"All such parks owned, operated and controlled by Orlando and Winter Park shall remain open and unrestricted to all residents of Orlando and Winter Park, on the same terms such parks are available to each jurisdiction's own residents."
That sentence comes from Article 4 of a 2002 agreement. Most people who walk the Lake Baldwin loop have never read it. In mid-September 2026 it decided who pays to park beside the dog beach. The Lake Baldwin loop is one park network by contract. Which city owns the ground under your shoes changes nothing about the rules, because whatever terms one city gives its own residents, it has to give the other city's residents too.
Six Days in September
The paid-parking plan was approved and then partly withdrawn in less than a week.
- September 9, 2026. The Winter Park City Commission voted unanimously to move forward with a six-month paid-parking pilot at Lake Baldwin Park and Dinky Dock Park, aiming to launch in spring 2027.
- September 14. Bungalower reported what the pilot would mean. Winter Park residents would keep parking free, and nonresidents could pay $2 to $3 an hour, according to Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Moore. The city was also talking about an annual parking permit for nonresidents but had not set a price.
- September 15. Winter Park announced it was taking Lake Baldwin Park out of the pilot. Staff had just learned of the Baldwin Park Settlement Agreement, signed in November 2002.
Under the plan, Winter Park residents would have registered their vehicles to park free. Moore said the city has used documents such as utility bills, property tax bills, and driver's licenses to confirm residency for other programs. An Orlando address would not have qualified, and the people affected would have included anyone in Baldwin Park whose daily walk crosses the city line on the north side of the lake.
City Manager Randy Knight explained the problem in the city's statement: "If the pilot program went forward at Lake Baldwin Park, Orlando residents would need to be exempted from the parking fee the same as Winter Park residents, which administratively would be a larger undertaking." The city cited public feedback along with the agreement. Knight said: "Due to this document and input received from citizens, the city is removing Lake Baldwin Park from the Pay for Parking Pilot Program."
The Contract Underneath the Loop
The agreement does not treat parks as its main subject. The City of Orlando, the City of Winter Park, and Orlando NTC Partners signed it. Orlando NTC Partners was the developer redeveloping the former Orlando Naval Training Center Main Base, roughly 1,100 acres, under a planned-development ordinance Orlando approved on July 27, 1998. Both cities' signature pages are dated November 7, 2002.
It reads like a document written to settle a fight between neighbors. It covers road and traffic commitments. It also resolved a lawsuit Winter Park had filed over Orlando's annexation of St. George Street. Orlando agreed to deannex the right-of-way so Winter Park could annex it, and Winter Park agreed to dismiss its case with prejudice. In Article 3, Winter Park agreed not to challenge the approvals Orlando had already granted for the project.
Article 4 comes right after that. It describes Orlando building an active recreation park at the northwest corner of the property and "a system of parks around Lake Baldwin." It notes that Winter Park already owned the park at the lake's northwest edge. It then requires that the whole network "provide a continuous park system around Lake Baldwin," open to residents of both cities on the same terms. The clause sets shared access. It does not transfer ownership of any park.
In the 2002 text, the Winter Park park is called Fleet Peeples Park. Winter Park gave it that name in 1985 and restored the original name, Lake Baldwin Park, by resolution in July 2014. The agreement uses the old name, but its terms carried through the rename unchanged.
Four Parks, Two Owners, One Rule
The City of Orlando describes a 2.5-mile trail loop around Lake Baldwin, with two spurs connecting it to Lake Susannah. Orlando's own park pages name the stops along the way.
| Park on the loop | Owner | Detail from the record |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Baldwin Park | City of Winter Park | 23.16 acres at 2000 S. Lakemont Ave., with a sandy beach and an off-leash dog area |
| Orlando Veterans' Memorial Park | City of Orlando | Connected to the other parks by the lake trail |
| Blue Jacket Park | City of Orlando | Connected to the other parks by the lake trail |
| Mayor Glenda Hood Park | City of Orlando | Formerly Harbor Park; the renaming ceremony was December 5, 2025 |
Two of the names on this loop have changed since the agreement was signed, and some signage hasn't caught up. Orlando's Veterans' Memorial Park page still calls the Winter Park parcel "Fleet Peeples Park." Harbor Park became Mayor Glenda Hood Park less than a year ago. Through both changes, the rule in Article 4 has stayed the same. The equal-terms promise runs both ways, too. It binds every park in the network that Orlando owns, operates, and controls, as well as the Winter Park parcel.
Where the Pilot Went Instead
Dinky Dock is still in the pilot. It sits near Rollins College on Lake Virginia and has a swimming area, a fishing pier, and a boat ramp. Winter Park says it still wants to test the parking technology there, and a draft ordinance for Dinky Dock is expected back before the City Commission in October. The city calendar lists commission meetings on October 14 and October 28, 2026. As of October 6, no meeting files had been posted for the October 14 meeting. So nothing about Dinky Dock is final yet.
City staff originally picked the two parks partly because they believed paid parking could be tested there without pushing as many cars onto nearby residential streets. Bungalower asked whether a successful pilot could lead to paid parking elsewhere, including around Park Avenue. Moore said the city would need to evaluate the results first.
The settlement covers only Lake Baldwin. If paid parking spreads to other Winter Park parks, they have no equivalent agreement behind them. On the Lake Baldwin loop, any future parking fee would have to treat an Orlando resident the same as a Winter Park resident. The September statement put that cost plainly: a fee there would mean extending the exemption to Orlando residents, which the city called a larger administrative job.
Before You Clip the Leash
The parking question is settled for now. What still affects a morning visit is the city's posted rules. Lake Baldwin Park is open from 8 a.m. to sunset and stays closed until noon on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month for maintenance. People may not swim there. The boat ramp is for boats without gas engines. The park has two pavilions, a dock, 25 picnic tables, 15 benches, and one restroom.
The city's posted rules for the dog area are short:
- Dogs may be off leash only in the designated fenced area.
- Dogs must stay with their owners.
- One owner may bring up to three dogs unless another adult comes along.
- Each dog's collar must carry proof of current vaccinations.
- Dogs must be leashed when entering and leaving, including in the parking lot.
The city calls the parking lot limited but does not publish a count of spaces. The playground is open 8 a.m. to dusk and is recommended for ages 5 to 12.
Check one more thing before you load the car. Winter Park keeps an undated notice on its site saying the off-leash dog area is closed because of water conditions, until conditions improve. The only dated closure we found was in February 2023. During a harmful algae bloom, the city closed the off-leash area on February 2 and reopened it on February 15, while lake access stayed restricted. Since the current notice has no date, call Winter Park Parks & Recreation to confirm the beach is open before you go.
Every rule above applies the same way to every visitor, whichever city they live in. Article 4 has required that since 2002.
Shared parks, annexation history, and settlement terms like these rarely show up in a listing description, yet they shape everyday life in Baldwin Park. When you want the full picture of how a neighborhood actually works, from the agreements behind its parks to the terms governing its streets, Nest Seekers Orlando can walk you through it. Speak With a Global Advisor.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
