East Orange bracing for gr~~~~ wave
By
Robin
Benedick~
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John and Carolyn l"ox were in a quandary two years ago until they found the Wed cfield Golf and ountr lu development hal wa' between their jobs at the Kennedy' Space Center and the firsL Union Bank in downtown Orlando. Sandwiched b lween unspoiled pastureland and pine foresLs straddling State Road 520, the remote east Orange County develup· ment is slowly gaining popularity. Localed about 23 miles from downtown Orlando. Wedgefield has about 460 houses built and hundreds more planned. "H's the perfect area for us because it's so convenient 10 our jobs," Fox said. The area around Wedgefield is a vestige of Cenlral Florida lust: tall stands of pine and cypress trees, shoulder-high palmettos. thick scrub and all sorts of critters. Surrounded by protected wildlife areas and the Econlockhatchee River, Wedgefield soon may be l1Jbbing elbows with sev· eral small cities. Developers have submitted plans to turn more lhan 26,000 aeres of land surrounding the Econ, an area three times the ize of Kissimmee, into sprawling subdivisions. shopping centers and office parks during the next l~l!o decades. They wanl to build the equivalent of 10 Altamonte Mdlls. 50.000 hI) use san d a p Cl r l. rn e n t S d n d enough office sp<Jcc to [ill 26 duwntown Orlando du Pont Centres in rural east Orange County - where it's tough La Ii nd a se~ vice station today.
DespIte such. grandwsc plans, Orange County planners want to put the brakes on growth in the rural area by limiting development. Orunge County commissioners will have the final say un .whether new subdivisions, shops and offices are built after public hearings this faU. Regional planners say the ibooming high-tech area around the University of Central Florida 1 is about to explode with new development, thanks to completion of the Orange County section of the eastern beltway around Orlando. The toll road, a magnet for growth, has opened thousands of anes of farmland and cut in half what used to be a 30- to 45·minute commute from downLown Orlando.
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We've got a lot to do to protect that river,
- Ken Bosserman, Friends of the Econ founder Land aruund the beltway is especially valuable for offi~es and shopping centers because cars constantly cruise by with potential customers. In addilion to the bellway, Lhe area could face more intense de· velopmcnl pressure ira 41·mile transportation corridor is <:onstrueted from Orlando International Airport to Port Canaveral. Homes, shops, restaurants and offices could spring up along the train's path in east Orange: par· tlcularly where stalions are built.
Please see GROWTH, K-4
GROWTH from K-'\ The prospect of opcping OJ t'rag· ile area to city-sized development worries some environmentalists '.vho have beer. fi;h~ing tG ;;:'otc~l the Eeon River, one of Central Florida's cleanest, from too much d eve lopmen 1. "We've got a lot to do to protec that river," said Ken Bo s rm<ln. founder of Friends of the Econ and the driving force behind pro· posed rules by the 51. Johns HiveI' Water Management District to protect the 35-milc wat'lway Ihat Winds through Orange. mino\p i;lnd Osceola counties. Developers say new subdivisions and apartment omplexes will be sorely needed in east Or":",f:C COU:"lty bcc:l;':<'~ of grc"',1h :.t'_ the university and adja' 'ot research parks. They say it makes sense to put houses and apartments near where p 'olJle work Their consultants predict th ..11 t hr' area will attract 127,000 jobs durIllg the next 20 years. Those jobs would require 80,000 new homes. Among the proposed developrnen~s arc: 9.367-acrc A alon P<.Jrk which would include 25.UO~ houses and apartmenLs: the 7,000· acre Magnolia Ranch \\ ilh !:J.BUO houses and aparlments and 1_9 million square feel of oflices: and the 6,'100'<1,cre L~k!: Il:u-\ !")jcct If) the south, which includes IO,~H4 houses and apartments and J./l million square feet of om e'.
Already. Orange Cuunty cum· missioners have 3pprtlv'd" devel· opments on about 12,000 acres III east Orange County, an arca twice the size of Winter Park.