No — a thousand times no! — to ...
... River Cross deal in protected Seminole County zone
The original plan for River
Cross, a development inside Seminole County’s protected rural area, called for 1,370 residential units.
Seminole County commissioners rejected the plan, so land developer Chris Dorworth took them to federal court.
Now he’s offering to settle the lawsuit if commissioners will approve a new plan that has … 1,338 residential units.
Yes, the developer is offering to settle a federal lawsuit in exchange for giving up 2.3% of the homes he originally planned to build.
We can think of several ways for Seminole County to respond: No, nyet, nein, non, não or — as one Seminole resident put it — hell no.
Whatever the language, a thousand times no to any deal that would undo the will of Seminole County voters.
And that’s what Dorworth is proposing. He wants Seminole County to carve out a chunk of land — specifically, the 669-acre chunk of land he wants to develop — from the region of the county that voters decided in 2004 should remain rural.
Seminole County could then decide what to allow or not allow on the property, or the property might be annexed into the city of Oviedo (where it might get a friendlier development reception).
Either way, the property would no longer be subject to the limitation in rural areas of no more than one house on every 5 acres.
Dorworth’s settlement proposal has other promises and limitations, like no bridge over the Econlockhatchee River and no more than 200,000 square feet of commercial space for restaurants and stores and such, though it includes a loophole for more “accessory commercial” uses like nursing homes and storage units.
Big deal. Even scaled back the plan is an inappropriate use of that land. If county commissioners go along with this settlement they’ll betray the intent of voters who changed the county charter back in 2004, and the precedent will open a big, wide window for other property owners who stand to make small fortunes off developing what’s left of rural Seminole.
How many times does this community have to say no?
We also must pause a moment and consider Dorworth’s description of the new plan to an Orlando Sentinel reporter as “a very high-end and beautiful community.”
High end? The lawsuit Dorworth is offering to settle is based on the contention that Seminole violated the federal Fair Housing Act because River Cross included some affordable housing. Now, the county is supposed to settle a Fair Housing Act lawsuit because of a promise to build a “high-end” community? Oh, brother.
Seminole residents have made perfectly clear that they want the rural area left alone. They made it clear through their fervent, near unanimous opposition to earlier iterations of River Cross, and they made it clear during last year’s County Commission elections.
All three candidates who won — Lee Constantine, Bob Dallari and Andria Herr — promised during their campaigns to protect the rural zone. If any of them go along with this settlement, they’ll have broken that promise, and voters will remember.
What’s at work with this settlement is Local Development 101: Keep coming back over and over until the governing agency and the public get exhausted and give up. Wear ’em down. It’s been a winning strategy employed by wealthy land interests across the state for years.
Part of the reason Dorworth is so persistent is because he needs just three votes — a simple majority of the five-member commission — to separate the property from the rural zone. We’ll say it again: Seminole needs to change its charter to require a supermajority — four votes on the commission — to change the rural boundary.
In the meantime, don’t give in, commissioners. Don’t give up.
Keep turning Dorworth and this River Cross project away until the county wins the lawsuit or until the developer finally offers up a plan that’s consistent with the will of the voters.
Editorials are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board and are written by one of its members or a designee. The editorial board consists of Opinion Editor Mike Lafferty, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel. com.