Summary:
Hughes, Inc. owns property on two blocks located west of the Orlando Federal Courthouse, bound on the west by Terry Ave. and on the north and south by W. Washington St. and W. Central Blvd. and bisected by Grover Park Dr. Both properties are unimproved. The owner now requests two temporary use permits: to allow temporary parking for courthouse employees and visitors, as well as general downtown parking on the south block, and to allow a media staging area for the upcoming Noor Salman trial on the north block. The Hughes-owned properties on the north block are zoned AC-2/T/PH, R-2B/T/PH, and PD/T/PH (The Terrace @ Federal Square Planned Development). The properties on the south block are all zoned AC-2/T/PH.
Exhibit A of the attachment identifies the Hughes-owned properties in red border. Exhibit B shows the requested parking allowances. The applicant, Greg Lee of Baker & Hostetler, details the request, as follows:
The I-4 Ultimate Project has impacted the availability of parking serving the downtown Orlando area. In particular, parking available to visitors of the Federal Courthouse has been reduced and significantly impacted. The shortage of available parking creates noticeable issues when a high-profile case is being heard in the Federal Courthouse – members of the media, visitors and spectators have difficulty finding adequate parking. Parking for visitors who attend special events Downtown has also been impacted by the I-4 Ultimate Project.
The Property (depicted on Exhibit “A”) is located in close proximity to the Federal Courthouse and is centrally located for other Downtown visitors. In an effort to temporarily alleviate some of the parking concerns created by the I-4 Ultimate Project, Owner proposes to use the Property as a parking lot for a period of one (1) year following approval of the temporary use permit. The portion of the Property shown in red shade on the enclosed Exhibit “B” will be utilized by visitors to the Federal Courthouse and will be designated as “Media Parking Area” during certain high-profile cases. During such periods, Owner will use signage, fencing and/or ropes to clearly designate the “Media Parking Area” in order to control access to those parking spaces. The portion of the Property shown in blue shade on the enclosed Exhibit “B” (the “General Parking Area”) will be utilized by visitors to Downtown, including visitors to the Federal Courthouse and those attending special events. The temporary use permit will allow Owner to provide necessary parking services to Downtown on a short term basis in hopes that a long term parking situation emerges.
The Owner hereby requests that the City issue a Temporary Use Permit to allow parking on the unimproved surface located on the Property for a period of one (1) year following approval of this request. We request that this Application be approved by the Orlando City Council at the next scheduled meeting on February 26, 2018.
Though the applicant proposes to allow general downtown parking and media parking for the trial on the north block (within the red shaded area), staff's recomendation is to allow only media parking on the north block, and no general or courthouse employee or visitor parking whatsoever on any portion of the north block. This is detailed in the recomendation section below. Also, there is an attachment showing the staff-approved layout of the media parking area. It includes two camera platforms, parking area for eight media vans, dumpsters, two porta-potties and a satellite truck area. The colors refer to: platform (orange), tents/trailers for media (yellow and red), generators and lights (purple), parking (green), dumpster (blue) and porta-potties (light green).
It is staff's understanding that Hughes, Inc. plans on undertaking a market study for these properties to determine their redevelopment potential and options. |