Ordinance 2026-18 · Final vote pending
Ordinance 2026-18 lets property owners switch off landmark review and fast-track demolition. The final vote is coming.
The plain-English case
Owners opt in to exemption -- Sec. 2c-iii.
No data -- lines 70-77.
The ordinance says the pause creates time to investigate -- lines 79-84.
Demolition downgraded Major -> Minor Review.
Minor Review bypasses the appointed board.
Total potential pause: 60 months.
Extension is allowed by ordinance or resolution -- Sec. 5.
Historic Preservation Board chair Jeff Thompson's concern, reported by Orlando Shine.
“The city should investigate first — not suspend preservation oversight across the entire district and study the consequences afterward.”
What the ordinance actually does
The ordinance creates an opt-in “Exempt Historic Landmark” category for properties across the Downtown Historic District. Eligible owners can choose to leave standard historic-preservation review for 36 months.
Once exempt, the regular Certificate of Appropriateness is replaced with a lighter Certificate of Appearance — a staff-level check rather than a Historic Preservation Board review.
Demolition itself is downgraded from Major Review to Minor Review, bypassing the appointed citizen board. Permits issued during the moratorium remain valid for an additional 24 months — up to 60 months in total.
Section 6 keeps the temporary district-wide framework out of the city’s codified land-development regulations rather than making it a permanent code amendment.
The ordinance takes effect upon adoption under Section 8, yet its own recitals say the moratorium is intended to give the city time to investigate the impacts of the existing protections. Section 5 also allows the Council to extend or end the pause early by ordinance or resolution.
Read the ordinanceThe nine landmarks
The ordinance applies across the Downtown Historic District, not only to these sites. This list tracks nine prominent landmarks and their current owners of record; items marked “OWNERSHIP PENDING” are still being verified.
127 W. Church Street
Built 1889
Owner: Craig Mateer / CNVB LLC
129-135 W. Church Street
Built 1924
Owner: Reportedly Craig Mateer / CNVB LLC
102-110 W. Church Street
Built 1886
Owner: Lincoln Property Company
15 W. Church Street / 124 S. Orange Ave.
Built 1935
Owner: Robert Yeager / Sullivan Properties Inc.
39 S. Magnolia Ave. (NE corner E. Pine & S. Magnolia)
Built 1886
Owner: City of Orlando
46 N. Orange Ave.
Built 1921
Owner: Margaret Casscells / SMK Equities LLC / Beacham Theatre LLC
190 S. Orange Ave. / 1 W. Church Street
Built 1929
Owner: Rob Nunziata / Nunziata Holdings
23-25 W. Church Street
Built [Year pending]
Owner: Ownership unconfirmed
Designated 02/27/78. City records also spell it "Hunt-Branson."
27-35 W. Church Street
Built 1911
Owner: Ownership unconfirmed
Designated 02/27/78.
Who showed up to support it
Only five speakers spoke in favor of the ordinance.
Three were institutional: the Orlando Economic Partnership, the Downtown Orlando Partnership, and Ustler Development.
The remaining two presented as private residents. Reported professional affiliations with the downtown development industry are still being independently verified against primary records.
The public record clearly identifies three institutional supporters; research on the two individual speakers remains open.
Names of individual speakers are documented in the council meeting recording, linked on the Evidence page.
Two different diagnoses
This comparison provides planning context; the DTO Action Plan is not a legal impact study and does not, by itself, disprove the ordinance’s findings.
Ordinance 2026-18
The ordinance attributes increased blight, vacancies, and underdevelopment to historic-preservation restrictions and says those rules severely impede growth. The ordinance text does not attach data or an impact study supporting that causal claim.
Official DTO Action Plan
The city’s plan emphasizes streets, civic spaces, mobility, walkable neighborhoods, small-business support, and catalytic-site placemaking. Its vision asks downtown to “respect its past” while blending history with what is new.
More than 6,600 Orlandoans informed the DTO vision, and the planning consultant reports collecting 25,000+ data points across the study area.
Timeline
Public comment heard; first vote taken.
Compressed window before the second reading.
If passed here, the ordinance takes effect.
Latest updates
Short-form video updates from the June 8 meeting and the campaign.
Take action
Copy this template, replace the bracketed fields, and send it to your district commissioner and the mayor.
Submit a written request to the City Clerk. Requests for some appearances are due by 9 a.m. on the meeting day.
Full public comment guideShare this site with neighbors. The final vote is decided by who shows up.
Who to contact
The mayor and all six district commissioners vote on Ordinance 2026-18. Contact your district commissioner first — then the mayor and the rest. Every email and call is logged.
Mayor (at-large)
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
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