Rural boundary ballot measure approval tops July county action

Editor’s note: County Level is a monthly feature that highlights the most impactful actions taken by the Orange County Commission.

District 1, led by Commissioner Nicole Wilson, encompasses the following areas: Avalon Rural Settlement, Dr. Phillips, Gotha, Horizon West, Hunter’s Creek, Lake Buena Vista, Metrowest, Ocoee, Tildenville, town of Oakland, Williamsburg, town of Windermere and Winter Garden.

District 1 is the largest and fastest growing district in Orange County. Made of quiet, historic towns and bustling new development, it is a unique hybrid of classic and contemporary Florida living.

JULY BCC RECAP

The approval of a charter amendment to the November ballot establishing a rural area and rural boundary led Orange County Board of County Commissioners actions at their July meetings. Several other decisions also were made that impacted the West Orange and Southwest Orange County areas.

RURAL BOUNDARY AMENDMENT

The County Commission approved unanimously adding a charter amendment to the November ballot establishing a rural area and rural boundary at its Tuesday, July 30, meeting. The proposed amendment will give voters in Orange County a chance to restrict development in rural areas.

The ordinance, known as the Rural Boundary Proposal, would require a majority-plus-one vote of the commission to either approve more urban development on property located in the rural boundary or to remove property from it altogether. 

“The idea, really, is to make sure that our current residents are represented,” District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson said. “We want to make sure that we’re doing everything that we can to grow up and not out — and that we’re protecting what natural resources we have left.”

The Orange County Charter Review Commission worked on the amendment for months before they were preempted by state legislators from moving it forward. The BCC has taken matters into its own hands. 

However, city officials from areas including Oakland, Winter Garden, Ocoee and Windermere signed a letter to Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings opposing the measures.

“Drafts of and discussions surrounding both proposals leaves us with great concern about their potential impact on the home rule rights of our constituents — a foundational principle of Florida’s local democracy since being enshrined in the state constitutions,” the letter reads. “Also, the proposals have other constitutional infirmities and inconsistencies with statutory requirements and prohibitions. We are additionally concerned that the proposals … are ill-suited to their intended purposes. … An imprudently located or unwisely rigid rural boundary set without the appropriate consideration of the greater regional and statewide growth trajectory and without considering the needs, opportunities, and controls within our towns and cities will exacerbate rather than mitigate exurban and suburban sprawl; and adversely impact intracity efforts. Driving growth away from the Central Florida urban core and impacting the efforts of each of our municipalities would ultimately undermine statewide conservation goals and further aggravates the serious undersupply of housing and other needs in our region.”

In addition, a multitude of residents signed up to speak on the issue  before the final vote.

Senator-elect Carlos Guillermo Smith spoke in support of the rural boundary.

“Voters deserve a say on this issue,” he said. “They deserve a right to weigh in on future growth, they deserve a right to change the county charter and they deserve a vote on this underlying issue. … The reason I support the underlying charter amendments is because we know that a vote for the rural boundary is a vote for smart growth. It’s a vote for fiscal responsibility, for our environment, for quality of life.”

Similar to the first ordinance, an additional ordinance, known as the Voluntary Annexation Proposal, also was discussed. It would require a majority-plus-one vote of the commission to approve voluntary annexations within the rural area.

The municipality also has to provide notice to Orange County 10 days before the first public hearing. However, even if annexed, the county still would be in charge of development regulations of property in the rural area. This amendment would not apply to municipalities that have a joint planning agreement with the county, such as the city of Winter Garden. A final vote to determine whether the amendment will make it on the November ballot will take place Aug. 13.

SOMITA

The Somita Planned Development/Land Use Plan was approved at the Tuesday, July 9, County Commission meeting. 

Applicant Momtaz Barq, of Terra-Max Engineering, representing the owner, Apopka Vineland Holdings, requested to rezone .64 acres from Country Estate District to Planned Development to construct medical office, commercial uses. Additionally, the applicant was requesting three waivers to allow for reduced requirements regarding landscaped parkway, lot size and landscape building base.

The Somita PD Land Use Plan Rezoning would allow for up to 5,800 square feet of medical office uses and 6,900 square feet of commercial uses.

The development is located on the east side of south Apopka-Vineland Road, south of Fifth Street.

Residents at an October 2023 community meeting said the project will cause traffic issues and raised safety concerns, including existing conditions on the nearby Ruby Lake Road. 

However, since then, Wilson said she and her team met with the applicant’s team, who have since reduced the amount of waivers from 12 to three, as well as removed plans to open Sixth Street. Wilson also brought Public Works Department staff out to Ruby Lake Road to discuss potential safety improvements. 

HAMLIN 30

Also at the Tuesday, July 30, meeting, the Hamlin 30 Planned Development/Land Use Plan and the Hamlin 30 adequate public facilities and road network agreement were approved. 

Applicant Scott M. Gentry — of Kelly, Collins & Gentry Inc. — requested to rezone three parcels containing 29.58 gross acres from Citrus Rural District to Planned Development to construct 100 multi-family residential dwelling units, 169,705 square feet of non-residential uses and 26 hotel rooms.

The project is located north of Schofield Road and west of Avalon Road, with its Future Land Use Designation being Village.

OAKLAND GREEN PLACE 236

The County Commission also approved an agreement for the sale and purchase of Green PLACE 236, located in the town of Oakland, in the amount of $3,914,157.50 at its Tuesday, July 30, meeting.

The 32.82-acre parcel is located along the south side of West Colonial Drive and north of the Florida Turnpike and Johns Lake.

Orange County created the Green PLACE — Park Land Acquisition for Conservation and Environmental Protection — program to acquire and protect environmentally sensitive lands in the 1990s.

WINTER GARDEN ENCLAVE ANNEXATION

Also at the Tuesday, July 9, meeting, the commission approved an interlocal agreement for annexation of an enclave between the city of Winter Garden and Orange County.

Winter Garden requested the county to transfer the deed and assign the easements for the portions of 15 road segments from the county to the city. The two areas in discussion are in unincorporated Orange County but are surrounded by land within the city of Winter Garden.