# I Love Oviedo Winter Springs
> Local news, events, and community for Oviedo & Winter Springs
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).
## Pages
### About I Love Oviedo Winter Springs
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/about/
Last updated: 2026-09-23T14:24:44.000Z
I Love Oviedo Winter Springs is your community source for local news, events, and the stories that shape life in Oviedo and Winter Springs, Florida.

We started as a place for neighbors to share what's happening around town, and we've grown into something more: independent local coverage of the things that actually affect your daily life. City hall decisions. New development. Rising rates and where the money goes. New businesses opening their doors. The events that bring our community together.

Our approach is simple, straight, fair, and always local. We present every side of a story and keep the questions that matter in front of our community, so you can draw your own conclusions. No spin, no agenda, just honest reporting on the place we all call home.

Whether you've lived here for decades or just found your way to Central Florida, we're glad you're here.

**The person behind the page**

I Love Oviedo Winter Springs is run by [Bryan Bruce](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bryanbruce/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com), who lives in Winter Springs and has spent more than 30 years in marketing and media. He grew up around Central Florida's tourism industry and his father helped market the opening of The EPCOT Center and built a career in hospitality and digital marketing before founding the Winter Springs firm [Your Brand Voice](https://yourbrandvoice.com/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com) in 2009.

He started this page for a simple reason, he wanted the kind of straight, local coverage he couldn't always find for the place he calls home. It's part of a small network of Central Florida community pages that include [Cocoa Beach](https://www.cocoabeachlocal.com/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com) and Dr. Phillips/Windermere areas, built on the same idea.

**Transparency and disclosures**

We think you should know who's telling you the news, and where the lines are.

Bryan is married to [Victoria Bruce](https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriakbruce/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com), who serves as a [Winter Springs City Commissioner](https://www.winterspringsfl.org/223/Commissioner-Victoria-Bruce?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com) and is a [candidate for re-election](https://victoriaforwintersprings.com/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com) in November 2026, and he handles marketing and communications for her businesses and campaign. 

**Stay connected**

Subscribe to get local news delivered straight to your inbox — free.

[Follow us on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/iLoveOviedoWinterSprings), or join our [local Facebook group](https://www.facebook.com/groups/146890276157411) where our community of thousands shares news, recommendations, and conversation every day.

Have a news tip, a question, or a story we should cover? Email us at [hello@iloveoviedowintersprings.com](mailto:hello@iloveoviedowintersprings.com).
## Posts
### Did a developer get a pass on tree fees? Here's the record.
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-tree-fee-vote/
Last updated: 2026-10-11T15:00:00.000Z
Hi neighbor,

"Trying to give developers a pass on their fees for tree removal doesn't help pay the city bills either." You may have seen that line in a local group, or even on a sign. It's catchy. So Commissioner Victoria Bruce's campaign pulled the record to see what the vote was really about.

The short answer: no fee was waived. The developer had already paid $149,660 in tree fees in 2017 and 2018, under an agreement an earlier commission signed. The question was whether that payment covered the whole project.

Here's what happened:

- June 23, 2025: Victoria moved that the earlier payment covered the entire project, because that's how she read the contract. On the record she said, "I would not make a motion to say that we're going to waive a fee." It passed 3-2.
- The contract wasn't clear. Even the city attorney said there was "fuzziness," and warned that whoever loses in court pays the other side's lawyers.
- August 11, 2025: the commission reconsidered and voted 3-1 to require the extra $227,400\. Victoria voted no. The developer had to put up the money.

And about those city bills: tree fees go into the Arbor Fund, which is separate from the general budget and from your utility bill. They were never going to pay city bills. When Victoria found that only about 13 percent of Arbor Fund spending was going to new trees, she brought forward Ordinance 2025-16\. The commission adopted it on December 8, 2025, so tree money now goes to planting and caring for trees, not trucks.

Early voting starts Monday, Oct. 19, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3\. If you've seen that sign or that comment, the full fact check with every source is worth a share.

[Read the full fact check](https://victoriaforwintersprings.com/fact-check/tree-fee-vote/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com)

*Paid for and approved by Victoria Bruce, for Winter Springs City Commissioner, District 2.*
### Four things Victoria Bruce is working on for Winter Springs
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/victoria-bruce-priorities/
Last updated: 2026-10-08T11:15:04.000Z
Hi neighbor,

With the District 2 race on the Nov. 3 ballot, a lot of you have asked what Commissioner Victoria Bruce is actually focused on. Her campaign laid it out in four priorities, so here they are in plain terms.

1\. Taxpayer affordability. She voted to build the FY 2027 budget at the rollback rate, and she says she'll push for a 12-month pause on the next water and sewer increases.

2\. Clean water. She supported the new East wastewater plant at $65.8 million, which came in under budget. Both plants together are now estimated at $158 million.

3\. Public safety. Crime in Winter Springs fell 19% from 2023 to 2025\. Her position is to fill the frozen officer spots and cut somewhere else first.

4\. Smart growth. Infrastructure Before Approval on every project. She defended the Rural Boundary and kept tree fund dollars going to trees.

Worth a read before you vote. The full details are on her site.

[Read Victoria's four priorities](https://victoriaforwintersprings.com/priorities/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com)

*Paid for and approved by Victoria Bruce, for Winter Springs City Commissioner, District 2.*
### Winter Springs Drinking Water Wins Best Taste in Central Florida
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-drinking-water-wins-best-taste-in-central-florida/
Last updated: 2026-09-23T11:26:41.000Z
Winter Springs drinking water took first place and the People’s Choice award for best tasting water in Central Florida.

City Manager Kevin Sweet confirmed it in a September 15 email to [Commissioner Victoria Bruce](https://victoriaforwintersprings.com/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com). The awards come from the [Florida Section of the American Water Works Association, Region III](https://www.fsawwa.org/page/204?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com). The contest is billed as Best Tasting Drinking Water in Central Florida 2026.

The taste test was September 9 at Harry P. Leu Gardens in Orlando. Judges score samples blind on taste, odor, color, and clarity. People’s Choice is a separate vote from the people in the room. Winter Springs won both.

Region III covers six counties: Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia. FSAWWA does not publish a ranked list of every utility that entered. Sweet wrote that they provide the recognition, not a results sheet.

The city is working with the association on a formal presentation at the Monday, October 12 Commission meeting.

Winter Springs draws from the Floridan Aquifer and treats the water at city plants that serve more than 14,800 potable meters. [Annual water quality reports](https://www.winterspringsfl.org/475/Annual-Drinking-Water-Reports?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com) show the system meets federal and state standards. This contest is not a lab test for contaminants. It is a taste contest. People drank the samples and picked Winter Springs.

