By Marvin G. Cortner
Editor

Osceola County commissioners Monday approved an ordinance establishing a one-year moratorium on non-residential transportation impact fees as a way to stimulate building within the business community and to create jobs.

Commissioners also promised to revisit the ordinance in February to possibly extend the time allowed for projects to be completed for which fees would be waived and to possibly include a moratorium or reduction of residential impact fees.

The moratorium approved Monday would cover commercial or industrial projects with construction permits issued between Dec. 13, 2010, and Feb. 1, 2012, with builders generally having 12 months to complete projects. Builders for projects of a certain size, however, could request extensions from the county manager's office for completing work: six months for projects of at least 20,000 square feet and a year for those of at least 100,000 square feet.

County staff reported that the revenue shortfall the moratorium would produce, mainly felt in the 2011-12 fiscal year, would be between $2 million and $2.5 million, and that the general fund and/or revenue from the county infrastructure sales tax should be used to cover the loss.

Larry Walter, a Kissimmee engineer who chairs the county's Growth Management Task Force, before the vote on the ordinance urged the county to delay the moratorium to better deal with certain issues, including allowing more time for builders to plan, finance and market their projects once building permits are issued.

Walter also said the task force agrees that the moratorium ought to include the residential building sector.

“We need it; the community needs it, but the issues on the table need to be talked about,” Walter said.

Joe Volpe, spokesman for the Osceola County chapter of the Home Builders Association of Metro Orlando, urged commissioners to include residential building in the moratorium.

“Allow people the choice of building a new home versus buying an older one,” he said, adding that a new home has two effects: It puts tradesmen back to work and it adds to the county property tax roll.

Don Wetherington, a St. Cloud-based homebuilder, also supported a moratorium on residential impact fees. He said that while the “good faith gesture” would not generate a lot of new home construction – mainly due to the housing glut – the few homes built would have a “big impact.”

Commissioner Fred Hawkins Jr. said not including the residential sector in the moratorium – because not all business sectors would be treated equally – could lead to a lawsuit. He also said that he would like to see the 12-month completion window for projects extended to at least 18 months, negating the need for builders to request extensions for larger projects.

Commissioner Michael Harford said he would like to see ordinance language that requires larger commercial projects for which impact fees were waived to use local subcontractors, thereby ensuring that local residents get the jobs created by the project.

“I'd feel a whole lot better if I can be assured that the $2 million (in waived fees) will be made up someway, that it will come back to us,” Harford said.

Center Lake Development DRI approved

The commission Monday also approved the development of regional impact, or DRI, for the 2,012-acre Center Lake Development planned for an area east of East Lake Tohopekaliga.

The mixed-use community, which would be within the current urban growth boundary and be developed in two phases, would have 2,201 single-family and 1,172 multi-family units, as well as 170,000 square feet of retail, 70,00 square feet of office , 10,000 square feet of civic and 30,000 square feet of community space. The development also would need one elementary school to serve up to 970 students.

The property, located south of Jones Road, northwest of Nova Road and east of Narcoossee Road, is owned by Center Lake Properties, of Orlando, formerly known as Pineloch Management Corporation. The county planning commission had recommended approval of the DRI.

A number of residents at the meeting voiced worries over the development, which could add more than 10,000 residents to the area. Residents' issues focused mainly on whether the proposed development would be compatible with the surrounding area, which is mostly rural and comprised of homes on five acres or more, how the subdivision would be connected to local roadways and what roadways would be used by construction traffic.

John Adams, of RJ Whidden and Associates, the engineering consultant for the project, said road connectivity, buffering between new construction and existing homes, the location of the school and how construction traffic is handled are issues that still must be worked out.

Several residents said the proposed higher density use of the property isn't needed, given that nearby subdivisions, such as Turtle Creek, have gone bankrupt. They also said dumping more traffic onto Starline Drive would not be acceptable.

Resident Sandy Siemon said the county should focus on developments that offer at least one-acre lots, something not available in Orange County.

“You have to offer something different in Osceola County – and that is land,” Siemon said, adding that residents drawn to the Narcoossee area by the higher paying jobs in the Lake Nona area will want larger lots. “Give the public something they can't get anywhere else.”

Siemon added that the county's own study shows that 14 percent of the homes in the Narcoossee area are vacant and that allowing more high density residential development now won't help that situation.

Hawkins, before voting for the DRI, explained to residents that the county could not prevent the development from moving forward because it complied with all current regulations.

“We can't deny it just because neighbors don't want it,” he said. “County rules say the landowner has the right to bring this forward. In the next stage, that is where we can make decisions. To deny this now would bring a lawsuit.”

Hawkins, who urged residents to stay “engaged through the approval process,” also said the development would be required to produce a certain number of jobs and that if that didn't happen, then it could not move to the next phase.

Trail connection approved

The commission also authorized an easement agreement between the Osceola County Historical Society and Osceola County to allow the county to connect two existing trails – one on society property in the Mary Kendall Steffee Nature Preserve on Bass Road, the other on county property along Shingle Creek.

The cost to make the connection, including a boardwalk, would be $44,358, an amount that has been budgeted. Maintenance costs would be less than $250 annually.

As part of a Florida Communities Trust Grant the county received in 1998, the county, in partnership with the city of Kissimmee, committed to a trail system through the Shingle Creek corridor. The majority of the trail has been completed.

The easement is needed to connect the state-designated Shingle Creek Heritage Trail with the society's existing boardwalk and trail, and to provide for public use and access.