On the Orlando Sentinel website recently there was an article regarding the West Orange relief school.  You can read it here:  West Orange High School Relief Decision

How does this relate to my primary focus which is traffic in East Orange County.  I guess you will have to read on to find out because there is a very direct relationship to what is going on in East Orange County.  It will become clear as you read my blog.

Approving the West Orange High School is one of those decisions that I am sure was very hard for the commissioners.  The rooms were overwhelmed with orange shirts in support of the school.  Understandably the orange shirt people want their kids to go to a school that is not crowded and there is not doubt a school was sorely needed.

The issue is not the need for a school, it is a sequence of events leading up to this that is the issue.  It is that we as humans don’t really learn from history and tend to repeat it over and over.  If we dwell in only the present, the school issue has a simple answer.  More people want the school than those who opposed it so put the school in.  But just because there is a majority does not mean it is the morally right.

What does history tell us about this.   The picture on the right is called the “Trail of Tears”.  In 1838 and 1839, as part of Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy, the Cherokee nation was forced to give up its lands east of the Mississippi River and to migrate to an area in present-day Oklahoma. The Cherokee people called this journey the “Trail of Tears,” because of its devastating effects. The migrants faced hunger, disease, and exhaustion on the forced march. Over 4,000 out of 15,000 of the Cherokees died.

This may seem a bit drastic when comparing it to a BCC vote over a high school in a rural settlement but there are similarities that can’t be ignored.  Just like these Indians, rural settlements have certain rights.  This quote came from this document, Rural Settlement Study.  “Orange County has made a number of efforts to preserve and protect rural communities in recognition of their historical nature, existing development patterns, and community cohesiveness. Such efforts include the designation of Rural Settlements on the Future Land Use Map of the Orange County 1990-2010 Comprehensive Policy Plan, the development of related future land use policies, protection of some Rural Settlements included in Joint Planning Area Agreements with municipalities, and creation of Preservation Districts.”

The Orange County Comprehensive Plan clearly defines what is allowed inside a rural settlement and a high school is not allowed.  So as the Cherokee Indians rights were violated so have the rights of the people who live in the rural settlement.  So who is to blame for allowing this to get to this very difficult decision which left the present mayor and commissioners with little choice but to approve this high school.  This started long before any of these people were in office and who knows if those before had any inclination this would happen.  Perhaps it is an unforeseen set of circumstances that brought us here.

Now this vote is in the history books and this high school in this rural settlement will forever be a monument that stands in testimony of the violation of some peoples rights because of the will of the majority.  And now like the Trail of Tears this is past history and we move forward.

Let’s turn our attention to the future and look at East Orange County and two mammoth developments that are coming up for a vote by the BCC in a few short weeks.  Putting traffic aside for a moment, there are many people who have bought land in this area that want a rural lifestyle and at this time are protected by the Comprehensive Plan.  But the Comprehensive Plan can by law be changed through a defined process as it has been many times.  There is no guarantee that rural land can stay rural.

For as minute, lets review the history of what happened in West Orange County.  Years ago people came and bought land in the rural settlement with certain rights.  But all around them developments were built and thousands of people moved in completely encircling the rural settlement.  A Publix shopping center across the street with other commercial property close by as well as many suburban communities.  OCPS decided to buy cheap land inside the rural settlement even though it was prohibited via the protection of the Comprehensive Plan.  OCPS did this because they assumed the BCC would grant a variance as had been done in the past.  To OCPS surprise, when they went in front of the BCC to ask for their variance it was denied which set this on a legal court battle.  The judge decided that because the BCC had allowed all the developments to occur around the settlement, the high school was compatible with the surrounding area and should be allowed.  So now the high school is going to be built.

Did anyone really win?  The clear losers are the rural settlement people just as the Cherokee Indians are the clear loser.  Some people will walk away thinking they won but they have unknowingly given away something much more valuable.  They gave away the same thing that the people who forced the Cherokee Indians to walk the Trail of Tears which is a violation of rights.

We see this occur over and over in history but society repeats it over and over again.

I predict that if and when the Lake Pickett developments are built something like this will occur that will strip the rights of the people who live in these rural areas because they will be overwhelmed by numbers.  There will be many thousands of people living in these mammoth developments that will impose their will on the people who have previously been given rights through certain laws.  Our crystal ball lies in knowing the past and learning from it.  Will we make the same mistakes or learn from them?

How does this relate to traffic.  More people demand more roads or widened roads so the people who live in the area who have enjoyed rural roads will be subjected to suburban type roadways with mega traffic.  Your time will be stolen away minute by minute as you wait in lines of cars trying to get to your destination.  At this point in time, there is no defined plan to improve our roadways with the population we have now let alone 10,000 more people and cars on the road.  Is this really what we want?  Do we really want developments to continue moving eastward until the only one who can stop it is God using the St. John’s river?  Do we really want our rural areas to be paved over with concrete until there is nothing left for our children to enjoy?

The past can never be changed but our future is in our hands.