That is the water coming out of the tap this year.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0773.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0774.jpg)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/09/IMG_0775.jpg)

Winter Springs takes first place at the 2026 FSAWWA Region III Best Tasting Drinking Water contest at Harry P. Leu Gardens.
### Winter Springs Police Chief Responds to Privacy Concerns Over License Plate Cameras
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-police-chief-responds-to-privacy-concerns-over-license-plate-cameras/
Last updated: 2026-08-24T16:53:39.000Z
[Winter Springs Police Chief Matt Tracht](https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/content/files/2026/08/Matt-Tracht-Flok-and-ALPR-Camera-Statement.pdf) has issued a public statement addressing privacy concerns circulating on social media about the police department's use of automated license plate reader cameras — technology often associated with the vendor Flock.

The statement follows [weeks of online discussion](https://victoriaforwintersprings.com/flock-alpr-cameras-winter-springs/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com), including a widely shared Facebook post arguing that the cameras amount to an invasion of privacy. Tracht said several residents had reached out with questions, and that he wanted the community to have "the same information" directly from him.

Automated license plate readers, or ALPRs, are cameras that photograph vehicle license plates on public roadways and check them against databases. According to Tracht, the department's system compares plates against records of stolen vehicles, wanted persons, missing or endangered individuals, and vehicles tied to serious criminal investigations. He said Winter Springs limits its use to "vehicles involved in crimes and missing persons," and noted that Flock is one brand among several — including Axon, Motorola, and NDI — that make similar systems. 

Tracht pointed to several local cases he said were aided by the technology. Those included the incident in which a young man was dragged from a Publix parking lot down State Road 434, which he said led to three arrests; the recovery of a mother and her infant after she reportedly threatened suicide; the [Shakeria Rucker](https://www.wesh.com/article/shakeira-rucker-found-dead/45882522?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com) missing-person case, in which he said the technology aided an investigation that has led to a suspect facing the death penalty; and the identification of a sexual predator at a past Fourth of July event. I Love Oviedo Winter Springs has not independently verified these accounts, which are as described by the chief. 

Tracht also argued the cameras improve officer safety by alerting officers when a vehicle linked to a wanted offender enters the city, and described the technology as an "essential force multiplier" for a growing community.

The statement pushed back directly on criticism circulating online. Tracht said the cameras "do not monitor people's movements or collect personal information," and compared them to consumer technology such as Ring doorbell cameras, dashcams, and vehicle camera systems that he said capture more information than an ALPR. He acknowledged that misuse of the technology has been reported elsewhere in the country, but said the answer is to hold individual bad actors accountable rather than eliminate the tool. Officers with access to the databases, he said, understand the penalties for misuse, and any abuse "shall be investigated."

Critics of ALPR networks raise a different set of concerns. Civil liberties organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, have argued nationally that systems logging large volumes of plates can build searchable records of where ordinary drivers travel over time, and have questioned how long the data is retained and which agencies can access it. Some critics specifically dispute the characterization that the cameras do not track movement, arguing that the aggregate of many reads can effectively reconstruct a driver's location history. 

Tracht closed his statement by thanking residents for their "thoughtful consideration" of the technology's role in public safety.

Public safety and privacy are both real community values, and reasonable neighbors disagree about where the line falls. Where do you land on this one? Let us know in the comments.

[Flock and ALPR CamerasMatt Tracht Flok and ALPR Camera Statement.pdf582 KBdownload-circle](https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/content/files/2026/08/Matt-Tracht-Flok-and-ALPR-Camera-Statement.pdf "Download")
### A Homeowner Tax Break, and a $21 Million Question for Oviedo and Winter Springs
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/amendment-3-oviedo-winter-springs-impact/
Last updated: 2026-08-16T20:56:57.000Z
If you are a longtime Winter Springs or Oviedo homeowner, Amendment 3 is one of the largest property-tax breaks you have been offered in years — proponents estimate the average homeowner would save around $2,000 a year. If you are a renter, a small commercial landlord, or a city trying to keep the lights on, it is a projected $21 million hole across our two cities over two years, and someone will have to fill it.

That is the tension in the property-tax measure Seminole voters decide in November. The numbers behind it come from the county's own property appraiser and Winter Springs' mayor is already using the words "survival mode."

## The county's numbers

A slide from the Seminole County Property Appraiser estimates that seven Seminole cities would together give up about $55 million in ad valorem (property-tax) revenue across the 2027-28 and 2028-29 fiscal years. In both projected years, Winter Springs and Oviedo show the two steepest percentage reductions of any city on the chart.

Winter Springs is projected to lose $2.38 million in 2027-28 (a 22 percent reduction) and $4.14 million in 2028-29 (a 38 percent reduction). Oviedo is projected to lose $5.15 million (18 percent) and then $9.19 million (33 percent), one of the largest two-year dollar totals on the chart. Together, the two cities account for roughly $21 million of the county-wide $55 million, about 38 percent of the total, from just two of the seven cities.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/08/amendment-3-city-losses-table.jpg)

Source: Seminole County Property Appraiser. One caveat sits in the fine print of the slide: the projections "assume no future increases in values or changes to millage rates." The figures are a static snapshot; rising values or a change in millage could offset part of the loss.

## Who wins, who feels it

Winter Springs has the highest homestead rate of any city in the county — 70.4 percent of parcels — which is exactly why its projected percentage hit is the steepest. The exemption at the center of Amendment 3 applies only to owner-occupied primary homes, so the more homeowners a city has, the more revenue it stands to lose.

Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann does not dispute the math. "It's going to be a challenge for every city. It will be survival mode," he told the Orlando Sentinel, noting that because Winter Springs is so heavily residential, it is among the Central Florida cities most dependent on the homestead property taxes the amendment targets.

The residents who benefit most on paper are the ones who have lived here longest. Decades of Save Our Homes caps have held their assessed values far below market, and a larger exemption stacks another break on top. Former Oviedo Mayor Dominic Persampiere put it in plain terms with his own home: after 30 years he pays about $4,000 in property taxes, he said, while a neighbor in an identical house bought two years ago pays about $8,000.

The residents most likely to feel a fee shift are the newer buyers and non-homestead owners, renters, through their landlords, and small commercial property owners who get little or no exemption to offset new charges.

## Where the money comes from

Cities cannot print money, and Florida municipalities must balance their budgets. That leaves three realistic paths to close a gap this size: cut services, raise fees, or both.

McCann has been blunt about the first. Even if Winter Springs shut "every single park," cut all youth recreation programs and eliminated funding for the Scottish Highland Games and its fireworks shows, he told the Sentinel, it "still wouldn't be enough to balance the budget without that tax money." Officials "will make it work," he said, "but I don't think folks understand the change that will take. It will be a different city."

The other lever is fees. The charges cities typically reach for fire assessments, stormwater, solid waste, recreation, share a feature that matters here: non-homestead owners pay them too. That is the shift Persampiere warned about. The expanded exemption "is only going to make the system worse and shift the tax burden to non homestead properties," he said, and a flat fire fee would land on renters and small landlords "who received no tax break." Persampiere holds non-homestead property, rental homes and a beach condo, that would not get the expanded exemption; he acknowledged the point when a resident raised it.

