The Osceola County Commission adopted a resolution Monday to create a new advisory committee that will be responsible for helping to form a plan to enhance the aesthetics and business viability of areas along U.S. Highway 192 and several roadways connecting to it.

The commission’s action officially formed the Gateway Advisory Committee, which replaced the former East 192 Enhancement Advisory Committee. The motion was necessary to broaden the focus on identifying concerns along the various roads leading into the county, including East U.S. Highway 192, West U.S. Highway 192, Orange Blossom Trail and Narcoossee Road, county officials said. The previous committee only focused on the area along East U.S. Highway 192 from Michigan Avenue in Kissimmee to Canal C31 in St. Cloud.

The committee will have 10 members; six have been appointed by the County Commission already while the cities of Kissimmee and St. Cloud have yet to appoint two representatives each. All appointments will be for four years and no committee member may serve more than eight consecutive years.

What the committee might examine first has yet to be determined. “It's all a process of identifying what you have and seeing what works for you and what doesn't,” committee chairman and local land planner Bob Whidden said.

Helping the committee members spot the challenges will be several subcommittees, which will be formed from the different areas of concern. For example, there would be a subcommittee comprised of property owners and business operators from the Narcoossee Road area to give input. It was Commission Chairman Fred Hawkins Jr. at the commission meeting Monday who stressed that subcommittees were needed.

“You have to have some local influence with this,” Hawkins said.

Whidden said he welcomed the subcommittees.

Some needed improvements had already been identified by the former East 192 Enhancement Committee. A study presented to the County Commission in September by that group showed that the eastern stretch of U.S. Highway 192 is home to empty buildings, such as shopping centers and car dealerships that shut down within the last year. A lack of landscaping and maintenance at some businesses also has resulted in blight, according to the report.

County Manager Michael Freilinger said the commission would direct the committee.

“We're going to give them guidelines on when to come back,” he said.

Hawkins said he expects recommendations to cover a number of concerns.

“I think it needs to go from how the roads are going to be landscaped right down to the architecture of the buildings that come in (to the area),” he said.

Recently, a group called the 192 Business Alliance formed to focus on a five-mile stretch of West U.S. Highway 192, from Interstate 4 to State Route 535. The group formed to market and theme the area and to advocate for government dollars to accomplish that.

Major goals of the group include establishing a marketing Web site using membership dues, theme the area using the color orange paid for with a self-imposed tax or tourism tax revenue, improve public transportation in the corridor using tourist tax funds and promote tourism through sports facilities and an educational, eco-tourism nature trail, using public money as well.

The West U.S. Highway 192 tourist corridor also benefited from what was called the BeautiVacation project, which also was aimed at making the area more aesthetically pleasing to visitors using local funding from businesses while at the same time the state paid for highway improvements.