ORLANDO, Fla. – On Monday, Orlando city commissioners voted to move forward with the annexation of more than 6,200 acres of southeastern Orange County.
The unanimous vote came after Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings was “surprised” by the city’s plan to annex a large piece of land to the north and south of State Road 528 in the massive Sunbridge community.
New roads have already been built off the Innovation Way interchange in preparation for the more than 5,200 single-family homes and roughly 1,600 apartment units that will eventually be built in the Orange County portion of Sunbridge.
However, Assistant Orange County Attorney Andrew Mai said on Monday that the annexation would bring “inconsistencies” to some future Sunbridge residents living within the city and others living in the county.
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“We are concerned the annexation splits the development in two,” Mai said. “Planned developments are intended to operate as a whole, and annexing most of a planned development will make a planned development fail, especially since this planned development is very complicated.”
Orange County commissioners also said the land encroaches the county’s rural boundary, leading to concerns about urban sprawl in some environmentally sensitive areas.
Orlando city commissioners will vote April 1 on whether to move the annexation forward.
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