Public safety is the largest exposure. Across Seminole County, officials estimate the amendment would cut more than $188 million in revenue, and county figures show about 41 percent of property-tax dollars go to law enforcement and 31 percent to fire and emergency operations. The measure lists public safety among the allowed uses of property taxes, but it contains no provision shielding those budgets from the cuts.

## What the amendment actually says

Voters will see rewritten ballot language for the measure, a proposed change to Article VII and Article XII of the Florida Constitution. According to the official summary, the amendment would:

- Raise the homestead exemption for all non-school taxes to $150,000 in 2027 and $250,000 in 2028, adjusting for inflation after that.
- Reduce the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property from 10 percent to 5 percent.
- Require counties and municipalities to use property taxes solely for public safety, education and schools, infrastructure, natural resources, bond debt service, employee retirement benefits, and operations and administration — with other spending subject to approval by local officials.
- Give people who are not Florida residents as of Dec. 31, 2026, only the existing exemption until their fifth year of homestead.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/08/constitutional-amendment.jpg)

The revised ballot summary for the November 2026 property-tax amendment — the wording Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek called "the new and improved ballot language." (Florida Division of Elections)

The measure would take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and school-tax revenue would be shielded from the new exemptions. Notably, the summary contains no provision resetting existing homestead assessments to market value, a fear that has circulated online but that the appraiser rejects, saying "portability, Save our Homes, etc. stay the same."

The wording is a revision; the measure's earlier ballot summary had been challenged as misleading. Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek called the rewrite "the new and improved ballot language," writing that it "accurately and truthfully articulates the measure that we will be voting on in November" and "deserves genuine consideration on the merits." She did not take a position for or against the amendment itself.

## The case supporters make

Supporters say the relief is overdue; the homestead exemption has not been raised since 2008 even as values and tax bills climbed. Gov. Ron DeSantis, who proposed the measure, has waved off the warnings of service cuts. "Did we not have schools and police in 2019 when they were taking in $32 billion? Of course we did," he said at a recent press conference, arguing local revenues have doubled since 2019\. His chief financial officer, Blaise Ingoglia, has called the cities' warnings "scare tactics" from "apologists for big government." Proponents estimate the average homeowner would save about $2,000 a year, according to an Orlando Sentinel analysis, a tempting figure amid Florida's affordability crunch.

Critics counter that the carrot obscures the cost. "Dangling that carrot of $2,000 cash makes you feel good, but it doesn't address what services you are willing to give up for that, or wind up paying some other way," state Sen. LaVon Bracy Davis, D-Orlando, told the Sentinel. The measure needs 60 percent approval to pass a bar that sank exemption-increase amendments in both 2018 and 2022.

## Before November, ask three questions

A chart will not answer the hard part. Before you vote, put three questions to your Oviedo City Council and Winter Springs City Commission:

1. Which services are non-negotiable and which ones are you willing to cut?
2. Which fees are already under discussion to backfill the lost revenue?
3. How much of the gap do you plan to close with cuts versus new charges?

The answers are how you will know what Amendment 3 means for your street.
### Oviedo Wants to Explain the Property-Tax Amendment to Voters. Its Own Leaders Can't Agree How.
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/oviedo-property-tax-amendment-meetings/
Last updated: 2026-08-11T14:38:30.000Z
OVIEDO — The city is preparing to hold public meetings this fall to help residents understand the property-tax amendment on the November ballot. But a recorded August 5 work session shows Oviedo's own leaders divided over how — and whether — to do it, with Mayor Megan Sladek repeatedly calling the planned presentations "propaganda" and spending much of the two-hour meeting counting a bag of crayons for an online giveaway.

The session, livestreamed and archived by the city, brought together Sladek, Councilman Alan Ott, and senior staff. It came two days after a court delivered a striking judgment on the measure they were preparing to explain.

#### A court just called the ballot language misleading

On August 3, a Leon County circuit judge ruled that the amendment's ballot title and summary were "clearly and conclusively defective" and ordered them rewritten.

In a final summary-judgment order, Judge David Frank found the proposed title — "Save Our Homes From Excessive Property Taxes" — was "a political slogan," not a neutral description, and that it misleadingly borrowed the name of "Save Our Homes," a popular and unrelated 1992 constitutional cap the amendment does not touch. He found the summary's four selling points — that the measure "benefits Florida taxpayers," "ensures funding for core services," "protects small businesses," and "ensures fairness for Florida residents" — were "political rhetoric, not neutral, not explanation."

The court did not strike the amendment; judges can't. Instead it ordered Attorney General James Uthmeier to submit rewritten ballot language within 10 days and barred the Secretary of State from using the original version. A court-compliant rewrite — and a final ballot number, which had not yet been assigned — will go before voters in November. That unassigned number is part of why the measure has been hard to name: it has circulated locally as "Amendment 3," but that number is not official, and the Department of State does not assign one until the language is fixed.

#### What the amendment would actually do

Because the order lays out both the struck language and the amendment's real text, it offers the clearest public accounting yet of what the measure (formally, House Joint Resolution 1F) would do:

- **Raise the homestead exemption in two steps.** It would exempt the first **$150,000** of a homestead's value from non-school property taxes beginning in 2027, rising to **$250,000** in 2028, adjusted for inflation afterward. The struck summary implied the full $250,000 would take effect immediately — which the court called inaccurate.
- **Cut the assessment cap on other property.** It would lower the annual cap on assessment increases for non-homestead property — commercial buildings, rentals, second homes — from **10% to 5%**. The struck summary called this "protecting small businesses"; the court found the amendment never mentions small businesses and gives them no special protection.
- **Not guarantee funding for police, fire, or schools.** The struck summary claimed the amendment "ensures funding for core services." The court found the opposite: it creates no new funding guarantee, and "by substantially reducing the local property tax base," is "likely to decrease the revenues available to local governments to fund core services."
- **Not require eliminating property taxes.** The struck summary said it "requires … a schedule for full elimination." The court found the text only lets the Legislature create procedures under which local governments *may choose* to grant larger exemptions over time.
- **Give renters no benefit.** The court noted renters would see no exemption and would "likely pay more" if landlords pass along higher taxes from any resulting millage increase.
- **Make new residents wait.** People who establish Florida residency after December 31, 2026 would get only the existing exemption until their fifth year.

#### "Propaganda," and a bag of crayons

Against that backdrop, Sladek questioned whether the city should hold informational meetings at all.

"Everybody knows that we have a predisposed — the majority of people that work for the government don't like it," she said. "And you're showing up to be convinced why you should also not like it. It's insulting to people." A city presentation, she argued, would amount to telling residents, "here, we're going to spoonfeed you propaganda."

