Some Oviedo business owners begged the City Council last week to help bring more business to the city. At the Monday Council meeting they told the city that it wasn't doing enough to attract business, and that business is going elsewhere, along with customers. 

John Tsaldaris and business partner Jeff Aames' cars were both in the parking lot, advertising their J&J Creations gift baskets business on the sides. They're hoping to do more business in the area, but Tsaldaris said when he wants to shop or enjoy a night on the town, it happens outside Oviedo. 

"I live in Oviedo; I work in Oviedo, but I play in Winter Springs, because there's just nothing to do here," he said. 

He asked the city to bring together an event committee, to try to attract businesses and potential customers to the area.

"You have to start thinking outside the box," he said. "You can't help business when there's no business here. You need to bring them in." 

But Oviedo City Council members said that a broader problem is helping to halt businesses, and that the Council is doing what it can to help keep businesses alive. 

"It's not Oviedo's fault that the economy went this way," Councilman Steve Henken said. "We're doing everything we can to try to make it better for businesses. I think we have done leaps and bounds to help out."

That includes a sign ordinance that allows businesses to temporarily have extra signage near the roadside to attract more business. But some business owners complained about the ordinance not being good enough. 

So far only a handful of businesses have taken advantage of the ordinance, according to development services director Bryan Cobb. The ordinance has been in effect since October. 

"Everybody screamed about that, and nobody signed up for it," Henken said. 

Mayor Mary Lou Andrews said that a bad economy may also be to blame for their businesses' woes. She also said that nearby cities may offer consumer and recreation opportunities that Oviedo doesn't, but that those businesses may be coming in the future. 

"In Winter Springs' Town Center you can get a cup of coffee there and listen to music and just kind of relax with friends," Andrews said. "Yeah, [Tsaldaris] does have a place to go there. But you'll talk to other people who will say Oviedo has a ton of stuff to do." 

Despite an economic downturn and uncertainty about business growth, the mayor said she's confident that the city is helping to draw more businesses in, including the proposed hospital, which could potentially add more than 100 jobs in Oviedo.

"We're doing everything we can to help," she said.