Orlando Opinions Episode 2 - Donut and Dead Bodies




By Mark Baratelli, Editor
The Daily City

I'm doing a new podcast called Orlando Opinions here once a week on Mondays with four stories in 5-10 minutes. The stories are 100% Orlando-based and include my opinion. You can listen to it or read the script.

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Polous & Bennet commercial and residential developers ​applied for a Conditional Use Permit to allow a 4-story personal storage facility on the site of a 1959 building that houses the ​Colonial Lanes bowling alley in the Milk District​. A public hearing is taking place September 19th at City Hall at 8:30 in the morning. ​The area is in the vicinity of the Milk District and neighborhoods. ​How is this even being considered? It's prime retail space. And personal storage is hardly retail. Well, you can thank your City council.

Prior to their June 19th City Council meeting, personal storage facilities were only allowed in areas zoned AC-3​ OUTSIDE whats called the traditional City. On June 19th City Council unanimously approved Ordinance No. 2017-27 th​at opens up areas zoned AC-3​
​anywhere in the entire ​City. Had this ordinance not passed, this storage facility wouldn't even be considered. Thank you City Council.

Winter Park locals successfully got a bowling alley saved when a planned Orchard Hardware on the spot was nixed. Lets see if Orlando can do the same during the public hearing on September 19th.

The owners of the Little Blue Donut Truck announced ​this week ​on Instagram that they will be opening a permanent donut bakery shop with seating in Winter Park at 223 W. Fairbanks Ave in the former Scratch restaurant space. The interior will be redecorated because almost all the walls are black but the WILL be keeping Winter Park's second best banquettes. First place of course goes to Cocina 214​ hello. The liquor bar area will remain as-is ​and be repurposed into a coffee bar. The brand of coffee to be served has not announced yet. The kitchen bar will be lowered so kids can see the donut machines and decorating stations. The anticipated opening is October. The food truck will remain in operation as well. I have nothing to say other than YUM.

Back in March of last year Altamonte Springs offered folks an Uber discount of 10% up to $5 for rides starting or ending in their city. We asked Orlando back then if they were going to try this project and they were orlamdo strong in saying... NO. Cut to today and Orlando is STILL not giving Uber discounts. But Lake Mary, Maitland, Sanford and Longwood are. Why not Orlando? The City spokesperson said, as they did in 2016 to us, that they won't offer it because they offer bike share, ride share and Lymmo, the free bus nobody rides until UCF downtown opens then they will ride it to the bars and back. And let's be clear. You know we're not getting Uber discounts because of Mears.

Media gathered around a time capsule at City Hall​ ​last week to see what was inside. The time capsule came from within the confedorate memorial statue that the City moved from Lake Eola Park Greenwood Cemetary. Among other boring stuff held within the Johnny Reb southern soldier tribute, a newspaper from 1911 was inside that shared how a man drowned himself in Lake Eola. What no one knew at the time was that he too was carrying a time capsule. The Daily City got a lake-dredging permit and is proud to announce we found the dead body and the time capsule it clutched. Inside we found fish and the exact same 1911 newspaper detailing the story of his own Lake Eola drowning.