Her skepticism was not only rhetorical. Through much of the session Sladek counted and bundled crayons for a Facebook giveaway — an on-the-record protest of a meeting she called a waste of time. Her preference, she said, would be to skip presentations and hold only a resident-driven question-and-answer session: "Anything that's not audience-driven, I'm out." A government messenger, she added, is compromised by definition: "It can't be somebody on our team … Somebody who's neutral has to say this stuff or nobody's going to believe it." She pointed to the League of Women Voters, which she said plans its own nonpartisan sessions.

Ott pushed back, arguing the city can present facts without slanting them — and warning that the mayor's posture could sink the effort. "If it's done in a way that you have contempt for it, it will undermine it, whether you intend to or not," he said. He pressed for a factual framework: showing residents the original and revised ballot language side by side, and correcting specific misunderstandings — including the belief, which he and Sladek agreed is mistaken, that the amendment guarantees police and fire funding or prevents the city from raising its millage rate. Those are the same gaps the court identified in the state's ballot language.

The irony was left hanging in the room: Sladek doubted the city could be a neutral messenger on the amendment — while the court had just found the state's own official framing of it was not.

#### What it means for your tax bill

Beneath the debate over messaging sat the substance most residents will care about: what the amendment would do to Oviedo's finances, and how the city would respond.

By Sladek's own figure, "49.5% of our budget comes from homestead properties". If the exemption expands, the city loses a share of that ad valorem — property-tax — revenue, and officials were candid that they do not intend to simply absorb the loss. "At least three people here are going to vote to do whatever it takes to get as much money as we did the year before," Sladek said, characterizing where a council majority stands. Elsewhere she was more measured: "I do not want to replace the revenue 100%."

The mechanics staff walked through pointed the same direction — if property-tax revenue falls, it is made up somewhere else. The options discussed included:

- A **fire assessment fee** — a "non-ad valorem" charge based on a formula rather than property value. Because it is not a property tax, it sidesteps the homestead exemption entirely. Oviedo has used one before.
- **Consolidating or sharing police and fire services** with Seminole County, including a possible joint fire station — though officials doubted turning police over to the Sheriff would save residents money.
- Raising the **millage rate**, which the group noted would "shift the burden to commercial" property and to "renters."

That last point is the recurring reality of these debates, and one the court underscored: a change marketed as relief for homeowners can move the cost onto businesses, renters, and non-homestead owners, or reappear as a fee. A fire service funded through millage and the same service funded through a fee cost roughly the same to run; what changes is who pays, and how visibly.

#### The statewide price tag

The scale of what the amendment would remove from local budgets is large. State economists projected it would cut local, non-school property-tax revenue by about **$4.95 billion** in fiscal year 2027-28 and **$8.78 billion** in 2028-29, with a recurring hit of roughly **$11.86 billion a year** once fully phased in — figures from the state Revenue Estimating Conference, cited in the Legislature's final analysis of the bill and repeated in the court's order.

#### A work session, not a decision

This was not the full council. Only Sladek and Ott attended, alongside staff, and no votes were taken. The mayor herself said the council still needs "a discussion of the whole council … to figure out what people want to do." Any decision on whether, where, and how to hold the meetings — and how Oviedo would respond if the amendment passes — would come at a future public meeting. The first informational session had been tentatively targeted for mid-September.

I Love Oviedo Winter Springs will continue to follow the amendment and the city's response.
### Winter Springs Is Getting a New All-Day Restaurant in the Former Dominick's
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/neighborhood-kitchen-former-dominicks-winter-spring/
Last updated: 2026-08-04T19:20:09.000Z
The owners are betting on a full-day neighborhood hangout — breakfast through dinner, a mix of cuisines, and possible live music on the weekends.

_This post is for subscribers only._
### Jetta Point Conservation Transfer Approved; County Says It's Paperwork, a Commissioner Says It's Tied to Selling the Land
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/jetta-point-conservation-transfer-approved-county-says-its-paperwork-a-commissioner-says-its-tied-to-selling-the-land/
Last updated: 2026-07-31T14:16:44.000Z
*The Board of County Commissioners finalized the transfer of a Florida Communities Trust conservation restriction from Jetta Point to Rolling Hills. It passed unanimously — but only after the Winter Springs mayor, half a dozen residents, and a mayoral candidate objected, and the commissioner who represents the Jetta Point area acknowledged the move is bound up with a years-old promise to sell the land.*

---

The decision to lift a state conservation restriction from the publicly owned Jetta Point property in Winter Springs did not pass quietly. On July 28, it drew the mayor of Winter Springs, roughly half a dozen residents, and a candidate for mayor to the podium, followed by nearly an hour of commissioner discussion. In the end, the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners approved it unanimously — as part of the consent agenda, in a single bundled vote of items 3 and 5 through 18, rather than as a separate recorded motion.

The action authorized the chairman to execute an Amended Grant Award Agreement and a Release of Grant Award Agreement between Seminole County and the Florida Communities Trust, transferring the grant restrictions from Jetta Point to [Rolling Hills, a former golf course the county has committed to preserving](https://www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x88e7722ded233e2d:0x27252b68793f8d2e/photosphere?iu=https://streetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com/v1/thumbnail?panoid%3DMTAAuF4aK44e9OUWy9g3tw%26cb%5Fclient%3Dsearch.gws-prod.gps%26yaw%3D165.7909%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100%26w%3D0%26h%3D0&ik=CAISFk1UQUF1RjRhSzQ0ZTlPVVd5OWczdHc%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwim9J7Vgf2VAxUsGtAFHfC7H7wQpx96BAgbEBI&ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com). The item was sponsored out of District 3 (Commissioner Lee Constantine) and District 4 (Commissioner Amy Lockhart); the responsible staff contact was Parks and Recreation Director Rick Durr.

## "Just paperwork" — or the first step toward a sale?

The county's legal position was that the vote was narrow and procedural. Deputy County Attorney Neysa Jo Borkert told the board the item "transfers the Florida Communities Trust grant restrictions that are currently on the Jetta Point property to the Rolling Hills property," a transfer "approved back in 2018" and now being closed out. "It doesn't dictate how the Jetta Point property will be used in the future," Borkert said. "The Jetta Point property will remain as it is until the board determines what to do with it next."

But Commissioner Jay Zembower, whose District 2 includes the affected Winter Springs neighborhoods, described the transfer as inseparable from a plan to sell the land. The county, he said, "committed to surplus the Jetta Point property to the taxpayers of this county to help fund the improvements on Rolling Hills." Surplusing is the county's term for declaring land available to sell. "The folks in Rolling Hills relied upon that promise in deciding to tax themselves" through a special assessment, he said, and "the promise was made to the taxpayers of this county — not once, but multiple times — that this property would be surplused."

"We're not here to talk about how this property will be used, but how the easement will be done," Zembower said. "But the two are actually tied together at the end of the day."

