At its Thursday meeting, the St. Cloud City Council voted 4-1 to annex from Osceola County, amend the land use and re-zone 1,556 acres west of the Turnpike and south of Kissimmee Park Road. It is planned as the Edgewater development, a mixed-use development of commercial, office, civic space, hotels, and single- and multi-family residences. Council member Linette Matheny was the 'no' vote.
According to county records, the Edgewater Development of Regional Impact includes nearly 3,000 acres in total. The Osceola County Board of County Commissioners approved the DRI in 2008, but it expired in 2017. City officials said the Edgewater plan for the half of that approved Thursday allows for nearly three million square feet of commercial and office space, 600 hotel rooms and 5,200 residential units.
Assistant City Manager Dave Tomek said the city and county have began working together on plans for this property since 2008, and a joint planning agreement was signed in 2014.
Council members noted that by annexing the property, the city has control over how it gets developed -- which was not music to the ears of representatives for potential home builders on the property; they asked for the city to postpone its action until January.
The city will collect impact fees on the land's development, to pay for the cost of providing services.
"All of this is coming whether we annex it or not. We'll be providing services anyway," said Councilman Kolby Urban, who was named Deputy Mayor at the meeting. "I don't think the city can afford not to do this. It's an important step."
According to a local Realtor, the first phase, CrossPrairie, is already being planned north of Kissimmee Park Road along the Turnpike, where three home builders have already purchased land.
That development will bring added traffic to the area. In a related note, Osceola County Assistant County Manager Tawny Olore, who oversees the county's transportation initiatives, made a presentation at the meeting about future road projects. She announced that the Florida Department of Transportation has moved up widening Florida's Turnpike to Kissimmee Park Road from 2026 to 2024. A new south St. Cloud Turnpike interchange that would be built at an extension of Nolte Road, that would then extend to Cross Prairie Parkway to Kindred -- is expected to be completed in 2028. Two more Turnpike interchanges, one for the Southport Connection at the south end of Lake Tohopekaliga, and another north of that, are in future plans beyond that.
"I want to thank the county for the update," Urban said. "It's pretty clear to those who live or work in St. Cloud that traffic's been a pretty big issue."
"Most of our residents don't have the understanding of how complicated and expensive building roads is," Mayor Nathan Blackwell said.
