Orange ballot question: Voters have choice on Split Oak Forest
Deep inside Split Oak Forest, the din of highway traffic is too far away to interrupt gnat-catchers snagging bugs, fox squirrels romping on tree limbs and gopher tortoises burrowing under the towering pines and century-old oaks in the lush landscape.
But supporters of a charter amendment on Orange County ballots next month say that could change if voters don’t approve the measure, which they describe as an extra layer of protection for the publicly owned, conservation area. They worry that a planned toll road will be followed by development anticipated from the largest nearby landowners, the Tavistock Development Company, which built Lake Nona, and the Suburban Land Reserve, the development arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The proposed amendment, identified on the ballot as Question 2, is titled “Protecting Split Oak Forest...”
But opponents say the measure is unnecessary and a last-ditch effort to stop a freeway that would connect Osceola Parkway to State Road 417, a sorely needed link which would barely intrude on the 1,689-acre forest which is jointly owned by Orange and Osceola counties.
The background
The Split Oak conservation land takes its name from a unique tree on the north side of the forest.
Located on the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, the property straddling the two counties is made up of 1,049 acres in southeastern Orange and 640 in eastern Osceola, all protected by conservation easements outlined in the counties’ partnership agreement.
“It’s a place to escape from Florida’s suburban insanity,” said Valerie Anderson, president of Friends of Split Oak Forest, a not-for-profit group which has opposed the toll road and lobbied for the measure intended to tie the hands of Orange County commissioners.
She said the forest represents the state’s best intentions for conservation and an old Florida that is quickly disappearing.
It’s home to a wide range of threatened species, including dozens of gopher tortoises, who were moved to forest after their burrows were destroyed to make way for nearby developments.
The land was acquired in 1994 from investors headed by developers Maury and Daryl Carter for $8.6 million.
A state conservation fund, Preservation 2000, kicked in $2.3 million while Orange and Osceola counties paid the remaining $6.3 million in public money.
With the public funds came a promise to protect the forest forever, Anderson said.
But despite fierce opposition, Orange County commissioners voted 5-2 on Dec. 17, 2019, to support the Central Florida Expressway Authority’s preferred route for a 9-mile toll road that would link the Osceola Parkway with State Road 417 south of Orlando International Airport.
About a mile and a half of the road would go through a portion of the forest in Osceola County.
What would the amendment do?
The charter amendment would force Orange County to keep its promise to the forest and taxpayers, said Eric Rollings, a former chairman of the Orange County Soil and Water Conservation District and head of the notfor-profit Committee to Save Split Oak.
He said current written protections are apparently not enough.
Rollings said the existing contract outlining the use of Split Oak Forest may be changed at any time by joint agreement of Osceola and Orange counties and the Florida Communities Trust, which loaned public money for the purchase of the property.
But if approved by a simple majority of voters, the charter amendment would prevent Orange County commissioners from altering any restrictions or rules that protect Split Oak from development and other intrusions.
The Charter Review Commission, an appointed panel which meets every four years to consider changes to the county’s governing document, held five public discussions about Split Oak before deciding to ask voters to consider amending the charter.
“This is basically the voters of Orange County telling the county commission: we own this property and we’re giving you a special instruction not to develop this property,” lawyer James
Auffant told the charter review panel as he explained the proposal.
The measure says the board can’t “amend, modify or revoke” rules protecting Split Oak wildlife, vegetation or environment.
Arguments for
Supporters of the amendment cite the unique value of the forest to Central Florida.
“With the massive growth that we’ve had in Central Florida, we now, more than ever, need a place to preserve for endangered and threatened species and Split Oak is it,” Rollings said. “It’s already set up, already successful. It just needs to be left alone.”
Others, including the League of Women Voters, insist a promise is a promise. The league has endorsed the amendment.
“When government officials make promises, they should make sure to keep them,” said Samuel Vilchez Santiago, a member of the Charter Review committee which studied the measure. “In 1994, Orange County promised Split Oak would stay as conservation land.”
Arguments against
Attorney Camille Evans, who chaired the charter commission, offered counterpoints during the panel’s final meeting.
She opposed the amendment, saying it would “usurp the power” of county commissioners
Evans also said she believed the charter amendment might interfere with contractual rights between Orange and Osceola counties, who own the portion of the forest within their boundaries but also have some say over what happens to the land in the other’s jurisdiction.
In August, Osceola County unsuccessfully sued to keep the measure off the Orange County ballot.
Osceola’s lawyers had argued elected officials of both Orange and Osceola already agreed to support the paving of the tolled, high-speed Osceola Parkway through the southern tip of the forest tract and were waiting on the state’s confirmation.
Representing Osceola, attorney Todd Norman called the proposed amendment “an unconstitutional attempt to reverse the science-driven decision that Orange and Osceola counties made to add 1,550 acres to the Split Oak forest.” The lawsuit is pending in circuit court.
He said the decision followed “years of careful study and scientific analysis” and the road would directly impact 60 acres.
Norman also said a road was allowable under a state law.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority had planned to begin construction of the $790 million parkway extension in 2024, but was forced in May to postpone the project until 2034 because of the financial stress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
If built, the toll road is expected to spur urban growth in a mostly-unpopulated part of Osceola on lands owned by Tavistock, founded by British billionaire Joe Lewis, or the Suburban Land Reserve, which owns the 300,000-acre Deseret Ranches.
Attorney Cliff Shepard, who provided legal advice to the charter review group, said the amendment may not be enough to stop the highway, but it would prevent development in the forest of “all the other stuff,” which usually comes with a new road.
If Orange County voters approve the amendment, Osceola County will likely continue to fight the measure in court.