## Two sets of residents, two opposite promises

Zembower also named the bind at the center of the story: the county has made competing promises to two different groups of residents. Homeowners in Rolling Hills, he said, agreed to tax themselves through a special assessment district (an MSBU) in reliance on the county's commitment to sell Jetta Point and use the proceeds to fund improvements to their park. Residents near Jetta Point want the land preserved.

"We're going to have the people at Rolling Hills on one side of this chambers who are saying, we decided to tax ourselves for a commitment you made to us," Zembower said. "And we're going to have people from my district over here going, yeah, well, that's not our problem."

Commissioner Jay Zembower (District 2) explains the bind at the center of Seminole County's Jetta Point decision

Commissioners recounted the history at length. Commissioner Bob Dallari said the county planned a park at Jetta Point around 2012 to 2013, dropped it after Winter Springs residents packed the chambers in opposition, and bought Rolling Hills in 2014 for roughly $4 million — "five, five and a half" million including environmental costs. Moving the restriction from one property to another, Dallari said, "was never done before in the state of Florida" and took years of work with state lobbyists before the state agreed in 2018\. Vice-Chair Amy Lockhart added the paper trail, citing the state documentation: the Florida Communities Trust grant application dated to 2004, she said, and the county filed its request for the land exchange in 2016.

"How We Got Here": Bob Dallari on the Jetta Point–Rolling Hills History

## The flooding is real, and the fix is unfunded

Resident after resident described flooding they say already threatens their homes. George Peno told the board his house took "over $100,000 damage" and "18 inches of water" during Hurricane Ian, and called a hydrological study "the most important thing that needs to happen." James Futch, president of the Howell Creek Reserve Homeowners Association, said his community had spent "over $150,000" maintaining its own drainage, and that a pipe junction under the Cross Seminole Trail had gone untouched "in over 15 years." Lisa Roney of Seneca Boulevard told commissioners it was her understanding the county wished to move the restrictions "in order to be able to sell Jetta Point for development," and asked for "a continuance or a no vote."

Zembower, for his part, cautioned against assuming the county was the source. As a district commissioner, he said, he had investigated flooding allegations in three subdivisions, and "in each and every one of those cases, it was not the unincorporated water from Seminole County" — it was a homeowner issue or a drainage plan overlooked when the subdivision was built. "I'm not saying that's what's happening here," he added.

Public Works Director Tawny Olore confirmed the scale of the problem and the limits of the response. The relevant stormwater project, she said, "ranked number 68 out of 103" in the county's newly adopted master plan, costs "around $2 million," and "is not currently funded." She added that county "roads and stormwater crews" would go to the area "the second week of August" to inspect and clear the ditch along the Cross Seminole Trail.

Board Chairman Andria Herr urged residents not to read the vote as indifference. She said she personally supported the item as "the closing of all of the promises made in the past," while acknowledging that recent flooding on July 5 "was not a catastrophic rain event, and we can't ignore that."

## Three paths, and a mayor's race

Into that debate came three different ideas for Jetta Point's future. Jesse Phillips — a candidate for Winter Springs mayor and founder of the Winter Springs Water Quality Initiative — asked the county, in a July 25 letter and in person, to open an Interlocal Agreement so the city could buy and preserve the land for stormwater use, financed over time through Penny Sales Tax revenue. Commissioner Constantine floated a second option: routing the property into Seminole Forever, the county's conservation program, potentially with the city helping fund the purchase. And the county's own standing plan, as commissioners described it, is to surplus — sell — the land to help pay for Rolling Hills.

Jesse Phillips, Winter Springs Mayoral Candidate, on Buying Jetta Point

Mayor Kevin McCann, who is seeking re-election, also spoke at the meeting, making clear he was "speaking as a resident" and "not on behalf of the commission." He said "the vast majority of Winter Springs residents appear to be against this move," and made three requests: protect the property's wetlands, complete a hydrological study and stormwater work "before anything is ever done," and keep the city involved in any negotiations with a future buyer.

"Speaking as a Resident": Mayor Kevin McCann on Jetta Point

The sharper exchange came afterward, online, between the incumbent and his challenger. On Phillips's campaign page, the candidate wrote that an Interlocal Agreement "could allow the City to purchase the property," adding, "If we're serious about protecting this land, we should be bringing solutions to the table." McCann responded in the comments: "Asking the city to spend 8-10 million dollars to buy this land is not a plan. Coming up with the $ $ as we face proposed tax cuts this November would be a plan. Talk is cheap, this land is not." The $8–10 million figure is McCann's estimate.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/07/Jesse-Phillips-Post-Mayor-Comment.png)

Mayor Kevin McCann's comment on Jesse Phillips's Jetta Point campaign post. Screenshot: Facebook / Jesse Phillips for Mayor.

## What happens now

Commissioner Constantine, who made the motion to approve, framed the land's future and the easement transfer as "mutually exclusive" and said he believed the county could "satisfy both sides." Whether it can is the open question. The restriction is moving to Rolling Hills. The county says Jetta Point's fate is a separate decision still to come. The stormwater project that residents say they need remains unfunded and ranked 68th of 103\. And the two neighborhoods the county has made promises to still want opposite things.

Commissioner Lee Constantine Makes the Case — and the Motion — on Jetta Point

We'll be there when county crews visit the site the second week of August, and will report what they find. If you live near Jetta Point, Seneca Boulevard, or the Cross Seminole Trail and have seen flooding on your street, email [hello@iloveoviedowintersprings.com](mailto:hello@iloveoviedowintersprings.com).

**The county says the land's future is still an open question. What should happen to Jetta Point — preservation, a city purchase, or the sale the county has promised to help fund Rolling Hills?**

*I Love Oviedo Winter Springs*
### County vote Tuesday would lift conservation protections from Winter Springs' Jetta Point
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/county-vote-tuesday-would-lift-conservation-protections-from-winter-springs-jetta-point/
Last updated: 2026-08-05T18:11:52.000Z
_This post is for subscribers only._
### Winter Springs Breaks Ground on New East Water Reclamation Facility
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-breaks-ground-on-new-east-water-reclamation-facility/
Last updated: 2026-07-21T20:46:46.000Z
The City of Winter Springs has broken ground on a new East Water Reclamation Facility, the start of what the city describes as the largest infrastructure project in its history.

### What the project is

The project replaces the city's aging East wastewater treatment plant. The Commission gave final approval in March 2026 at a guaranteed maximum price of $65.8 million, which the city reported came in under budget, with a $5.5 million contingency set aside. The construction contractor is Wharton Smith. Substantial completion is targeted for October 2028\. A replacement of the West plant is planned as the next phase.

Operation of the city's wastewater and reclaimed water systems changed hands in the fall of 2025, when Woodard & Curran took over from the previous operator, Veolia.

### Why it is being built

The rebuild follows years of documented problems with the city's wastewater system. In January 2021, a reclaimed water spill at the east plant caused a fish kill in a retention pond, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection cited 24 possible violations that resulted in fines. State audits in 2023 examined the city's water and wastewater operations. Residents and community groups had raised concerns about drinking water and wastewater infrastructure for years leading up to the state's involvement.

