Osceola County Commissioners at their Monday night meeting unanimously denied a zoning change that would have allowed the construction of a complex of multi-story apartments or townhouses to be built along Reeves Road between Pleasant Hill Road and Reeves Road.
The vote came in front of the Commission despite a 6-0 vote against it from the county’s Planning Commission, due to, “Not being compatible with adjacent existing residents’ use of land.”
After hearing for nearly an hour from area residents, and others from around the county who insist staff should place a moratorium on development projects like this until infrastructure — namely, roads — catch up.
They cited how traffic already backs up on Reeves and Poinciana Boulevard, the already congested and treacherous commute on Pleasant Hill (dubbed “Un-Pleasant Hill” and “Pleasant Kill Road” by some in attendance), and how all of those roads come to a standstill when there is a major incident on one of them.
County staff noted that the zoning change to Medium Density Resident is one of the most restrictive in the county, and applicant Shawn Hindle said the project would fit in with Valencia College and a new employment center planned in the area — keep reading for the details.
But ultimately, Commission Brandon Arrington, whose district 3 includes that area, made a motion to deny the zoning change and his cohorts quickly voted in suit.
“I told the residents who I spoke with I thought a commercial use would be better in that place,” Arrington said. “I’m trying to keep people from leaving; that would help with our traffic issues.
“The term ‘Pleasant Kill’ has been around since the road was two lanes when I was a kid.”
That vote came minutes after the Commission did approve a zoning change from Agricultural Development to Mixed Use for 50 acres along the eastern part of Hickory Tree Road. While the Planning Commission approved it with a 7-2 vote, Commissioner Ricky Booth, whose district 5 includes Hickory Tree, cast the only dissenting vote in its 4-1 passing.
“The two Planning Commission members who voted against were who I nominated,” Booth said.
Both projects received heavy and heated criticism from the Osceola Action Committee, a group tasking itself with fighting what it deems as out-of-control development.
“Osceola County’s traffic is a safety issue,” said Cliff Clover, OAC’s president. “We have the same vehicular death rate as Orange County which has a population triple our size. We currently have over 167 teacher vacancy positions within our county and we are in need of more than 13 new fire stations to meet the federal standard for our population. But, the only people we’re funding are developers.
“Our committee is looking at pursuing legal action to hold this Commission and administration accountable. The days of the community sitting on its hands are over. Osceola Action Committee is here to fight to ensure a bright, safe and successful future for our community.”
Prior to the Monday meeting, the county announced CMG Clean Tech, a France-based clean hydrogen and solar technology developer, plans to expand its North American operations to an Osceola County campus called “Green Garden Village” located near Valencia College in Poinciana, on the east side of the Pleasant Hill-Reeves intersection.
Per an agreement reached, CMG Clean Tech will purchase land in phases to construct the “renewable energy technology manufacturing park” that could potentially create 1,200 green technology jobs with an average annual salary of $75,000 over three years.
“We are really excited about the opportunity to develop our Green Garden Village facility in Osceola County and create a first-of-its kind, leading renewable energy hub in the United States,” CMG Clean Tech CEO John Darling said in a release.
The company also noted it would work with Valencia to build a specialized curriculum and pipeline program to help train its future workforce.
The County also announced that Fortune 500 company Performance Food Group, which operates a Vistar food services plant employing 110 workers near Poinciana Boulevard and John Young Parkway, plans to expand that to 60 more jobs and consolidate its operations into a larger adjacent facility.
If PFG and Vistar create those new jobs, paying an average salary of $54,175 per year, and maintain its existing jobs for five years, the company will be eligible for the county’s Economic Development Job Creation and Job Retention Incentive valued at $290,000.
Interested in working there? Check out PFG’s employment webpage at https://pfgc.com/Careers.
