Save Split Oak Forest Campaign

*New Date* The Christmas Civic Center, in partnership with Save Orange County, is hosting a town hall to share important updates on the rural boundary and provide a recap of the City of Orlando commission meeting. 🗓 Date: October 18th @ 6:30 PM 📍 Location: Christmas Civic Center, 23760 E Colonial Dr, Christmas, FL 32709 Join us to: Get the latest updates on rural boundary protections. Recap the key points and decisions from the City of Orlando commission meeting. Stay informed and engaged in the fight to protect our community. Your participation is crucial in ensuring our voices are heard and our land is protected. Don’t miss this opportunity to stay informed and take action!

But Amendment 10, which would give commissioners veto power over voluntary annexations into cities, is more contentious. Arthur, a District 1 Republican backed by prominent development interests, was the only candidate who said he planned to cast his ballot in opposition. A political committee supporting Arthur’s candidacy counts those in home building, real estate and development among its funders. “My opposition is based on the amendment’s attempt to circumvent local governments – an approach that mirrors the very state-level preemption my opponent has spent four years wailing about,” Arthur said in a text message. “It’s ironic to see this approach now being pushed by her onto our hyperlocal governments.” He was referencing incumbent Nicole Wilson, a leading voice in favor of the heightened rules. The issue could be a bellwether in the race – the candidates were separated by just two votes out of more than 28,000 cast in August’s primary. Steve Leary, who also has received funding from some development interests running against Semrad in District 5, said he’d vote for it though he doesn’t like it. Leary said when he was Mayor of Winter Park he fought against preemption all the time. Leary’s political committee is also partially funded by real estate and development interests. “This is kind of [the county commission] preempting the cities,” he said, adding he didn’t think it would survive a court challenge. However, Leary said he was voting for it because “I do think we need to figure out what to do with some of these massive annexations that are happening so I think the [annexation amendment] is a stop-gap right now.” The Greater Orlando Builders Association, a lobbying group for homebuilders, has endorsed Arthur and Leary. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club have endorsed Wilson and Semrad. Read here: https://lnkd.in/effwai_s

Arthur — who squeaked through the August primary into a November runoff race against Wilson — is by no means unique. Four of the six candidates in Orange County’s commission races have closely aligned political committees that are cashing unusually large checks from donors. Arthur has used a political committee to build an enormous fundraising advantage in his race against Wilson in Orange County’s District 1, which covers suburban communities such as Horizons West and Winter Garden as well as Walt Disney World. But Steve Leary, a former Winter Park mayor, has done the same in District 5, which runs from downtown Orlando to the St. Johns River and where Leary faces Kelly Semrad, a university professor and environmental activist, for an open seat. A political committee has enabled Leary to accept donations such as a $7,500 check from Universal Orlando, the theme-park giant that has sought public subsidies from Orange County for a new theme park. Much like Austin Arthur, records show that District 5 candidate Steve Leary has tapped tourism and development donors to fund his political committee, which Leary named, “Neighbors for a Sensible Orange County.” The biggest donor is Universal Orlando, which has given $7,500. But Leary’s group has also received $4,000 from a fundraising committee controlled by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who is helping development giant Tavistock move forward with plans to build homes across a vast swath of east Orange County. And a company controlled by Tavistock itself has given Leary’s committee another $2,500. Records show Leary has used his political committee to pay for polling and text-message adverting so far, as the tries to catch up with Semrad, the university professor who finished in first place in the August primary despite raising far less money overall. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eFgsdXw2

When Orlando City Council members take their first look at a massive proposed annexation this week, they will hear some big numbers: The Farmland Preserve/Deseret Ranches property covers an astounding 52,453 acres, or 82 square miles. And they’ll hear a lot of talk from the folks who want to develop that property — gentle boasts about their stewardship and eco-friendly planning, designed to soothe fears about the impact of plopping down a development the size of a good-sized city in the middle of unspoiled wetlands and pastures. But city leaders really only have to keep one number in mind: 100. As in, 100% of Orlando city voters are also registered to vote in Orange County. And as Orange County residents, they will be deciding— in just a few months — on two county charter amendments that are designed to mitigate the pitfalls of giant, gulping annexations like this. It’s clear that the owners of the Deseret Ranch property are trying to stampede the city into taking on this project before voters have the chance to put guardrails on the kind of hasty action that can only benefit the interests of developers. They’ve as much as said so — in August, when they announced they would be seeking annexation, they implied the county had been too difficult to work with. That sounds a little like code for “they won’t let us get away with anything” — the regulatory equivalent of “if Mom says no, ask Dad.” City officials should not allow themselves to be rushed. And Orlando residents should reach out to their commissioners, hopefully before Monday’s preliminary vote, and let commissioners know they don’t appreciate the developers’ attempt to undercut voters at the ballot box in November. Read here: https://lnkd.in/es3Q2kMe