### How it is funded

The project draws on several sources. Low-interest State Revolving Fund loans cover $5.4 million for design and $54.1 million for construction. The city also secured $19.1 million tied to Hurricane Helene and Milton recovery, a portion carrying 50 percent principal forgiveness, along with a separate $600,000 grant.

### What happens next

With the East plant underway, the West plant replacement is the next phase. As with any project of this size, the questions ahead are about construction timeline, cost management, and the condition of the rest of the city's water and wastewater infrastructure.

We will continue to follow the project as construction moves forward and report on what it means for the community.
### Winter Springs Budget Workshop: The Senior Center Rumors, a Mayor's Warning, and a $2.8 Million Question
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-budget-workshop-fy2027-senior-center/
Last updated: 2026-07-14T12:42:48.000Z
More than two dozen seniors packed the Winter Springs budget workshop over rumors about the Senior Center and therapy pool. The concern traced back to the Mayor's own social media post — here's what the FY 2027 budget actually shows.

_This post is for subscribers only._
### The Food Factory at Oviedo on the Park Is Being Sold — Here's the Plan Behind It
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/food-factory-oviedo-on-the-park-sale/
Last updated: 2026-07-14T12:05:50.000Z
The open-air food hall anchored by Park Pub is being lined up for sale to a Maitland investment firm — with plans for a new retail building next door and a projected resale within five years.

_This post is for subscribers only._
### Seminole's Rural Boundary Fight Left Tallahassee. Now It's Back Home.
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/seminoles-rural-boundary-fight-left-tallahassee-now-its-back-home/
Last updated: 2026-07-13T20:05:55.000Z
"Correction (July 13, 2026): An earlier version stated that county planning staff had recommended denial of the Strawberry Lane application. The application was submitted this week and is under staff review; no recommendation has been made. We regret the error."

For two decades, the fight over Seminole County's rural boundary was a local one — settled at the ballot box, at the County Commission, and in court, where the county won every time. This spring it briefly moved somewhere the county couldn't control the outcome: the Florida Legislature. That effort failed on the session's final day. So the decision now sits back where it started — on the local docket — with a live application to remove part of the former Pappy's Patch from the boundary. Here is how we got here, and what is still on the table.

## What the rural boundary is

Seminole County voters codified the rural boundary in the County Charter in 2004, giving it the force of a local constitution. It draws a line between land open to dense suburban growth and land the county has committed to keeping rural, and it requires a supermajority of commissioners to remove property from the designation. The boundary has now survived three lawsuits. Notably, the county maintains that the boundary does not ban development inside the line at all — properties there can still be built under their existing land-use and zoning designations, which have been in place since the early 1990s.

## What's on the table now

With the statewide effort dead, the immediate decision returns to the Seminole County Commission, and the test case is a proposal called Valhalla Harvest Market. Filed under the entity Strawberry Lane LLC, it asks to remove roughly 67 acres of the former Pappy's Patch strawberry farm, off Florida Avenue, from the rural boundary and to change the comprehensive plan's density rules for the site.

The proposal pairs a 45-acre residential subdivision of 81 single-family homes with a 22-acre "agri-tourism" area — a working farm, an event center, and a butterfly garden. The application was submitted this week and is now under review by Seminole County planning staff, who have not made a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. Every application is reviewed against the applicable policies and regulations before staff recommends a course of action or the board takes up the matter. Even at this early stage, it is shaping up as a real test of how firmly the Black Hammock's protected border holds.

## The detour through Tallahassee

The reason this reached the state capitol at all traces to an opinion issued in November, when the Florida Attorney General's office questioned whether the boundary's supermajority requirement is constitutional — suggesting the blanket restrictions on rural landowners in Seminole and Orange counties "could very well constitute a regulatory taking" and may violate Florida's Bert Harris Act.

That opinion became the basis for a proposed amendment to Senate Bill 208, filed by Sen. Jonathan Martin of the Fort Myers area. As reported by Oviedo Community News, the amendment would have declared voter-approved rural boundaries a "taking" of development rights and created an automatic process for landowners to be paid the difference in value between their land's current use and what neighboring properties are allowed to build. Legal observers quoted by OCN, including Stetson law professor Paul Boudreaux, noted the language was broad enough to reach beyond Central Florida — potentially to Sarasota and Miami-Dade counties as well — and called it "more significant than the bill it would amend."

The amendment failed on the final day of the 2026 legislative session and did not become law, leaving the boundary's supermajority rule intact and the decision squarely local. The constitutional question it raised, however, did not disappear with it, and could return in a future session or in court.

## The case for a change

The property-rights argument is straightforward and has real legal footing behind it. If the state's own attorney general believes the supermajority rule imposes an unconstitutional burden on rural landowners, then those owners are, in this view, bearing a disproportionate cost for a public benefit without compensation.

State Sen. Jason Brodeur, who supported the amendment, framed his position as an attempt to *preserve* the boundary rather than destroy it. In comments reported by OCN, he said he worried the AG's opinion could result in the entire line being struck down in court, and that providing "a mechanism for the aggrieved" might be what saves it: "The line is politically popular but constitutional rights are more important."

Developer Chris Dorworth, a former state representative who has twice looked at building beyond the boundary, has argued that requiring landowners to seek government permission amounts to "communal decision making, not property rights based decision making." Dorworth has said any attempt to withdraw land from the boundary is "totally futile" under current rules.

## The case against

County officials and boundary supporters argue that weakening the line would erode it inward, mile by mile, by tying each rural parcel's allowed density to whatever its neighbors can build. Seminole County drafted a formal response disputing the legal basis of the AG's opinion and stressing that development is already permitted inside the boundary.

The opposition crossed party and chamber lines. State Rep. David Smith, who represents Winter Springs, said he was "aggressively working to have the House reject the Senate amendment language," warning of "catastrophic negative impacts to Seminole County." Commissioner Lee Constantine put it bluntly to OCN: "I would fall on my sword to fight this, because that's what the people of Seminole County want."

## Where the developer fits in

Dorworth's connection to the legislative effort is one of the questions OCN has pressed. Through public-records requests, OCN reported that Dorworth had messaged multiple county commissioners urging support for the amendment, and Commissioner Lee Constantine told OCN the amendment "has Dorworth's fingerprints all over it." Dorworth, for his part, told OCN that "everyone's insistence on dragging me into this is getting annoying" and pointed to the attorney general's letter as evidence the restriction is an unconstitutional taking. He declined further comment except to warn that inaccurate coverage would draw litigation.

His two properties of interest have been the 670-acre River Cross project — denied, and the basis for the county's court victories — and the former Pappy's Patch in Oviedo. As of OCN's early-March reporting, Dorworth had discussed the Pappy's Patch concept with the county since 2021 and sent a 2024 letter seeking removal of the 67 acres, but had not filed a formal application. That application, under Strawberry Lane LLC, was submitted this week and is now under staff review; the county has not made any recommendation to the commission.

