Orlando Council meetings now virtual

City business continued in Orlando on Monday, even as the COVID-19 pandemic has brought much of the region’s tourism and service economy to its knees.

In a test-drive of sorts, the City Council rolled through an agenda at its regularly scheduled meeting with Mayor Buddy Dyer and the commissioners participating through separate video links. Some commissioners were holed up in their city council offices, while others were home.

“This meeting is like nothing we’ve done before,” Commissioner Robert Stuart said.

But the day’s wide-ranging agenda had little to do with the coronavirus, which has dominated headlines for weeks.

The council delayed the annexation of land on Narcoossee Road for apartments, signed off on adding lighting to athletic fields at Lorna Doone Park, accepted several federal grants and held a hearing involving the construction of a high-rise surrounding downtown burger staple Hamburger Mary’s on Church Street.

The council also slashed some restrictions on medical marijuana dispensaries, lifting its cap of seven citywide, and will allow a company to have more than one business in Orlando. Other restrictions remain in place such as a prohibition on dispensaries within one mile of each other or within or within 200 feet of neighborhoods and 1,000 feet of a church.

That could usher in new businesses along East Colonial Drive, in the Conway area and in Lake Nona, a city planner told the Orlando Sentinel in January.

Also, the city tweaked its treeprotection ordinance to fall in line with state rules.

A television screen was set up in the rotunda of City Hall with footage of the live conference, and