Facing fierce opposition from dozens of environmental activists, Orlando city leaders on Monday endorsed the annexation of Deseret Ranches, a move that would massively expand the city’s boundaries, taking in tens of thousands of acres of undeveloped ranches and wetlands.
By a 6-1 vote, the annexation gained the initial approval of the council. It faces a second and probably identical vote next month, bringing the ranches into the city ahead of Election Day, when county voters consider a ballot measure putting stricter rules on such a move. Commissioner Patty Sheehan cast the lone opposing vote.
The ranches, owned by a for-profit arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, span a swath of 300,000 acres across Osceola, Orange, and Brevard counties.
The church is seeking to annex to Orlando 52,454 acres bounded by State Road 50 to the north, State Road 520 to the east and Osceola County to the south. The annexation would increase the footprint of Orlando by about 60 percent, shifting the city’s center of gravity sharply to the east with the addition of lands some 25 miles or more from city hall. In remarks opening the hearing, Mayor Buddy Dyer contended the city never sought the annexation, but that the landowner wants to enter the city quickly because of the November ballot measure that hands Orange County veto power over many future annexations, rewriting the rules for how cities like Orlando have traditionally grown.
“This property owner is here because of Orange County’s rushed and rash decision…that would prevent the property owner from choosing their local government,” he said.
He complained that the county charter amendment would preempt the city’s authority.
“This is blatant preemption, just like the Florida legislature uses,” he said. Read here: https://lnkd.in/e4yGRA3Q

Orlando City Council is slated to hear on Monday a first reading of an ordinance that, if granted, would grow the boundaries of the city proper by 52,454 acres. That’s more than 68% of the city’s land area according to the city’s growth management plan. Since then, the Orlando City Council has approved annexations of additional land from unincorporated Orange County: like earlier this year, when the county fought City Council’s unanimous decision to annex more than 6,000 acres along State Road 528. This annexation request for more than 52,000 acres comes from Farmland Reserve, Inc., a Mormon Church affiliate based in Utah, which owns Central Florida’s Deseret Ranches. A spokesperson for Farmland Reserve declined to comment on the pending request until after Monday’s first reading of the ordinance. The group Save Orange County scheduled a rally immediately ahead of Monday’s Council meeting to voice opposition to the request. Vice Chair Kelly Semrad, who is also running for District 5 Commissioner in Orange County, described the pending request as “the living case of study of how you don’t develop.” Semrad cited growing concerns that different forms of regional infrastructure — like roads, schools and water management systems — are being pushed beyond capacity, as more people flock to Central Florida. “Every time that you talk about extending your city limits to grab new land, you’re creating more demand on the systems that are needed that are already failing,” Semrad said. “It’s like they’re talking about building for the future while they’re not even sustaining the current.” Semrad said the annexation request goes against Orlando’s growth management plan, which states it is built on a philosophy that “promotes a compact, interconnected, mixed use environment, thereby creating opportunities for responsible growth and ensuring a high quality of life.” This November, county voters will get to weigh in on two amendments on the ballot that, together, would establish a rural boundary, which Semrad said would help end urban sprawl. The land Farmland Reserve wants to annex intersects with that would-be rural boundary, Semrad said. Read here: https://lnkd.in/ex7FEsnP

