Lake Pickett Developments Community Meetings Scheduled
My last update was almost a month ago and a lot has happened since so it is time for an email update specifically regarding the Lake Pickett properties.
***** IMPORTANT NOTICE *****
The Lake Pickett Developments Community Meetings are scheduled.
View the Lake Pickett Developments Community Meetings Schedule here. (Date is not the 21st, it is the 28th)
The first meeting is scheduled for April 28th at 6:30 PM at Corner Lakes Middle School.
Please attend if you want to have a say in when and how 5,000 homes and businesses are added to East Orange County.
There are two applications in process down at the county, one for Lake Pickett North (LPN) and one for Lake Pickett South (LPS). The process has just begun and they are currently slated for the 15-2 cycle so again, get ready to attend community meetings. This is your opportunity to voice your opinion.
At this point in time, the Orange County staff has drafted a document that will change the Orange County Comprehensive Plan if it is passed by the BCC. You can read it here, Objective 6.8 Lake Pickett Future Land Use Designation Core Policies .
The Comprehensive Plan is very important.
- It is the mechanism that has prevented the Lake Pickett property developments from being built.
- If the Comprehensive Plan is changed, development cannot be stopped and can be built under the restrictions defined in the Comprehensive Plan.
- While understanding the developer concept plans is important, what is more important is the changes to the Comprehensive Plan and how it will affect us going into the future.
- Because this change to the Comprehensive Plan is only for Lake Pickett, it must include everything needed to protect East Orange County.
Orange County has not formulated a concrete plan to fix the roads. We need a concrete and funded traffic plan before we can allow the Comprehensive Plan to be changed to accommodate these developments. Commissioner Edwards has stated that he cannot support these developments with the traffic in the state it is in now. He is well aware of the problem and it has now become a priority so I am confident he, the mayor and other boards that are now involved will find a way to help us. However, I have serious doubts a plan can be put in place quickly enough before the vote at the BCC meeting scheduled for July 7th. The wheels turn slowly downtown and it takes time to get the gears moving.
Stay tuned for more frequent emails as we get closer to the meeting date with some questions to ask Orange County staff at the meetings related to the protection of East Orange County through the Comprehensive Plan.
Here is a list of post I have written over the last month for your reading or viewing pleasure:
- 3/10/2015 – BCC workshop regarding Lake Pickett properties on March 10th. The BCC wanted to understand the impact the properties would have on the area as well as understand the traffic situation not only in East Orange County but also across Orange County.
- 3/11 and 3/12 – Video of public comment at Expressway Authority and also MetroPlan meetings. I attended the MetroPlan meeting and spoke during public comment as well as the public comment at the Expressway Authority. You can view my Expressway comment identifying a one mile stretch of roadway on Hwy 50 on either side of the 408 as the main traffic issue.
- 3/29 – Email from staff regarding UCF master plan. I asked if Orange County was aware of a large Academic/Research site on the UCF property that might add more cars to our roadways and what was in place to account for this. You can read the email response.
- 3/29 – What is MetroPlan Orlando and what does this organization do? This gives you an idea of who MetroPlan is and it’s significance to traffic in a three county area.
- 3/30 – Meeting with UCF to understand UCF master plan. I met with UCF to understand the large Academic/Research site on the UCF property. This is a synopsis of that meeting.
- 3/31 – Video on how the roads in East Orange County are funded? This video shows you in a entertaining way where money comes from to fund our roadways.
Email if you have questions.
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Regards,
RJ Mueller