Protect the rural boundary, reject Sustanee
The residents of rural East Orange County are exhausted. They’ve been battling a decadelong legal and political war with developers and with Orange County government over mega-housing proposals in areas with limited rural infrastructure on the environmentally sensitive Econ River Basin. You would be wrong to brush them off as the usual not-in-my-backyard-style opposition. These residents have righteously fought for smart development that preserves eastern wetlands, our wildlife, water quality, natural land and most importantly, the promise made to our community to protect the rural boundary and ensure no urban-sized developments would cross the Econ River and jeopardize their quality of life.
The people organized community efforts through neighborhood organizations like Save Orange County Inc. and collected 10,000+ petitions in opposition to Lake Pickett developments, mobilizing hundreds of residents to attend public meetings. Emails and phone calls were made to local officials, lawsuits were filed and won and a caravan of residents even traveled to Tallahassee to beg Gov. Rick Scott not to overturn a judge’s verdict that ruled in favor of the people. Residents even took their fight to the polls in 2016 and ended the career of their county commissioner who spent his time in public service in the pockets of greedy developers. Isn’t that what real democracy is all about?
Rural East Orange residents deserved a break after these extraordinary efforts. But through the years, the same bad development deals they thought they killed keep popping up again like Whac-a-Mole. As their elected state representative, I consistently joined their efforts to oppose mega developments with letters of my own to the Board of County Commissioners. I made appearances at public meetings and expended political capital in support of their efforts when their allies in elected office were
dwindling. Isn’t that what real representation means?
Recently, the community lost a major battle when Orange County finally approved Lake Pickett South, aka the infamous development known as The Grow. This mega development bringing more than 2,200 homes and commercial space is now moving forward, even though none of these homes will help solve the county’s affordable housing crisis, nor are they near a majority of the jobs or any public transit whatsoever. The surrounding rural roads are already bursting at the seams and Colonial Drive, which is slated for improvements, will remain an ‘F’ rated road even after project completion— a total fail for our residents. Pedestrian safety
remains elusive and the Econ River water quality is struggling with official reports referencing lead and E.coli contamination above the state threshold. Part of the area’s rural character may already be lost and protected species will soon lose their habitat.
Many residents are exhausted and discouraged by the fact that despite their efforts to put local democracy in action, Orange County leader sided with developers to let this bad deal go through anyway. Some believe, approval of The Grow now opens the floodgates for mega development throughout the region and their resistance is futile. I disagree!
Our community has people power and experience in
outworking and out-organizing developers when we are determined. On May 10, the Orange County Commission will vote on whether to approve Lake Pickett North, aka Sustanee. Residents should again, turn out in opposition to this 2,400 home development which exacerbates already failing infrastructure and further damages the environment. It sits on the Orange-Seminole County border and directly impacts the quality of life for our Seminole neighbors as well.
In fact, Seminole County government sent a letter last week to Orange County outlining their objections over firefighter service, stormwater runoff and major traffic concerns. Understanding these problems, Orange County’s Lake Pickett Advisory
and Planning and Zoning Commission have unanimously voted to reject transmittal of this application based on community opposition, environmental concerns, and failing infrastructure. Why not listen to them?
As a supporter of smart development and environmental protection, I urge the BCC to reject this bad deal and side with the people of Orange and Seminole counties who feel unheard and ignored after years of fighting. Protecting our rural boundaries and quality of life for our residents is good governance. Listen to the voice of the people and vote NO on Sustanee.