Relief school slated for Waterbridge, Tangelo Park

SOUTHWEST ORANGE A new relief school for Waterbridge and Tangelo Park elementary schools could be on its way in time for the 2020-21 school year.

County and school district staff hosted a community meeting at Sand Lake Elementary Wednesday, April 26, to discuss a large-scale future land use amendment for the potential school property.

The 19.96-acre property is located on the east side of South International Drive, south of Lake Forest Drive and north of Lake Bryan Beach Boulevard. Orange County Public Schools wants to change the current FLUM designation from activity center mixed use to educational. 

The request will be transmitted to the county’s Local Planning Agency June 15, and if all goes in its favor, the plan will be adopted by the Orange County Board of County Commissioners in November.

“We currently have a school in our capital improvement plan for 2020 based on a few different factors,” said Julie Salvo, a senior administrator/planner with OCPS. “First and foremost, this school will relieve Waterbridge Elementary and Tangelo Park Elementary. We’e always wanted to find a school in the southern part of the county in this area to help make that zone smaller.”

Salvo said Waterbridge currently is overcrowded, surpassing its 800-student capacity for its current population of 1,250. Tangelo Park is also expected to become overcrowded in the near future.

The amendment, if passed, would allow for the development of an elementary school up to 100,000 square feet, as well as the development of a 50,000-square-foot ancillary office building. The school will have a maximum capacity of about 830 students.

District officials also aim to submit the rezoning request this summer, with the hope that both the amendment and zoning requests will be approved simultaneously this fall. The current zoning designations for the parcel are rural country estate and farmland rural. OCPS has the land under contract, and once the FLUM amendment and rezoning requests pass the district would then close on the parcel. 

“It’s (the school development) based on need, there’s a lot of growth in the area and the county has approved many multifamily projects near International Drive,” Salvo said. 

For more information, contact Orange County Case Planner Sue Watson at (407) 836-5618.

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].