining space. Daily City now says it will be enclosed and contain individual retail spaces. Next door in the old machine/ auto shop, someone has leased the 3000+ sq feet as a new restaurant concept. 

https://www.thedailycity.com/post/hourglass-district-car-wash-to-become-retail-spaces-new-concept-for-corner-restaurant-space

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On 8/16/2019 at 10:13 AM, spenser1058 said:

The City’s vision for Curry Ford:

https://bungalower.com/2019/08/15/check-out-the-curry-ford-vision-plan/

From Bungalower 

Thanks for posting! Since this is my neighborhood, I've spent some time reading over the draft.  Anyone who's looked at the Downtown South Vision Plan will find this one fairly similar. The main difference is Curry Ford lacks the significant industrial presence that much of the west side of Sodo has (replaced here with- mostly- single family residential on both sides of all the major thoroughfares), which probably limits how creative the team could get in their recommendations. Also, for anyone who attended the various public meetings, it's consistent with what was discussed with the area residents & business owners.

A few highlights if you don't have the energy to read through the entire thing:

  • Top priorities of residents & business owners are to improve building architecture/aesthetics; discourage unsavory commercial uses (read: check cashing stores & smoke shops); to not negatively impact all of the SF residential in the surrounding 'hoods (so you probably won't see an Edgewater Drive-style road diet happening on Curry Ford Road anytime soon); & improved facilities for cyclists & pedestrians.
  • Many suggestions of rezoning commercial to allow for denser development, but nothing that would go beyond 5 stories along Curry Ford (which would include MF housing), and in the case of the Publix shopping center, 7 stories (also with MF housing incorporated).
  • Public parks are essentially absent from the entire study area (this is a frequent topic of conversation within my own neighborhood association). A suggestion is included to work with Orange County to repurpose the retention pond on the SW corner of Peel & Curry Ford for recreational purposes, and to redevelop the Dover Shores Community Center.
  • The many unincorporated properties in the Bumby/Curry Ford business node will limit the ability in that particular area for true urban development unless annexed by the City and zoning designations are changed.
  • Pedestrian accommodations technically exist throughout much of the study area, but they're mostly hostile. The team has some interesting suggestions such as cyclist tracks along the east side of Conway Road north-to-south, and along Curry Ford Road east-to-west (in some scenarios on both sides of Curry Ford!)
  • Team suggests cohesive branding not just for the business district (which is already underway with the CFW Market Street designation), but the entire area inclusive of both commercial & residential. "Sodo" is taken - how about "The 'Ford"? ::yeesh::
  • A recommendation to extend (or at least replicate) the Traditional City guidelines to this area for future development
  • The City should coordinate with Lynx to replace all of the bus stops that don't currently include shelter from the elements with those that do (knowing Lynx's struggles to obtain consistent funding, this one made me chuckle.
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