HORIZON WEST 10
BOOMTOWN USA B
Horizon West is one of the fastest-growing communities in the nation.
efore the 28,000-acre Horizon West community was home to thousands of families, it was home to thousands of acres of robust citrus groves. But in the 1980s, a series of devastating freezes decimated the groves, forcing much citrus production to relocate to warmer climates in South Florida. This led to the pressure to develop the former orange groves. It also enhanced concerns of urban sprawl because the existing land-use regulations in the rural area only allowed one house per 10 acres. So, the owners of the orange groves met up to come up with a plan. This led to them working with Orange County leaders to begin developing a master plan for the area beginning in 1993. The owners — Horizon West Inc. — hired VHB MillerSellen to prepare the Horizon West sector plan, which included the project concept, design standards and a planning overlay. The county approved this framework on June 5, 1995. The intent of the plan for Horizon West was to avoid suburban sprawl by creating a more sustainable approach to growth management. Early on, the influence of Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities model led to the preliminary design of independent, selfsustaining villages. At full buildout, the goal of Horizon West is to create a village development pattern while preserving large quantities of open space, as well as using public/private partnerships to help provide community
LOCAL MOTION 2021
