Commission denies Reams Road townhomes

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.

AUGUST BCC  RECAP

The denial of a townhouse project off Reams Road in Horizon West led decisions made by Orange County Board of County Commissioners in August. 

The commission denied an applicant’s request to construct the Windermere Springs Townhomes off Reams Road in Horizon West at the Tuesday, Aug. 13, meeting.

Applicant Haris Civil Engineers had requested to subdivide 4.95 acres to construct 21 single-family townhomes off Reams Road in the Horizon West Lakeside Village. 

The proposed project is located northeast of Reams Road and southeast of Summerlake Park Boulevard, and the subject property currently is entitled for 21 single-family attached residential dwelling units. 

No members from the public signed up to speak for the item. However, District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson voiced myriad concerns, including the potential safety hazards of continued development along Reams Road, the local schools being overcapacity and flooding from wetlands impact. Reams Road was closed for several weeks because of flooding following Hurricane Ian.

“So, I understand this was rezoned prior to my coming to this board, and I don’t have a time machine … but I cannot continue to endorse decisions that I feel like were originally inconsistent with the Comprehensive Plan,” Wilson said. “I continue to believe that if we don’t do something on Reams Road … we are creating a public-safety hazard. … We just can’t in good conscience put more human beings in those circumstances.” 

Wilson made a motion to deny the proposal, and it passed 5-2.

DR. PHILLIPS RURAL ENCLAVES

Also at the Aug. 13 meeting, the County Commission heard a report from Wilson on the possibility of creating a rural enclave for the Kilgore Road, Darlene Drive and Charles Limpus Road neighborhoods.

Last month, Wilson said, her office received a petition from more than 197 homeowners in the area requesting to preserve their Country Estate District zoning designation.

As a result, Wilson said she facilitated a community meeting regarding Vision 2050, where the same concerns were echoed. 

To preserve the rural nature of this community, Wilson asked to establish protections that will supersede Comprehensive Plan changes that may come in the future. 

The establishment of a rural residential enclave would give the area its own special set of guidelines, including setting a new, higher minimum lot size. It would not change the Future Land Use or the zoning districts for the property.

The board consented to Wilson’s proposal. Orange County staff plans to conduct a study on the area, seek resident feedback and return to the board with the recommendations.

ANNEXATION CHARTER AMENDMENT

In July, the commission approved unanimously adding a charter amendment to the November ballot establishing a rural area and rural boundary. 

The amendment will give voters in Orange County a chance to restrict development in rural areas. The ordinance, known as the Rural Boundary Proposal, requires a majority-plus-one vote of the commission to either approve more urban development on property located in the rural boundary or remove property from it altogether.

Similar to the rural boundary amendment, an ordinance, known as the Voluntary Annexation Proposal, was discussed at the Aug. 13 meeting. 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. 

City officials from local municipalities, including Oakland, Winter Garden, Ocoee and Windermere, signed a letter to Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings opposing both measures and proposing amendments to the proposal. 

Thirty-two people signed up to speak on the item, including Ed Williams, with Williams Development Services Inc., a planning consultant for Winter Garden.

“Several cities with adopted, legally binded Joint Planning Area agreements have submitted written comments for you to consider,” he said. “We support the staff draft … and we think we can work out some changes as far as some of the other issues that we have. But realize that the Joint Planning Area agreements; and in Winter Garden’s case it’s (more than) 32 years, 33 years they’ve had it in effect. It’s on its seventh version of it over time as it changes with requirements. In that time, I’ve not been able to find any case where the (county) has had to challenge, stop, fight or take the city to court on any annexation. If there was an issue, it got worked out or the property would not be annexed. I assume many of the other cities have a similar circumstance, though there are cities that do not. We would ask that you consider the proposed revisions.” 

Brandon Pownall, attorney with the Fishback Dominick law firm, spoke on behalf of Winter Garden and Ocoee. 

“The cities object to the ordinance in its current form,” he said. “After most of Orange County’s cities met with Mayor Demings … and discussed proposed changes to the ordinance, several cities sent the county proposed changes that will allow for efficient, long-term planning and fix problems in the ordinance, like noticing all properties within a two-mile radius, which for some parcels would require mailing more than 20,000 notices. … While Winter Garden and Ocoee object not only for the reasons that this ordinance hinders their ability to plan in the long-term, the ordinance is legally deficient, because it violates the Florida Constitution and fails to comply with Florida Statutes. We ask that you consider our proposed changes.”

Other community members shared a different opinion, such as Kathy Sheerin, who has lived in the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement for 20 years. 

“I am strongly in favor of this annexation amendment,” she said.  “We are constantly battling to keep our rural settlement intact from inappropriate development. This amendment, along with the rural boundary amendment, will not prohibit growth but just help control it. Please allow the citizens of Orange County to let their voices be heard, and vote yes to have this ballot amendment on the November ballot.”

Although there were minimal changes made to the ordinance amendment language, the cities’ feedback was not included in the final motion. 

The motion passed, which resulted in applause from a majority of the audience members. 

BONNET CREEK RESORT PD

Also at the Aug. 13 meeting, commissioners discussed and approved an amendment to the Bonnet Creek Resort Planned Development. 

Applicant Brent Lenzen’s request is to update the trip equivalency matrix, convert 196 timeshare units into 169 hotel rooms and to request an additional 181 hotel rooms. This will result in a total development program for Phase 3 of 350 hotel rooms and 250 timeshare units. 

The property is located south of Epcot Center Drive, north of Chelonia Parkway and west of Interstate 4. The area is designated on the FLUM as Activity Center Mixed Use and is zoned PD.

VISION ZERO

The Orange County Vision Zero Safety Action Plan was the main topic of discussion at the Tuesday, Aug. 27, meeting. 

Vision Zero states loss of life is not an acceptable price to pay for mobility. The goal of the initiative is to integrate safety principles during the planning and implementation of transportation programs countywide, as well as to reduce the number of fatalities and severe injuries on the transportation system to zero by 2040.

The initiative seeks to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries on the transportation system by providing a proactive and preventive approach.

From 2018 to 2022, Orange County had 213,553 crashes, 893 of which were fatal and 5,588 resulted in serious injuries. 

County staff said it will cost about $264 million for the safety improvements on the top identified 24 corridors. However, the total projected cost for safety improvements across all areas of the county is about $2.8 billion. 

Commissioners approved the Vision Zero plan unanimously.