Call To Action! Any speakers for Monday’s 2 pm city counsel meeting on annexation can submit form BEFORE 9am Monday. Thus, anyone who’s not done a form can still do so through the weekend! Orlando.gov/councilcomment - fill out form button - sept 23 (not the budget mtg) - general appearance - Ordinance 2024-45  annexation - the rest is self explanatory We also need people to visit www.saveorangecounty.org to sign our petition And email the City Mayor and Commissioners your concerns with their annexation of 52,450 acres of rural lands. City of Orlando Contacts: buddy.dyer@orlando.gov patty.sheehan@orlando.gov jim.gray@orlando.gov tony.ortiz@orlando.gov robert.stuart@orlando.gov bakari.burns@orlando.gov shan.rose@orlando.gov Administrative Aides: marjorie.bernadel@orlando.gov diane.wilhelm@orlando.gov megan.shaver@orlando.gov alejandra.rivera@orlando.gov maria.montano@orlando.gov bill.stevens@orlando.gov jacquelyn.musiol@orlando.gov piero.meza@orlando.gov leo.stoney@orlando.gov heather.numa@orlando.gov

A nationwide analysis of community-level floodplain development found that over two-million acres of floodplain were developed over the past two decades across the United States, with roughly half of all new floodplain housing built in Florida. These findings from scientists at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science provide new information on patterns of floodplain development that pose a potential risk to people and communities in regions like the Southeastern U.S. that are especially prone to flooding. In the new study, researchers combined geospatial land use, impervious surface, and housing data with information from digitized regulatory floodplain maps to measure new floodplain development for communities across the U.S. The analysis, published in the journal Earth’s Future, found that over 840,000 new residential properties were built in the floodplain across the U.S. with about 398,000 of those built in Florida, which represents 21 percent of all new housing built in the state and the highest total of any U.S. state. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eFy4eUD2

Dozens of people concerned about the health of Florida springs gathered for a rally Thursday ahead of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s public workshop on a new draft rule to better protect those freshwater springs, which flow from the Floridan Aquifer, a primary source of drinking water for the state. In Northeast Florida and in Central Florida, where Thursday’s rally was held, more than 90% of people get their water from the aquifer, according to the St. Johns River Water Management District. But many of Florida’s springs are in trouble, polluted by high concentrations of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. That’s why FDEP in 2018 adopted Basin Management Restoration Plans, or BMAPs, to guide efforts to restore water quality in the 24 springs deemed to be “impaired” by such nutrients. But many springs aren’t on track to meet the water quality targets laid out in those BMAPs, according to data in FDEP’s statewide annual report. And that’s partly because of water quantity: if there isn’t enough water flowing through those springs, higher concentrations of pollutants can develop, according to Florida Springs Council Executive Director Ryan Smart. “The common denominator is flow,” Smart said, explaining the inherent connection between water quality and water quantity. “Better flow equals less pollution.” @floridaspringscouncil Read here: https://lnkd.in/eTszygWE

When voters in Orlando go to the polls this fall, they will find suburban sprawl on the ballot. It’ll be there in the form of two referendums that would establish new protections for rural lands in Orange County, the rapidly growing region of nearly 1.5 million people that includes the city of Orlando. But it will also be on the ballot in the form of three county commission races, where rural land protections have also become a bright dividing line between the candidates. The divide centers on one of the two referendums, which together aim to create a strong “rural boundary” in Orange County. The measure would make it much harder for a developer to dodge new rural development limits simply by convincing some growth-hungry city to annex the land — something that cities like Orlando are often happy to do, even when it means swallowing up a vast swath of cattle pasture that is closer to the St. Johns River than it is to City Hall. On one side are a trio of candidates who all say they support the proposed limits on municipal annexation power: Nicole Wilson, the incumbent commissioner in District 1, which covers western Orange County; Mayra Uribe, the incumbent commissioner in District 3, which takes in parts of south and east Orlando; and Kelly Semrad, a university professor running for an open seat in District 5, which spans the county’s eastern side. The three have records to back it up. Wilson and Uribe both voted to place the measure on the November ballot and both say they will personally vote for it, too. And Semrad, a leader of the activist group Save Orange County, was one of the very first supporters of the idea. The differences here are important. Not because of the referendum itself, which will be decided directly by Orange County voters. But because they offer a window into how these candidates are likely to vote as commissioners when they are inevitably asked to sign off on some new subdivision in a remote corner of the county — which are often among the most consequential votes commissioners ever cast. Read here: https://lnkd.in/eZ4p96ns