Commissioners vote 5-0 to close loophole, maintain avenue's 'fine dining'
Golden Arches have no place in the "fine dining" ambience of Park Avenue, Winter Park commissioners decided Monday.
The City Commission banned new fast-food restaurants within the city's famously upscale shopping
and dining district by closing a loophole that had allowed some
fast-food outlets to qualify as "fine dining." No one spoke against the
ordinance, which passed 5-0.
The City Commission banned new fast-food restaurants within the city's famously upscale shopping
and dining district by closing a loophole that had allowed some
fast-food outlets to qualify as "fine dining." No one spoke against the
ordinance, which passed 5-0.
Restaurateurs
and merchants worried that with franchises such as BurgerFi and
Firehouse Subs already operating on Park Avenue, more fast food was
inevitable, putting the street's charm and uniqueness at risk.
"You have a brand-new definition of fast-food restaurants, which are now clearly prohibited," city planning director Jeff Briggs said of the new rules, which were months in the making. "You have a brand-new definition of what 'fine dining' is, which is much better and more enforceable."
Previously, Briggs said, all a restaurant needed to do to meet the "fine dining" standard required of a Park Avenue restaurant was to offer table service.
"Theoretically, McDonald's could have offered table service and come on the avenue," Briggs said.
Now the definition includes requirements such as having a host or hostess greet diners and using silverware and china.
BurgerFi, Firehouse and Panera Bread were grandfathered by the new ordinance and will remain on the avenue.
Winter Park's ordinance, which will have a second vote in two weeks, was adapted from one used in Carmel, Calif. Other Florida cities, such as Palm Beach, have also barred fast-food restaurants, but Winter Park is apparently the first Central Florida community to do so.
The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, an industry trade group, did not respond to a request for comment about fast-food bans Monday.
Patrick Chapin, head of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, said his organization, merchants, property owners and the city worked together on the new rules.
"We know what we want on the avenue and what we don't want, but there wasn't clarity," he said. "This gives clarity."
The goal wasn't to block all affordable dining, Chapin said, but to keep Park Avenue a destination that has its own character.
"This allows for the right mix of the fine dining experience, but also the entrepreneurial, boutique, casual, fun restaurant that we would like to have on the avenue," he said.
To that end, the ordinance includes a new category called "non-fine dining."
Restaurants in this category can offer "counter service, but step it up a notch with real china and silverware and menus," Briggs said.
"You have a brand-new definition of fast-food restaurants, which are now clearly prohibited," city planning director Jeff Briggs said of the new rules, which were months in the making. "You have a brand-new definition of what 'fine dining' is, which is much better and more enforceable."
Previously, Briggs said, all a restaurant needed to do to meet the "fine dining" standard required of a Park Avenue restaurant was to offer table service.
"Theoretically, McDonald's could have offered table service and come on the avenue," Briggs said.
Now the definition includes requirements such as having a host or hostess greet diners and using silverware and china.
BurgerFi, Firehouse and Panera Bread were grandfathered by the new ordinance and will remain on the avenue.
Winter Park's ordinance, which will have a second vote in two weeks, was adapted from one used in Carmel, Calif. Other Florida cities, such as Palm Beach, have also barred fast-food restaurants, but Winter Park is apparently the first Central Florida community to do so.
The Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association, an industry trade group, did not respond to a request for comment about fast-food bans Monday.
Patrick Chapin, head of the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, said his organization, merchants, property owners and the city worked together on the new rules.
"We know what we want on the avenue and what we don't want, but there wasn't clarity," he said. "This gives clarity."
The goal wasn't to block all affordable
dining, Chapin said, but to keep Park Avenue a destination that has its own character."This allows for the right mix of the fine dining experience, but also the entrepreneurial, boutique, casual, fun
restaurant that we would like to have on the avenue," he said.To that end, the ordinance includes a new category called "non-fine dining."
Restaurants in this category can offer "counter service, but step it up a notch with real china and silverware and menus," Briggs said.
Fast-food restaurants cannot change their standard business model to fit that definition, as BurgerFi and Firehouse did by offering table service under the old ordinance.
Lambrine Macejewski, a restaurateur who heads the Park Avenue Merchants Association, said merchants were relieved.
"As a business owner,
you know exactly what the rules are," she said. Previously, "merchants
felt there were people who were approved who didn't fit the definition
[of fine dining]. But it was just really vague."
Chapin said there's room for all kinds of dining in the city but that it was time to get "a little more conservative" with standards on Park Avenue.
So, while you can still find steak, sushi and upscale clothing along the avenue, you won't find a Big Mac.
"There's a place for fast food and fast casual," Chapin said. "And that's 17-92."
dbreen@tribune.com
model to fit that definition, as BurgerFi and Firehouse did by offering table service under the old ordinance.Lambrine Macejewski, a restaurateur who heads the Park Avenue Merchants Association, said merchants were relieved.
"As a business owner
,
you know exactly what the rules are," she said. Previously, "merchants
felt there were people who were approved who didn't fit the definition
[of fine dining]. But it was just really vague."Chapin said there's room for all kinds of dining in the city but that it was time to get "a little more conservative" with standards on Park Avenue.
So, while you can still find steak, sushi and upscale clothing
along the avenue, you won't find a Big Mac."There's a place for fast food and fast casual," Chapin said. "And that's 17-92."
dbreen@tribune.com
