Commission approves Ocoee Village Center development

A north Ocoee development that includes a reconfiguration of North Lakewood Avenue is moving forward.

Commissioners approved during the June 18 meeting the second readings of two ordinances and a development agreement related to the Ocoee Village Center planned unit development.

The subject site is 73.17 acres of undeveloped land generally located on the north side of Clarcona Ocoee Road, east of State Road 429, south of Clarcona Ocoee Road, east of North Lakewood Avenue and east of the intersection of Fullers Cross Road and North Lakewood Avenue. Plans for the project proposes a mixed-use development with 196 townhome units, 316 apartment units, 120 hotel units and 150,000 square feet of retail. Additionally, the development would bring water and sewer improvements to the area, as well as a reconfiguration of North Lakewood Avenue.

“The proposed development is for multifamily, hotel, commercial along Clarcona (Ocoee Road) … a series of public parks, linear parks, a re-alignment of North Lakewood (Avenue) and stormwater,” City Planner Mike Rumer said. “The transmittal staff transmitted this (comp plan) amendment and rezoning to PUD to the state DEO (Department of Economic Opportunity) and all the different state agencies, surrounding agencies — Winter Garden, Apopka, Orange County, Windermere — and the review received a clean bill of health (with) no questions.”

The first ordinance was a large-scale comprehensive plan amendment that changed that subject site’s land-use designation  from low-density residential to high-density residential. The second ordinance rezones the subject site from R-1A single-family dwelling to PUD. All three ordinances were approved with the stipulation that the project receives approval from Orange County Public Schools of a mitigation agreement for the additional student capacity that will be generated from residences that will be built in the development, Rumer said.

“When you rezone a property in Orange County, you have to go through a capacity enhancement test (with the school board),” Rumer said. “You got to test to see (if) the new residential units you’re making is (supported by the) capacity in the schools for the new … students that are going to generate in elementary, middle and high schools.”

Rumer said that the developer will have to mitigate for the students that would generated from the project.The meeting agenda specifies that the project will have to mitigate for the extra capacity of 78.525 and 9.665 middle school students.

OCPS has already reviewed the project and is expected to approve the mitigation agreement for it, however, the school board has not yet had a meeting to approve the agreement. If the school board ends up not approving the agreement, the process would start over, Rumer said.

“The school viewed it, it’s gone through their tests (and) they have the number of students (the development) going to generate,” Rumer said. “They looked at the schools in that district (and) they’re overcrowded. They need to create space for so many students that they generated. And so, there’s a mitigation that they (develop) pay for the cost of each student to the school board.”