After almost two hours of discussion, the Winter Park Planning and Zoning Board voted Tuesday night to recommend approval of the controversial Rollins College faculty and staff housing project, but the recommendation comes with a list of conditions.

A main point of contention during the meeting was Rollins College’s request to be exempt from paying property taxes on the project once it is built. That issue and the project itself now head to the city commission for consideration, GrowthSpotter reported.

The proposed project at 340 W. Welbourne Ave. would provide attainable housing for Rollins College faculty and staff — a critical need, college officials say.

“Integral to our educational mission is the ability of faculty to live and work closely with our students, attend activities on campus, and meet with our students for cultural events,” said Donald Davison, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Rollins College. “Increasingly, we are unable to hire our top candidates, because the prohibitive cost of housing in Winter Park and the high cost of living in Central Florida deters candidates from accepting our offers,”

The plans that went before the board call for a 45,842-square-foot building with 30 attainable units, including 6 one-bedroom, 19 two-bedroom, and 5 three-bedroom apartments. It would have roughly 60 parking spaces, depending on its final configuration.

This was the third time that the project — contentious despite its relatively small size — appeared before the Planning and Zoning Board this year. Initially, Rollins College wanted to build a three-story, 80,981-square-foot, 48-unit building. However, the project has been redesigned and scaled back multiple times due to public opposition to the proposed density.

Rollins’ decision to request a property tax exemption caused a notable amount of controversy Tuesday night. A staff report recommended approval of the project with nine conditions, one of which specified that the property must remain subject to ad valorem taxes unless otherwise permitted by Florida statutes. However, there is a state statute that allows nonprofits to seek property tax exemptions, and Rollins qualifies as a nonprofit.

The estimated annual property tax on the project for the county, the city, and the St. John’s River Water Management District would be $140,000, according to Winter Park city staff.

Nine members of the public spoke during the meeting. Most of them expressed frustration that Rollins College sought this exemption, noting that residents and small businesses in the city have no option to opt out of property taxes and that Rollins should pay their fair share to support essential public services. Members of the board almost universally agreed with the public on that matter.

“This is a commercial development project, and it violates our city code. It includes too many units and not enough parking spaces.” said board member Jason Johnson. “Rollins is asking for favors, and in exchange for those favors it is certainly within this board’s purview to ask Rollins to give on some things, and one of those things would be opting out of their ability to seek a tax exemption.”

Rebecca Wilson, a land use attorney with Lowndes, represented Rollins at the meeting. She explained that the college was seeking a tax exemption, but that the exemption is not part of the application and that the college is happy to work with the city on an agreement.

Other than the concerns over the property tax exemption, board members were generally in favor of the proposed project.

Board member David Borenstein said he thought the building was beautiful. “I think it’s going to be an enhancement to the area. I do think adding faculty and administration here is also a benefit to the city,” he said.

The board ultimately voted to unanimously recommend approval of the project, with nine conditions of approval laid out by staff. These conditions included the prohibition of classroom instruction space and undergrad and grad housing on the property and the commitment that the college will maintain ownership of the housing for at least 30 years. The board also recommended that the City Commission approve the project but deny Rollins’ request to be granted a property tax exemption.

The project first went before the board on January 17, where it received a 4-2 vote of approval. On January 24, the City Commission tabled the project until February 14. Rollins College then scaled back its proposal to 72,922 square feet and 39 units and subsequently pulled the plans for the project so that they could prepare an updated proposal to go through the approval process. The college then submitted its current plans for a nearly 46,000-square-foot building.

Rollins College also has plans to build a 300-bed, 139,200-square-foot student housing residential village on its campus. The project would replace the existing 80-bed Holt Hall, an existing public safety office, and six tennis courts on about 3.6 acres directly north of the Alfond Sports Center.

Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at (407) 607-8160 or TyWilliams@GrowthSpotter.com. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.