ORLANDO, Fla. – A developer’s plans to bring an attainable senior apartment complex to east Orange County is drawing opposition from the community.
The proposal calls for building a mix of 2-and 1-bedroom units along Woodbury Road in the Waterford Lakes neighborhood, and it’s not the first time that property has been eyed for development.
Residents were able to fight off the proposal in 2020 when the developer tried to build a 63-unit complex on that same 1.8-acre site. It’s now down to 36 units exclusively for people 55 years old and older, but while the proposal has changed, the concerns from neighbors remain the same.
“This is a single-family community with single-family homes,” Tara Crary said. “It’s not consistent architecturally with any of the other homes or structures in the community.”
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“It’s just right in the middle of a neighborhood that aesthetically all looks the same, this is the one thing that’s going to be an eyesore,” Andrew Garrett added.
But for Crary and Garrett, two longtime Waterford Lakes residents, the look of an apartment complex in their neighborhood is just the tip of the iceberg.
The proposed development would be built just a few hundred feet in front of Discovery Middle School. Despite concerns from the community about the school’s entrance on Woodbury Road being shared by the complex, the developer said his property line is 223 feet away, and in all likelihood, would be 245 feet away from the entrance.
Waterford Elementary is also right across the street. There are roughly 1,400 students between the two schools.
“Many students walk or bike to school,” Crary said. “So, there’s grave concern for the children at Waterford Elementary and Discovery Middle.”
News 6 also spoke with the developer and landowner Carlos Rivero who owns Cafe Construction and Development.
“I don’t really see how they’re going to jeopardize student safety,” he said. “With the small amount of 36 units, you might create a couple of cars coming in and out during school time.”
Residents say the intersection near the school – Woodbury Road and Lake Underhill Road – is already a traffic nightmare, especially during school hours, but Rivero said the development will have very little impact on the roads.
“I can tomorrow submit building plans for 18 units that are open age with no restrictions,” he said. “Orange County Public Works did a traffic study and open age compared to the senior market will actually create 11 trips less per day. If they’re going to argue with me that we have too much traffic, well I’m bringing in less traffic than I could be bringing in.”
“55-year-olds are still working,” Garrett countered. “It’s not a retirement community. It’s not a supported living arrangement. It’s 55 and up apartments.”
A challenge from Rivero’s standpoint is that Orange County is in the design phase of widening Woodbury Road. It’s a long-needed project that will offer some relief, but the county needs some of his land to make that project a reality.
“I’ve heard numbers from 13 feet all the way to 57 feet that they’re going to take,” Rivero said. “The effect that has is you have to go vertical, and that’s not what the people want.”
Both Crary and Garrett agree the site should stay the way it is. “It’s a very small parcel and it doesn’t lend itself to really any development,” Crary added.
A community meeting was held last week to give residents a chance to ask Rivero and county staff questions about the project.
“The property owner also has rights,” Rivero said. “We have to try and come to a happy medium where the developer can still come in and do something with this property, but also something that will benefit the community.”
Because the property needs to be rezoned from low-medium-density residential to medium-density residential-senior housing, the proposal now heads to Orange County’s Planning and Zoning Board for approval next month.
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