There could be a much different future in how Winter Park protects its past.
The city’s Historic Preservation Board is pushing changes to the way Winter Park creates historic districts and designates historic homes. The board has drafted a proposed ordinance to make those changes.
But the effort — and the board itself — is in limbo, all while a vocal segment of the community pushes in the opposite direction and argues that the proposed protections go too far.
Winter Park’s current requirement for launching an historic-designation process for a neighborhood is for two-thirds of property owners to approve the process. That threshold is much higher than the 50 percent required in other area cities like Orlando or Mount Dora.