*(The commissioner correspondence, the direct quotes above, and the records-request findings are the original reporting of Oviedo Community News; read their full account and the underlying documents at their site.)*

## See the land

The property at the center of the Oviedo piece of this fight is Pappy's Patch, the you-pick strawberry farm in the Black Hammock. Take a look for yourself before picturing 81 homes on it.

[Open the 360° view of the land.](https://www.google.com/local/place/fid/0x88e76bb5591627a3:0x21f29ae6e0a25816/photosphere?iu=https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gps-cs-s/APNQkAGuUVD1y%5FuXabpQUzWaO10JpnH7qsv4LxLu44IlmA0f6yBpAOh4ytSRVW%5FHDMLyOOWojN279erSa-6DqOqsopm9CBglAMpFMwYbXexbN%5FteKhMnUhcrh-RQEG557R%5FePTpGvVpRfg%3Dw160-h106-k-no-pi-0-ya25.99999-ro-0-fo100&ik=CAoSF0NJSE0wb2dLRUlDQWdJREU3cW1vOHdF&ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com)

## Why it matters here

Whatever one thinks of the constitutional argument, the stakes are clear on both sides. Supporters of the boundary see a line that only works if it holds; supporters of a change see landowners carrying a public cost alone. The statewide route that could have settled it for everyone at once is closed for now — which means the next real decision is a local one, made by commissioners our neighbors elect, on a specific piece of the Black Hammock.

Oviedo and Winter Springs neighbors: should the rural boundary stay a matter for local voters and their commissioners to decide, or do the property-rights concerns the attorney general raised deserve a statewide fix? We'd like to hear where you land.

*Reporting compiled by I Love Oviedo Winter Springs, drawing on public records and the original reporting of Oviedo Community News. Official documents — the attorney general's opinion, the county's response letter, the text of SB 208, and the county staff report on the Valhalla Harvest Market request are available upon request.*
### "This Live Oak Is Here to Stay": The Story of the Tree Being Saved in Winter Springs Town Center
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-town-center-live-oak-preserved/
Last updated: 2026-07-08T22:02:10.000Z
If you have driven past the corner of Michael Blake Boulevard and State Road 434 lately, you have probably noticed the construction fencing, the equipment, and the cleared ground where the Town Center's newest development is taking shape. You may have also noticed something standing tall in the middle of it all: a sprawling, moss-draped live oak that has anchored that corner for decades.

That tree is staying. And right now, a local crew is working to make sure it not only survives the construction around it, but comes out healthier on the other side.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/d5/94/d5940bd6-c76c-45fe-bcfe-148c9f72f716/content/images/2026/07/winter-springs-development-sea-cove-phase-2-1.png)

The Seahawk Cove Extension site at the corner of Michael Blake Boulevard and State Road 434\. The preserved live oak sits within the project boundary. Source: City of Winter Springs development tracker.

## A corner that has always been part of the plan

The development going in here is known as the Seahawk Cove Extension, part of the larger Winter Springs Town Center District. The site is slated to bring new neighborhood staples to the area, with a 7 Brew Coffee, a dentist office, and a children's learning center among the uses planned for the property.

The project has drawn its share of frustration from neighbors, and understandably so. A number of trees came down where the learning center is going, and nobody in Oviedo or Winter Springs enjoys watching mature canopy disappear for a coffee stand or a strip of storefronts.

At the same time, this stretch of 434 has been designated for exactly this kind of growth for a long time. The Town Center District was created to concentrate commercial development in one walkable, mixed-use core rather than scattering it across the community. The reasoning behind it is simple: if Winter Springs is going to grow, the Town Center is where that growth is supposed to happen. That does not make the loss of any single tree easier to watch, but it is the framework the city has followed for years.

## The tree that made the cut

Not every tree on the site was destined for removal. As a condition tied to the development, the developer agreed to preserve the large live oak near the corner of Michael Blake Boulevard and State Road 434, a roughly 52-inch specimen oak that is easily one of the most striking natural features left on the property.

Preserving a tree this size through active construction is not as simple as putting a fence around it and hoping for the best. Heavy equipment, grading, and changes to the soil and drainage around a mature oak can quietly damage the root system long before the canopy shows any sign of stress. Saving a tree like this one takes a plan.

## Meet the crew keeping it alive

That plan is being carried out by A Budget Tree Service, and one of their team members, Dale Meagher, shared what is happening on a local community page this week.

According to Dale, the live oak is currently in a slightly declined state, and the tree protection measures now in place will make a real difference through the construction process by reducing impact on its root system. Beyond just protecting the tree, the crew is planning a complete root treatment, including root invigoration and soil amendments, to actively improve the oak's health.

Dale said it best: **"This live oak is here to stay."**

It is a small but meaningful reminder that development and preservation are not always an either/or. With the right conditions written into an agreement and the right people doing the work, a landmark tree can remain part of the community even as the corner around it changes.

## Want to follow the project?

The City of Winter Springs maintains a public development tracker where residents can follow the details of projects like this one. You can view it here:

**Development Tracker:** [https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0a4655d723e54ba5b1264c4dbcc9aaf4](https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0a4655d723e54ba5b1264c4dbcc9aaf4?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com)

And you can learn more about the crew doing the preservation work at A Budget Tree Service: [https://www.abudgettreeservice.com/](https://www.abudgettreeservice.com/?ref=iloveoviedowintersprings.com)

---

*We know development in the Town Center is a topic Winter Springs neighbors feel strongly about, on both sides. When a project moves forward, what matters most to you: preserving the trees and green space we already have, the new businesses and services coming in, or the way the two are balanced? Let us know in the comments.*

*— I Love Oviedo Winter Springs*
### Big news for YOUR Oviedo Mall: about 700 new apartments just cleared a major hurdle
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/oviedo-mall-apartments-approved/
Last updated: 2026-07-07T12:45:51.000Z
Oviedo and Winter Springs neighbors, this one's been a long time coming.

Straight from the horse's mouth: Kevin Hipes, Director of Development for the Oviedo Mall, announced Monday that the mall's property owners have signed the agreement needed to bring apartments onto mall property — the milestone that's been holding this whole project up for years. About 700 units are planned across two phases.

Here's what actually happened, and what's locked in versus still in the works.

## Why this took so long — and what just changed

Redeveloping a mall is complicated for one big reason: nobody owns the whole thing. As Hipes put it, "malls are typically not owned by one person or one entity — the department stores very often own their own land," and at Oviedo that meant several separate owners all had to say yes.

In late June, they finally did. The last of the owners signed the access agreement (formally, a Construction, Operation and Reciprocal Easement Agreement) that lets development happen across the shared property. That signature is the unlock everyone's been waiting on.

