Winter Springs mulls a storage lot 

In the middle of fighting a storage building project, Winter Springs is considering putting an RV and boat storage lot at the apex of one of its most well-traveled gateways. 

“There is a very large need for this in this area,” real estate investor Matt Merdian said, presenting the proposal to the Winter Springs City Commission for Youdali International Investments on Sept. 25. 

The proposed lot, which would take up the north-side inner bend of the intersection of State Roads 434 and 419, near where Winter Springs borders with unincorporated Seminole County, would transform the area just south of Layer Elementary School. That school is currently bordered on the west by a longtime metal recycling facility and a row of industrial businesses. To the east is a storage yard to park buses for the county’s school system. 

Merdian, proposing the project as part of a rezoning and annexation request, said that the current largely empty agriculturally zoned property, once an egg farm and now containing one 3 bedroom house, could be improved if the development’s vision is green-lit. 

“The walls…you would be blown away at how poor the quality is…They literally look like something out of a war zone that has been dropped off,” Merdian said. “There are some very affordable things that we can do beautify it, make it look green and not make it look industrial.”

Proposed to be put in the lot’s place is a wall, presented as 8 feet high, of concrete covered in dark green ivy, obscuring the lot and its industrial purpose. That would be the frontage of the business, presented to passers by unaware, Merdian said, save for the business sign that would be in front of the storage lot. 

“We have no intention to touch any of the vegetation in the area,” Merdian said, in addition to not disturbing floodplain areas or adding any buildings to the site. 

“We’d be beautifying the area,” he said. 

But based on past precedent Deputy Mayor Rob Elliott said he worried about the project’s future. 

“One of the things that I’ve noticed with this type of operation is it kind of starts out as boats and RVs and next thing you know it’s dump trucks and tractor trailers,” Elliott said. 

Merdian said that the types of vehicles could be restricted in the business’ contracts it signs with customers. The lot would potentially host as many as 100 vehicles, though Merdian said that would vary by size. A typical boat, he said, would tend to take up half the space of a modern RV. 

Commissioner Ted Johnson said that taller vehicles would easily be seen over an 8′ wall, but Merdian said that the setbacks for the vehicles would be 20′ from the wall. 

Commissioner Cade Resnick suggested raising the wall to 12′ high to prevent school children from vaulting the wall. Merdian described that height as “excessive.” 

Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann said the appeal of the proposal was in the difficulty of making a business fit in the lot. 

“The challenge with this is I have always hoped for something really beautiful on that lot,” McCann said. “It’s on a major intersection for the city. But the truth is, because of the overhead power lines, they’re not allowed to put anything underneath it, that makes that property very, very shallow. Then you have all the wetlands and all the water issues that they have, it makes it incredibly difficult to put something there like retail.”

Winter Springs Senior City Planner Talbert Jackson said that as soon as the project is proposed to the city in more detail then an analysis can be done to determine code compliance. Then the project could be returned to the city’s Planning and Zoning Board and the Commission for an official proposal and vote. 

“It sounds as if you have a project the Commission is interested in,” McCann said. “We’re not coming out strongly against. We wish you the best.”