Land deal could help Wekiva Parkway

Metro Orlando’s road-building agency appears to have settled a land dispute that was threatening to increase costs or delay construction of the $1.6-billion Wekiva Parkway.

The pending agreement calls for paying $7.2 million to a property owner near Apopka. The deal could potentially enda stalemate triggered by the refusal of two state agencies to help buy what is known as Rockwood Groves, a 244-acre parcel within a stretch of land called Pine Plantation II.

The Legislature had instructed the Orlando- Orange County Expressway Authority, the Florida Department of Transportation, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the St. Johns River Water Management District to buy the land for the parkway and use much of it as a buffer between the Wekiva River basin and development.

Adeal was tentatively reached a year ago among the agencies and the owner to buy the land for more than $11.6 million, but it fell apart when DEPand water management officials backed out. Both agencies have undergone major budget cuts, and leaders said they did not have the cash to buy the land.

That led Rockwood Groves to hire anattorney, Robert Saltsman of Winter Park, whothreatened a lawsuit. Theregistered agent and main officer of the company that owns the property is Harvey Heller of Winter Garden, state records show.

Calls to Saltsman and Heller were not returned.

Expressway authority officials

likely salvaged the deal by promising to buy the land they need for the road, about 40 acres, plus more than another 100 acres that would be cut off from the rest of the Rockwell Groves holdings by the parkway.

Authority Chairman Walter Ketcham called the pending arrangement, which will be presented to the agency board next week for approval, a “really good situation for us … It’s a very, very reasonable price.”

Ketcham, who expects the board to vote in favor of the pact, said a drawn-out squabble over the land could have run up the costs significantly and taken a long time to resolve if it went to court.

FDOTalso is a part of the deal, authority assistant general counsel Dyana Petro said, but howmuchmon- ey the state is pledging is uncertain. The authority and FDOT are building the parkway together, and each has madeland purchases on behalf of the other in the past when it might save costs or was more convenient.

It is not clear if Rockwood Groves will pursue legal action against the DEP or the water district.

But former State Sen. Lee Constantine, R-Altamonte Springs, said the two agencies would do well to find a way to buy the property.

“That has to be a priority because that is in the statute,” said Constantine, who left the Senate because of term limits and recently was elected to the Seminole County Commission.

Construction of the parkway, which cuts through Seminole, Lake and Orange counties, could start near Apopka within three years.