WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — After hearing the concerns of dozens of residents during a community meeting Monday, officials with the city of Winter Garden said they may have to go back to the drawing board for a proposed Downtown Residential Overlay ordinance.

The community meeting was held Monday to hear from residents about the proposed ordinance, which would limit the size of new construction, or the expansion of existing structures in part of the city's Golf Cart District

What You Need To Know

  • A proposed Downtown Residential Overlay ordinance would cap the amount of expansion allowed for older homes in part of Winter Garden's Golf Cart District

  • Winter Garden Planning and Zoning officials held a community meeting Monday to hear how residents feel about the proposed ordinance

  • Close to 200 people showed up to be heard, and many residents said they hoped the city can come up with a plan that caps on home sizes to keep the feel of Winter Garden, while not restricting those looking to expand their homes

  • City officials say they will either scratch the proposed ordinance altogether or revise it

With close to 200 people attending the meeting to voice their opinions on the proposal, it was standing room only at Winter Garden City Hall. Dozens of those in attendance were given the opportunity to speak.

The meeting started with a presentation on the proposed ordinance by the city’s Planning and Zoning Division.

City officials said the goal of the ordinance is to preserve the character of the residential areas around the city's downtown area by limiting the size of buildings.

Ben Grossman said he has lived in Winter Garden for a little more than a year and is looking to start a family in his current home. He wants to eventually expand his home from 1,000 square feet to about 1,600 square feet, but with the proposed restrictions, he’d only be able to expand to about 1,250 square feet.

“I think it pushes away a lot of young people," Grossman said. "My wife and I, we’re young. We’re 27. And a lot of these regulations put caps on how large you can expand your home. We’d like to have kids one day and have kids here, but with our current spot and not being able to expand, it would be pretty tough for us to stay here.”

But others, like Trina McWilliams, want to see an ordinance put in place.

A lifelong Winter Garden resident, McWilliams said the large homes being built in the area are taking away from the “old timey” city she has called home. And she said the construction has had other consequences as well. 

“We no longer have grass. We have dirt and a river," she said of water runoff from nearby properties. "We had to take out flood insurance on our property for the first time ever this year because of the water problem that we are having. There’s been five of these houses built in our neighborhood. It’s getting worse, and they don’t fit in.”

While some residents disagreed on the state of the city, many agreed that the ordinance is too restrictive.

They said they hope the city can come up with a plan that can put caps on home size to keep the feel of Winter Garden, while not putting undue restrictions on property owners who want to expand existing homes.

City officials said after the meeting that based on public input, it’s obvious they need to go back to the drawing board.

They said they could revise the existing proposal or start over from scratch.