Neighbors thumbs-down on Enzian growth
MAITLAND — Sandy Wessel can hardly see the Enzian Theater through thick brush behind her Lake Maitland Terrace condominium.
But a proposed two-screen expansion could bring the nationally known independent theater to within feet of her bedroom window, while also removing the foliage that keeps the noise out of her home, she says.
“I don’t want to hear the short-order cooks screaming orders back and forth at 10 at night when I’m trying to sleep,” said Wessel, who was among more than a dozen residents who opposed the expansion project at a Maitland planning and zoning meeting last week.
The $6.5 million plan also met opposition from residents of a neighborhood of single-family homes between U.S. Highway 17-92 and Lake Maitland, who
said the added seating will bring more traffic and overflow parking to their residential streets.
After more than two hours of discussion, officials opted to bump the project back to Maitland’s development review committee, in the hope Enzian officials can tweak it to satisfy the neighbors and city before bringing it forward again.
At the meeting, supporters of the project called the Enzian “a jewel” of Maitland and said the singlescreen theater known for hosting the Oscar-qualifying Florida Film Festival is the “soul of the neighborhood.”
The 15,000-square-foot project, first announced in 2013, would have the existing theater shrink by 20 seats to 210, while the two new cinemas would hold 80 and 50 moviegoers, respectively. The theater also would construct a new lobby with a first-floor kitchen, concessions and restrooms.
To date, the theater has raised about $5 million toward the project, Enzian attorney Hal Kantor said.
Kantor said “a single screen isn’t sufficient in this business,” and the added space would allow for additional showings of popular films, such as “The Florida Project.”
The Lake Maitland Terrace residents association has met with Enzian Theater officials in the past few weeks and asked the theater to move three commercial air conditioning units to the roof and wall them in to limit noise. The group also requested the theater plant new palms and bamboo to block sound.
Kantor said the Enzian is looking into making those changes to the plan. Already, he said, the theater agreed to move its entrance closer to U.S. 17-92 and farther from the neighborhood on the east side of the cinema. The nonprofit will also plant more greenery to create more space between the theater and surrounding homes to the east.
However, Paula Gale, who lives on nearby Magnolia Road, said Enzian customers have already trampled her lawn and use her driveway to turn around and park. She said the expansion will only create more problems.
“Already the neighborhood is flooded with traffic,” Gale said. “The traffic is constant through the neighborhood throughout the day and night.”
Neighbor Tom Kane suggested Enzian officials consider a parking garage to alleviate the parking concerns.
“When they have the film festival, it is a true nightmare to live in the neighborhood,” Kane said. “That burden can be alleviated, but I realize it would cost money.”
But the Enzian argued it has 203 parking spaces at its disposal — enough to satisfy the city’s 199-space requirement — because of an agreement it reached to park as many as 90 vehicles at Park Maitland School across the street.
But that didn’t satisfy planning and zoning officials.
“I think the parking is the big issue. If you solve that, you have a great project,” said Barry Kalmanson, who sits on the planning and zoning board. “We said that two years ago, and I don’t see that the parking is much better.”
Wessel said she and her neighbors at Lake Maitland Terrace don’t oppose the expansion but just want the theater to work with them so they only hear the Enzian’s crowd during its annual Halloween and New Year’s Eve parties.
“We’re [asking] for reasonable conditions that will protect us,” she said. “We just want to be able to sleep at night.”