Split Oak Forest road controversy to be settled
Meeting on proposed expressway is Thursday
Whether a proposed expressway crosses Split Oak Forest or veers along homes south of the revered nature tract will be decided this week by the region’s toll-road agency.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority is pursuing a nearly 9-mile extension of the Osceola Parkway, from the authority’s State Road 417 at the south end of Orlando International Airport into rural east Orange and northeast Osceola counties. The decisive meeting is 9 a.m. Thursday at authority headquarters.
Backers of the parkway extension say it would solve eventual traffic woes, help provide Central Florida with another link to the east coast’s Interstate 95 and begin to establish a new evacuation route.
But the road more immediately would serve mega-developments of Tavistock Development Co., maker of Orlando’s Lake Nona community, and Suburban Land
Reserve, part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints corporate family that is Florida’s biggest private landowner, with holdings that include the giant Deseret Ranches in Central Florida.
That the parkway is an imminent threat to either Split Oak Forest, which straddles the OrangeOsceola line, or adjoining neighborhoods is blamed widely on Florida’s growth mismanagement.
The extension has faced backlash for perceived arrogance in road planning by Osceola officials, a lawsuit over allegations of backroom decisions and warnings that paving across the protected forest would set a ruinous precedent.
Those are overshadowed by the deal offered by Tavistock and Suburban Land Reserve: As compensation for routing the parkway across Split Oak, the development partners would donate 1,550 acres of forest, wetlands and abandoned farmland.
The route would convert 60 of Split Oak’s 1,800 acres into roadway and separate 100 acres from the rest of the forest. In exchange, Tavistock and SLR are offering to donate 582 acres in Osceola and 968 acres in Orange counties. Those two parcels hug Split Oak and other conservation properties, including Orange County’s Moss Park and Isle of Pine Preserve.
Split Oak and adjoining, protected parcels now take in a combined 3,985 acres; that figure would rise to 5,375 acres with the development partners’ donation.
The catch to the deal is that conservation lands need caretaking to keep them healthy, and those in Florida have become chronically underfunded. The two tracts offered by the development partners would require costly restoration and ongoing management.
Split Oak Forest was born a quarter-century ago from the region’s rising alarm that development was destroying Central Florida’s natural environments. Establishing the conservation property – protecting it forever, many thought then – was a complex effort among local and state participants.
If the expressway authority opts to pave across Split Oak, it would need various approvals from Orange and Osceola counties, as well as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Communities
Trust and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Those stakeholders potentially will have leverage to negotiate for restoration and management funding from the Central Florida Expressway Authority, Tavistock and Suburban Land Reserve.
Here are positions of many participants, stakeholders and interested parties on the proposed extension of the Osceola Parkway:
Friends of Split Oak: Co-founded and publicly represented by conservation consultant Valerie Anderson, this grassroots group opposes any extension of the toll road into or near the forest as too costly, serving only developers’ interests and as an overall assault on an area that should remain rural.
Central Florida Expressway Authority: The agency’s staff and consultants are recommending the route through Split Oak as less costly financially and socially – largely for not impacting private homes and property – than the alternative just south of the forest.
Tavistock: “Improving mobility within our rapidly expanding region is a rare opportunity with more and more people moving to Central Florida every day,” the developer said in a statement. “… [S]tate and local governments have been working to develop this much-needed corridor. The [route through Split Oak] impacts fewer homes and provides a meaningful expansion of conserved lands.”
Suburban Land Reserve: The route through Split Oak “reflects years of study, discussion, and planning among state, regional, and local stakeholders to increase connectivity while also protecting the environment and minimizing impacts to homeowners. This solution strikes an effective balance to enhance mobility, expand conservation and preserve what we all love about living in Central Florida.”
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: As Split Oak’s caretaker, the state agency said in a statement it opposes paving the road in Split Oak but recognizes the threat to homes south of the forest. With the developers’ offer of 1,550 acres, “we agree it is beneficial to continue discussing the mitigation, permitting, restoration, and management options.”
Osceola County: The county board of commissioners, according to its spokesman, has no position.
Lake Ajay Village: This community of nearly 100 homes just south of Split Oak was founded 30 years ago. Residents support the parkway crossing Split Oak, putting the expressway farther from homes. “Either route will dramatically change the character of our neighborhood,” resident Stacy Ford said. “None of us bargained for this when we purchased our homes.”
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer: The mayor is also a member of the expressway authority and will vote on the matter Thursday. He prefers the Split Oak route. “I think it’s the most reasonable plan and balances a lot of the competing interests.”
Orange County Mayor Jerry
Demings: Also a member of expressway authority, Demings supports the Split Oak route as having “the least environmental impact.”
Former Orange County Mayor
Linda Chapin: Chapin led in approving the purchase of the remote Split Oak property in 1991 so that, she said then, it would be “protected for future generations.” She now backs the route crossing the forest. “No one involved is happy to find themselves in this situation,” Chapin said. “But a lot of people have worked very hard to come up with a compromise that I can accept, given all the factors that must be considered.”
Charles Lee, Audubon of Florida
advocacy director: Choosing the route across Split Oak, Lee said, would result in a nearly 10-to-1 gain in conservation land, eliminate the threat of enormous industrial development on the east side and double the area’s rare scrub habitat under protection.
League of Women Voters of Orange County: Co-president Gloria Pickar said her group contends that paving through Split Oak would violate state constitution protections and local commitments. Also, she said, “the road through Split Oak would set a precedent endangering conservation lands throughout the state, making them targets for roadway expansions.”
Lake Mary Jane Alliance: This group of Lake Mary Jane Rural Settlement neighborhoods north of Split Oak supports the route across the forest. Spokeswoman Suzanne Arnold said it’s hard to get conservation land – and even harder to get the funding to restore and maintain it. “The argument of the road not being needed yet just leaves us with a more impactful route in the future that may need to cut farther into Split Oak,” Arnold said.
Florida Native Plant Society:
This group, an advocate of protecting natural lands, recommends not building either alternative for a parkway extension. “We encourage CFX to partner with Orange County and Tavistock to include public transit… avoiding impacts to homes and Split Oak Forest,” executive director Juliet Rynear said.
Florida Trail Association: The association is responsible for expanding and maintaining the Florida National Scenic Trail along the length of the state. The group, which learned recently that the option of paving through Split Oak includes an overpass and accesspark for the hiking trail, has not taken a position.
Sierra Club Central Florida
Group: Marjorie Holt, the group’s conservation chairperson, also asserts that paving across Split Oak would violate the state’s constitution. Her group opposes any extension of the parkway. “But if the expressway authority is going to vote to put a road through that area, it should be to the south to avoid Split Oak,” Holt said.
East Orlando Chamber of Commerce: The chamber’s president Andrew Cole said in a letter to the expressway authority that his board voted overwhelmingly to “support this route with the hope that it will be extended to I-95 or appropriate thoroughfare.” Cole said the parkway extension would encourage growth of businesses and homes in east Orange County.