## Phase 1: the old Macy's → about 400 apartments (this is the real, moving one)

The first and furthest-along piece sits on about 15 acres on the southeast side, at the former Macy's, built by Picerne Real Estate Group. Picerne has closed on the land, the Macy's building will be demolished to make room, and a new public mall entrance will go in on that east side so residents can walk straight into the shops, restaurants and theater.

The plan is for about **400 units**. (One note for accuracy: the city approved roughly 360 here back in 2023, and the developer now describes it as closer to 400 — so the final count will firm up when Picerne files updated plans.) The project is estimated around **$100 million and entirely privately funded** — a point Hipes stressed, with no taxpayer money involved. Construction could begin **around the start of 2027**, once demolition and building permits are approved.

## Phase 2: the west side → about 300 apartments (still needs city approval)

The second community, from Virginia-based Woodfield Development, is planned for about 14 acres on the west side of the mall — roughly **300 units**.

Important: **Phase 2 is not approved yet.** The developers still have to bring construction plans to the City of Oviedo for permits, so this phase comes later — likely 2027 into 2028.

## The bigger picture

Put both phases together and you're looking at about **700 apartments** — and, in Hipes's words, "well over 2,000 new residents" living within walking distance of the mall.

This is the first real step toward turning the Oviedo Mall into a mixed-use "eat, sleep, work and play" district. Down the road, the vision includes a reimagined food hall, a hotel, more entertainment, and a "business and medical main street" along the east wing anchored by Orlando Orthopedic Center. The mall — open since 1998 and about 85% leased, mostly to local brands plus that 22-screen Regal Cinemas — has been holding steady while all of this comes together.

## What about traffic?

It's the first thing a lot of us thought, and Hipes addressed it head-on. His argument: putting housing right on the mall property is "the best place to put density," and it could even pull some cut-through traffic out of nearby neighborhoods. But he didn't pretend it's impact-free — in his own words, "does that mean the mall growth is not going to bring any traffic on local roads? Of course not."

So that's the honest trade: a revitalized mall and walkable housing, in exchange for more cars near the State Road 417 and Red Bug Lake Road interchange — a stretch that carries plenty of Winter Springs drivers too, not just Oviedo. Fair questions remain about how the city plans to handle the added road and intersection load, especially as Phase 2 goes through approval.

## Want in?

Hipes has partnered with First Capital Property Group on leasing and management, and he's openly invited anyone interested in leasing mall space to reach out to him directly at [**kevin@HCBrealestate.com**](mailto:kevin@HCBrealestate.com).

## Over to you

Are you excited to see the mall come back to life, or worried about what \~700 apartments does to traffic around Red Bug and Mitchell Hammock? Drop a comment.

#Oviedo #WinterSprings #OviedoMall #SeminoleCounty #LocalNews
### Winter Springs Water and Stormwater Projects Explained
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-stormwater-rates/
Last updated: 2026-07-07T12:50:22.000Z
A lot of what a city does happens quietly in the background. The water that shows up when you turn the tap, and the ponds that hold rainwater during a storm. Most of us only think about these things when something goes wrong. Lately there has been a lot of conversation in Winter Springs about wastewater and stormwater rates, so here is a plain-language look at what is actually driving those changes and where the money is going.

## Wastewater plants

The city is replacing two wastewater treatment plants that have not been replaced in more than 50 years. Both plants were purchased used, and the replacement project is expected to cost more than $100 million. A rate study looked at how much debt this work will put the city into, and the resulting increase is being passed on to utility customers to cover that cost.

## Stormwater funds

The stormwater enterprise fund is meant to operate on its own, without help from the city's general fund. For years, it has not. The fund has been running at a deficit of roughly $500,000 a year, with the general fund covering the difference just to keep existing service running.

In 2022, the stormwater rate was $5 a month. A recent rate study concluded that a phased increase over five years is needed to properly fund pond maintenance, pipe repairs, and the infrastructure work required to reduce flooding risk. The goal is for the stormwater fund to become self-sustaining and to build up the crews, equipment, and pond maintenance program the city has been without.

The city is also pursuing grants and Seminole County Penny Sales Tax funding to help cover this work, rather than relying on rate increases alone.

## A simple way to lower your water bill

One thing residents can do on their end: check your irrigation. Make sure your rain sensor is actually working, and water no more than twice a week, at night. It is a small change that can noticeably lower a water bill.

## Stormwater projects underway or planned

Here is a look at the stormwater-related projects currently in progress or planned, along with their estimated costs or the city's grant match:

- **Tuskawilla Crossings Pond 1 Repairs and Restoration** — estimated $2,500,000\. The city will advertise for bids once it receives its SJRWMD permit.
- **Wetland Park Outfall Improvements** — estimated $1,500,000\. Also awaiting the SJRWMD permit before bidding.
- **Gee Creek Slope Stabilization at Moss Park** — city match of $190,000 through an NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection grant. Currently under construction.
- **Hurricane Milton Creek Debris Removal** — fully grant funded through NRCS, no city match. Currently out to bid.
- **Hurricane Milton Sediment Removal** — fully grant funded through NRCS, no city match. Currently out to bid.
- **Police Station Safe Room** — city match of $600,000 through a FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant. Awaiting the final signed agreement from FEMA.
- **Public Works Permanent Generator** — city match of $185,000 through FEMA HMGP. Awaiting final agreement.
- **Flood Proofing 12 Sanitary Sewer Lift Stations** — city match of $1,200,000 through FEMA HMGP. Awaiting final agreement.
- **Acquisition and Demolition of 1 Flood Prone Home** — city match of $90,600 through FEMA HMGP. Awaiting final agreement.
- **Elevation of 3 Flood Prone Homes** — city match of $125,000 through FEMA HMGP. Awaiting final agreement.
- **Shore Road and Alton Road Culvert Improvements at Gee Creek** — estimated $750,000\. Future project.
- **Gee Creek Channel Improvements between Shore Road and Alton Road** — estimated $250,000\. Future project.
- **Alton Road Culvert Improvements at No Name Creek** — estimated $250,000\. Future project.
- **Northern Way and Bear Creek Estates Storm Sewer Improvements** — estimated $200,000\. Future project.
- **Future drainage projects under the Kimley-Horn Stormwater Master Plan** — estimated $5,000,000.

Altogether, these projects add up to roughly $13,000,000 in planned or in-progress stormwater work.

## How to follow along

City Commission agendas, minutes, and staff presentations covering these projects are public, and the meetings themselves are open to residents. That is the most reliable way to track progress as the work moves forward.

We will keep sharing plain-language updates as these projects develop.
### Winter Springs FY 2027 Budget Explained: Following the Money
URL: https://www.iloveoviedowintersprings.com/winter-springs-fy-2027-budget-explained-following-the-money-2027/
Last updated: 2026-07-14T12:28:08.000Z
We followed the money through Winter Springs' proposed FY 2027 budget — where revenue comes from, what's changing, and what it means for residents.

_This post is for subscribers only._