Seminole might move civil court from downtown Sanford
Seminole County officials are working on a plan to move the county’s civil-court operations out of a four-story building in downtown Sanford and into the Criminal Justice Center at the Five Points Operations Complex off U.S. Highway 17-92.
County leaders said they are considering moving the civil courthouse after Sanford officials announced in February the city was teaming with a Coral Gablesbased company to develop a threeblock area east of the courthouse into shops, residences and a hotel.
Part of that development will sit on what is now city-owned land south of East Seminole Boulevard that has long served as a parking lot for courthouse employees and the public.
Seminole Commissioner Brenda Carey warned the county could be caught off guard if the development takes away parking for the courthouse.
“If we were not able to park in the parking lot … we obviously would not be able to operate the courthouse,” Carey said at a recent
county meeting. “I think that we need to think about our future.”
But Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett said any development plans at the site would include a parking garage with enough space for the courthouse.
“There is always going to be parking [for the courthouse] as far as any development goes,” he said. “If they decide to move the courthouse, that’s their prerogative. But that would mean spending millions and millions of dollars to do that.”
Built in 1972 and overlooking the Lake Monroe waterfront, Seminole’s civil courthouse is where residents go to apply for marriage licenses, file for divorce or attend civil trials.
Criminal proceedings are held at the Criminal Justice Center.
Seminole officials said moving the civil courthouse is part of a broader effort to consolidate nearly all of the county’s government offices at the Five Points campus, which sits across from the old Flea World attraction and is a more central location in Seminole County.
Presently, Five Points in Sanford also includes county offices for animal services, the state attorney, public defender, and the sheriff. It also is the site for the John E. Polk Correctional Facility.
Assistant County Manager Meloney Lung is working on a plan with county staff that includes analyzing the space available at the Criminal Justice Center for civil-court operations. That plan will be presented to county commissioners in coming weeks.
Still, moving the civil courthouse and other county offices to Five Points would be years away, she said.
“The long term plan is to have a centralized government complex [at Five Points],” Lung said. “It’s a more centralized location.”
At five stories and 215,000 square feet, the Criminal Justice Center is nearly three times larger than the 82,000-square-foot civil courthouse downtown.
Sanford leaders have long wanted to turn the downtown land between the civil courthouse and Fort Mellon Park into a vibrant community filled with apartments, shops, offices and restaurants.
In February, Sanford commissioners approved an agreement with Torre Construction & Development to sell the three-block area near the civil courthouse to the company for a mixed-use development.
The property stretches from East Seminole Boulevard to First Street, between Palmetto and Sanford avenues. It also includes the parking lot behind the civil courthouse.
Torre officials are scheduled to present a development plan to Sanford commissioners in August. On Tuesday, a Torre spokeswoman said it’s too early to determine the layout of the development and how much parking for the courthouse it would include. “It’s still up in the air,” said Kathia Dash.
Seminole County’s civil courthouse is where residents go to apply for marriage licenses, file for divorce or attend civil trials.
“We’re still in the early stages, and those are all things that are still being considered.”
County Manager Nicole Guillet said she has met with representatives of Sanford and Torre.
“They are aware of our concerns,” Guillet told county commissioners last week. “And they are in fact a little disappointed with the prospect of us moving out of downtown Sanford. They have assured us that they want the courthouse operations to remain as long as possible. So they’ll work with us and our schedule if we do make the ultimate decision to move to Five Points.”
County Commission Chairman John Horan said it makes sense for Seminole to move its government offices out of downtown Sanford and into Five Points. That way Sanford can fill those spaces with new businesses.
“I think it helps economic development [in downtown Sanford],” he said.