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Cameras capture the good, bad, ugly

To develop a distinctive "Seminole look," a warts-and-all overview is first required.

By ANNE LINDBERG
Published November 20, 2005

SEMINOLE - City Council member Jimmy Johnson spent four hours one recent afternoon with two cameras - one with a green dot and the other with a red dot.

He used the green dot camera to record his favorite images of Seminole, like the landscaping along 113th Street. The red dot camera recorded Johnson's least favorite sights, such as the water tower on 113th Street.

"It was easy to find the likes," Johnson said. "The dislikes were a little more difficult."

While Johnson was out snapping pictures, so were the mayor and other council members. The picture taking was the first step in creating a streetscape and design identity for the city.

Those pictures will be displayed during a workshop Tuesday, immediately after the 7 p.m. City Council meeting. The discussion surrounding them will kick off a monthslong process that should end with a plan for developing a distinctive "Seminole look" that will distinguish the city from all others in the county.

The council will also set up workshops for the public to talk about Seminole's appearance. Council members and City Manager Frank Edmunds have pledged that residents and business owners will have ample chance to influence the project.

The streetscaping is the first phase of a three-stage process to try to establish rules and guidelines to control Seminole's future development.

Council members have agreed to pay up to $92,310 to Renaissance Planning Group of Orlando to guide the city through the process and come up with a plan. The council stopped short, though, of authorizing Renaissance to work on all three phases, a process that could have a total price tag of up to $350,000.

If the council and Renaissance work well together on the first phase, the council will probably authorize expenses for the next steps, which include establishing a city center and creating rules for developers.

[Last modified November 20, 2005, 09:27:49]