Oakland will build center beside West Orange Trail
Sweat-soaked from a morning run on the West Orange Trail, Daniel Gutierrez caught his breath under a shade tree in Oakland, near the spot where the town plans to build an art and history center.
The center, partly funded with tourist-tax dollars, will have restrooms, a concession stand, a covered front porch for trail users and an air-conditioned art gallery.
“That would be a plus,” said Gutierrez, 28, an accountant and a semi-pro soccer referee who often works out on the trail with his wife, bicyclist Diana Martinez.
But the project, which figures to be popular with the thousands of bicyclists and runners who use the trail every week, has run into a snag with Kyle and Katja Williams, who own the property next door.
“We ourselves had intentions, when we purchased our building, to turn the front of it into a cafe,” the couple wrote in a May 25 letter to town officials objecting to possible infringements.
They bought the long, twostory office building on North Tubb Street for $475,000 about nine months ago.
The couple, who didn’t return calls for comment, said in their letter they bought the property “mainly because we fell in love with the area and everyone we met out here was incredibly nice to work with.”
But they then clashed with the zoning board over a non-conforming sign for their business tenants and now over the location and size of the town’s project.
Town Manager Dennis Foltz envisions the 3,000-square-foot art and history center as a gathering place for residents, many of whom don’t have home mail delivery but instead must pick it up from the post office about a block away.
Its design includes a wraparound front porch, which Foltz sees as a place where residents can “sit down, have a cup of coffee with their neighbors and read the mail.”
“This will be an art and history museum. We expect several historical exhibits — everything from artifacts to town history and railroads,” he said in an email. “I think there will be a LOT of pictures.”
The town won a $225,000 cultural grant from Orange County Arts & Cultural Affairs to defray the estimated $850,000 cost of the project.
The grant came from a tiny slice of the county’s tourist tax, the 6 percent levy assessed on hotel and motel rooms, Airbnb rentals and other short-term lodging.
The center, expected to be comFoltz pleted next year, will sit on a half acre of town-owned land, formerly the location of the “little white house.” The tiny wood home was known in town as the place children could visit Santa at holiday time and whisper gift lists in his ear.
Because of updated building codes, estimated renovations for the charming old house were deemed too costly, and it was torn down in 2013.
In letters, the Williamses listed concerns, including the possibility the venue might host holiday concerts and community barbecues.
The center also was designed to be two feet closer to the Williams’ property line than town code allows. The zoning board recommended a variance and special exception for the center project, and town commissioners unanimously approved it.
The couple also worried the art and history center might interfere with their future business plans.
“We are, of course, seeing the concession stand taking the place of our cafe idea,” they wrote. “However we do believe a gift shop, an ice cream place, an antique shop, a meeting place that serves light appetizers, wine and beer could still coexist with your development and be a welcome addition to Oakland.”
Coincidentally, the town recently moved its planning department into an office in the Williams’ building. Public Works Director Mike Parker said the center, which he estimated construction will take about six months to build, will serve multiple purposes and provide relief to trail users.
Now, a sign taped to the front of Town Hall warns visitors “No Public Restrooms,” though people stop in anyway for a bathroom break and a sip from the water fountain in the lobby.
Carole Perlman, 67, and her husband, Ron, said they’d take a break at the new museum while on their four-mile walks from the Oakland Nature Preserve to Tildenville School Road and back — if only to use the restrooms.
“The little port-a-potty at Tildenville [School] Road is a little iffy most of the time,” she said.
said the center will tell the unusual history of the little town, population 2,635.
More than a century ago, it was a Central Florida commerce center, where two small but bustling railroads carried vegetables and citrus to the nation. Its first mayor was a Russian immigrant who had preferred the name “St. Petersburg” in honor of his birthplace, rather than Oakland for the town’s tree canopies.
Terry Olson, director of Orange County arts and cultural affairs, said the venue also will benefit both artists and art lovers.
“It’s important to have art spread out in all of our communities,” he said.
But avid trail users like Nicole Kvitkauskas, 21, who runs 15 miles a day, and Bryan Avila, 11, who rides his bike with his mom and little sister, welcome the upgraded trail stop in Oakland.
“This is usually our only break,” Bryan Avila said.