WINTER PARK, Fla. — Some Winter Park residents are concerned that the city's vice mayor is getting special treatment from the Florida Department of Transportation.
At issue is a deal that would allow a business with ties to Steve Leary, to build a parking lot right next to the train tracks, near the former Thomas Lumber Co. site.
Channel 9's Lori Brown learned that the deal is being negotiated before the rules can be laid out for everyone else.
Parking is typically a problem in Winter Park. It can take some effort to find a spot in the popular downtown area.
The same goes for a property Leary has business ties to. The property is owned by Lumber Yard LLC.
More parking is needed in order for an upscale retail center to be built on the property. The only parking option is a tiny strip of land that sits between the buildings and the train tracks.
Now some have expressed concern that FDOT could be giving the business special treatment that would allow it to use the right of way for parking.
But some neighbors said parking too close to the tracks is a bad idea, especially given what an Amtrak train did to a car parked nearby two weeks ago.
FDOT officials are still developing the rules for leasing its land along the tracks, but Brown learned that SunRail officials are already negotiating a lease with the business.
"He's using his position to connect with state officials to help him get a deal before they write the rules," said Winter Park resident Sandy Womble.
Lumber Yard LLC is represented by attorney Dean Cannon, who is also Florida's former Speaker of the House.
In an email obtained by Brown, Noranne Downs, a top FDOT official, wrote to Cannon: "Dean! How are you?! Our team has a solution....we will speed up the process and get this done!"
"It looks like politicians helping other politicians -- patting them on the back," said Womble.
Brown said an FDOT representative did not answer her question about why the deal for the business seems to be on the fast track.
Cannon said his client has done everything by the book and by going through the proper channels.
Brown tried to contact Leary several times but he did not return her calls.
Responses to Lori Brown from Dean Cannon and an FDOT representative:
"First, I'll address your safety question. If you go up and down the railroad right-of-way in Winter Park, you'll see there are parking spaces, fences, trees, dumpsters, and even buildings and sidewalks (like the Winter Park Farmer's Market) closer to the tracks than my client's parking spaces will be. (If I can find pictures of them on my iPhone, I will email them to you.). The parking spaces proposed here would be angled and would be no closer than 8 feet to the edge of the railroad tie. I think the maximum width for a train through this corridor is something less than 12 feet. Railroad ties are 8 feet across, so the most a train could extend past the tie is 2 feet at the level of the parked cars. The parking spaces being considered are going to be 8 feet away from the end of the railroad ties, so there will be about 6 feet of empty space/clearance between the widest train and the closest parked car, and a chain link fence will separate the parking area from the train traffic. (By comparison, the old concrete Amtrak and commuter station platforms had/have passengers standing inches from the stopped train, and the asphalt behind the Farmers Market is within 2 feet of the rail.) Train crossing signals themselves are closer to the rails than parking will be here. Parking, buildings, and businesses have peacefully coexisted in or adjacent to the railroad right-of-way in Winter Park for decades. There is nothing unusual about putting parking in the proposed location, and it will be one of the safest places to park near the rails in the city.
Second, just to confirm some of the things we discussed earlier, we have been negotiating for weeks with the engineering and other personnel at DOT to make sure that the parking spaces will be situated in a manner that is safe and appropriate within all applicable engineering standards. There is adequate parking on the site for the existing uses, but allowing the additional parking will facilitate the continued redevelopment of the old previously vacant lumber warehouse into an upscale retail and dining use. We are following all of the appropriate methods and procedures to accomplish this.
I have been a land use lawyer practicing in Orlando since 1993, and have worked on dozens of agreements with DOT for traffic access, parking, curb cuts, median cuts, drainage, acceleration and deceleration lanes, etc. That is all entirely consistent with DOT's mission of maintaining safe rights-of-way and allowing for the successful interaction and coexistence of pedestrian, road, and rail traffic. CSX entered into agreements for parking on adjacent parcels within the railroad right-of-way for decades (see, for example, Fiddler's Green, less than a few hundred yards from my client's property) and there is nothing improper about FDOT doing the exact same thing.
When SunRail was approved by the legislature, it was supposed to facilitate lessening the burden on our roadways by providing commuter rail service, and at the same time facilitate economic development along the rail corridor in places like Winter Park. That's what's happening--converting a vacant lumber warehouse into upscale retail and dining is exactly the type of redevelopment and renewal that SunRail was intended to facilitate." --Dean Cannon, Attorney for Lumber Yard LLC.
"The Florida Department of Transportation’s foremost concern is safety along the rail corridor. This corridor came to us with many existing encroachments along the right-of-way, and the Department and is examining ways to accommodate needs, without compromising safety. The Department is also moving forward with a procedure to handle future matters that might arise," Steve Olson, FDOT Spokesperson.
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