WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — Officials with the city of Winter Garden are planning to host a discussion next week about a proposal to adopt a new Downtown Residential Overlay District to limit home expansions and rebuilds on existing lots.

This would be in Winter Garden’s historic golf cart district, where many residents say they are upset about the proposal.

Whether someone is a new buyer or potential buyer for home right near the heart of downtown Winter Garden, the proposed ordinance could alter future plans.

Many of the homes that are a golf cart drive away from downtown were built in the 1960s and 1970s.

Isabel Sheeter has been trying to get her hands on a home in the golf cart district, and recently purchased a 1,500-square-foot home on a quarter-of-an-acre lot.

“I want to be able to make these houses beautiful,” Sheeter said. “A lot of people are buying these houses. They are putting band aids on them, basically adding a little square footage on the inside, maybe painting the outside of the house. But they are still looking old.”

She says her newly purchased home is now a blank canvas, which Sheeter hopes to turn into her masterpiece. Her plan would nearly double the home’s current size.

But the proposed ordinance the city is considering could impact what Sheeter wants to do.

“What they want us to do is take the square footage from the house to the south, to the north, to the east and to the west of this house, average that square footage and then take 125 percent of that,” Sheeter said. “That’s the number of square footage I would be able to add to this house.”

That totals about 500 square feet.

According to the city’s zoning planner, the ordinance would aim to “preserve the character of the residential areas within and surrounding the city’s historic downtown area by limiting the size of structures and imposing other requirements.”

Sheeter isn’t happy with that proposal.

“If I wanted HOA restrictions, I would move into a neighborhood,” she said. “This is not a neighborhood. This shouldn’t have HOA restrictions.” 

Under the ordinance, there would be an opportunity for a special exception permit — but even those would add time and costs to any potential project.

The community discussion will be held at Winter Garden City Hall this coming Monday at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is being run by the city’s planning and zoning division, but one or more members of the city commission may be in attendance.