By Marvin G. Cortner

Editor

A conceptual master plan for a 19,000-acre swath of northeastern Osceola County received the County Commission’s stamp of approval Monday, paving the way for property owners to now design a mixed use development plan for the area.

On 3-0 votes, the commission approved both a settlement agreement with the Florida Department of Commerce and Community Affairs for the Northeast District Conceptual Master Plan and added the document to the county’s overall comprehensive plan. The new master plan essentially sets out how the property in the district can be developed in terms of land use, roads, drainage and other infrastructure.

According to county documents, development in the northeast district, which is south of the Lake Nona and Medical City area in Orange County and centered around lakes Myrtle, Preston and Joel, when completed would have 44,130 permanent jobs, 29,320 residential units, 8.54 million square feet of commercial/office/industrial space, nearly 2 million square feet

of institutional/civic space (ex-cluding public primary and secondary schools) and 5,000 hotel rooms.

The largest landowner in the settlement agreement is the Mormon Church through its Salt Lake City-based Farmland Reserve, owner of the Deseret Ranch. The other landowner involved is Lake X Holdings, of St. Cloud, with Hal G. Smith III as manager, according to state corporation records.

The state agency reviewed the county’s original proposal for the district and rejected major aspects of it, essentially saying the development wasn’t needed, there wasn’t enough protection of natural areas (namely the Econlockhatchee Swamp) and that it promoted urban sprawl. The county then spent six months revising the plan. One of the main changes was to add 2,000 acres on the east side of the swamp, which extended the proposed urban growth boundary and district farther east.

Jeff Jones, strategic initiatives director for the county, said 66 percent of the district would remain in open space and that the Econlockhatchee Swamp Preservation Area is set aside in perpetuity. Other new requirements, he said, are a habitat management plan for all 19,000 acres, wildlife crossings, additional buffer areas to protect conservation lands in Orange County and use of low impact stormwater control techniques.

Marjorie Holt, Central Florida Sierra Club Conservation Chair, said the club is “very disappointed by the high impact development” that will take place in a natural area that has regional as well as statewide ecological importance.

“We find the remedial actions (taken by the county) and the stipulated agreement unacceptable,” Holt said. “It does not deal with the urban sprawl, as the state said. We also have an issue with the proposed east-west transportation corridor (extension of Osceola Parkway) that would be projected into the swamp.”

St. Cloud resident Gary Graham said the development would destroy massive amounts of wildlife habitat – including areas that are home to the Florida panther and black bear – while “rewarding special interests.”

“The Department of Community Affairs rejected this project two times before and then Gov. Scott was elected, and he essentially abolished that department,” Graham said. “If the DCA had not been changed, this would still be denied.”

Kariena Veaudry, Florida Native Plant Society executive director, said the approval of the district plan would result in urban sprawl and would be an ecological disaster. She added that development of uplands in the wetland would cut off north-south linear corridors now used by wildlife to move from one area to another.

Larry Rosen, president of the Kissimmee Valley Audubon Society, said the expansion of the county’s urban growth boundary to accommodate the mixed use development is not needed due to revised population estimates for the county.

“Those projections are now way below what the urban growth boundary was meant to deal with,” he said, characterizing the proposed development as an “opportunistic bedroom community.”

Commission Chairman Brandon Arrington said the master plan and proposed development are good for the county.

“I do believe this development is in the best interests of Osceola County – for economic development and the environment,” he said.

Commissioner John Quiñ-ones said he supports the development because it would have to produce a certain number of jobs in order to proceed to the next phase.

Fred Hawkins Jr. was the other commissioner at the meeting; Frank Attkisson and Michael Harford were both absent.

More specifics

According to the master plan, the second phase of development may begin only after 4,000 permanent jobs have been created and 7,000 dwelling units have been constructed in the district. In addition, Osceola Parkway must be under construction eastward into the district from where it now ends at Boggy Creek Road.

The third and final phase may begin only when 14,000 cumulative jobs have been created, there are 14,000 total dwelling units, the Osceola Parkway extension has been completed and a new roadway – the Southport Connector – is secured and/or committed north of U.S. Highway 192 into the district. This roadway would eventually run around the north end of Lake Tohopekaliga to Poinciana.

At the same time the commission voted to add the northeast district to the comprehensive plan, it also approved adding the East of Lake Toho and the South Lake Toho conceptual master plans.

The East of Lake Toho plan covers 11,250 acres bounded by the Florida’s Turnpike, Friars Cove Road, Neptune Road and Lake Tohopekaliga. At build-out, according to plan documents, this area would have 33,500 housing units and provide 24,700 jobs.

The South Lake Toho plan covers 16,350 acres on the south side of Lake Tohopekaliga. The area extends west to the Disney Preserve, east to Canoe Creek Road and south to the end of the urban growth boundary.

The Southport Connector, which would go from Cypress Parkway in Poinciana to the Florida’s Turnpike and Canoe Creek Road and then north of U.S. Highway 192, would run through this area. At build-out, the South Toho district would have 41,200 jobs and 40,000 housing units.