Mayor and Commissioners,
Please read this again: Winter Park – Third World City.
I am asking that you each carefully consider the current Historic Preservation code, refund Charlie’s $100,000 “fine,” deny the changes before you on May 14, and replace the code with something less ambiguous and more constructive.
The property owner filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics who narrowly ruled there was no basis for further investigation as there was no evidence members of the Historic Preservation Board personally received any special privilege, benefit or exemption. This ruling does not appear to preclude the further pursuit of an extortion claim against the HPB members or the city.
Whether or not the city is pursued for extortion, your acceptance of the $100,000 “fine” is now a standard of Winter Park governance. Are you sure you want that?
I am reminded that HPB board chair John Skolfield was recorded telling the property owner, “… you’ll be known forever and more as the guy that fucked with the historic preservation board and came in from the outside and that’s probably not how you want to raise your family.” Why is John Skolfield still on the Historic Preservation Board? By keeping him, you are endorsing his behavior as acceptable. Are you sure you want that?
Keep in mind that the historic preservation code is rightly limited to exterior appearance and materials. I am told there was a meeting with the mayor and the city manager on this matter. The mayor is said to have insisted on several occasions in this meeting that “Charlie knew,” meaning he knew he was violating the code. I wonder how the mayor knew this, and I wonder why she thought it was relevant. After all, the removal of the second-floor framing was necessitated by its rot and there was never any claim that the exterior was not to be renovated as previously approved by HPB. In other words, whether “Charlie knew” is irrelevant to the outcome. The removal of the rotted framing was an issue only because Winter Park has an overly complicated and ambiguous Historic Preservation law that gives HPB arbitrary power to impose their zealotry on both property owners and developers without justification. Are you sure you want that?
The commission will do great service to the city by refunding Charlie’s $100,000 “fine,” by denying changes to the Historic Preservation code before you on May 14, and by requiring HPB to make code changes that lessen the burden on property owners and developers so that they may complete whatever structural changes are required to rehabilitate an historic property, provided the exterior of the completed structure is consistent with prior HPB approvals.
Regards, Pete Weldon