Three Winter Springs commissioners pine for re-vote on tree removal fee

When 21-year-old Hailey Donahue approached the microphone at the July 15 Winter Springs City Commission meeting, she turned to the audience and asked a question: How many people could say they saw bald eagles on their way to school?

A handful of people raised their hands.

“I did every day, roughly,” said Donahue, a resident of the Winter Springs Village. 

Donahue was one of more than a dozen residents who spoke to the Winter Springs City Commission July 14, asking them to reconsider a recent decision to exempt a developer’s tree mitigation fee. 

“We celebrate our environment,” Donahue said. “If we agree to no longer require developers to pay for the trees they are taking down, we could lose this designation (as a Tree City USA) as well as many of the animals that have made Winter Springs so beautiful, like our bald eagles.”

Pressure from Donahue and others may have been enough to move the needle. Ultimately, the Winter Springs City Commission on Monday voted 3-2 to reconsider its controversial previous decision to allow the development in the Winter Springs Town Center without requiring the developer to pay some tree mitigation fees. That means the item will come up for another vote, possibly at the August 11 Winter Springs meeting.

The project is expected to cost more than $50 million to build. Former Winter Springs Mayor Paul Partyka is representing the applicant as the property owner’s agent of record. Partyka came under fire from the current mayor for meeting with each other commissioner individually before last month’s vote. 

“Even more troubling, each of the Commissioners who voted for the fee removal held private meetings with representatives of the project just days before making what should have been a quasi-judicial decision,” current Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann wrote in a Facebook post, criticized by others on the dais. “That kind of behind-the-scenes influence has long been discouraged for good reasons.”

Partyka defended himself at the meeting.

“The vote should hold up,” Partyka said. “It is what it is. You take it from there.”

Mayor Kevin McCann said there have been threats that the issue could end up in court with the developer.

“Let me make one last point: Bring it,” McCann said. “Let’s do discovery and depositions. I would welcome it.”

Commissioner Mark Caruso swaps vote

The Winter Springs City Commission will reopen a discussion over whether a developer must pay for cutting down trees after hearing from more than a dozen citizens at Monday’s meeting.

The project, known as the Sea Hawk Cove Extension, is an 8.11-acre property located at the northeast corner of State Road 434 and Michael Blake Boulevard within the city’s Town Center District. The developer, Tuskawilla Retail Partners, is looking to develop 8.11 acres on the east side of Michael Blake Boulevard, which includes the removal of 306 trees. This site is planned to be a future 7-Brew Coffee and a daycare.

Winter Springs voted at the June 23 meeting to exempt the developer from a $227,400 arbor fee. The developer argued that when the arbor fee was paid to develop The Blake Apartments, that arbor fee covered the entire 45-acre development in the Winter Springs Town Center. 

Winter Springs commissioners Mark Caruso, Paul Diaz and Victoria Bruce all voted to waive the fees last meeting. But Caruso reversed his vote Monday, saying there was new information coming to light. 

“Do they spend the time going to court, or just take their losses or put it into the fees for new tenants?” said Winter Springs Commissioner Mark Caruso in an interview with Oviedo Community News. “I guess that’s what we’re gonna find out at the next meeting.”

In other news, the Winter Springs City Commission also: 

1. Voted to keep the property tax rate flat for the 2025-26 budget year. 
2. Had a heated discussion on changes to rules on how commissioners can request agenda items on new business. Under the new ordinance, Winter Springs Commissioners will not be able to vote on items proposed under “new business” unless it’s to add the item to a future agenda. 
3. Four of the five commissioners voted in favor of a resolution declaring their support to keep Winter Springs as its own city. Commissioner Paul Diaz voted against the item. You can read more about that vote here.