SANFORD, Fla. – Some families who live just north of the Orlando Sanford International Airport and State Road 46 are concerned about what a potential development could do to their neighborhood.
A concept plan submitted to the city of Sanford shows Cycorp Engineering is planning to submit a formal application to request a zoning change for a five-acre parcel between Grove Manor Drive and 24th Street.
If the city agrees to the rezoning, up to 20 single family homes could be built on the site.
Our News 6 team reached out to a representative with Cycorp Engineering Tuesday to ask for more information about the proposal.
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Lacey Laird, who lives in the area, told our crew that she attended a meeting hosted by the company Monday night as they work to gather public input ahead of submitting their rezoning request.
“It’s already been approved to build on, but they want to change the zoning to be able to build a lot more houses,” Laird said. “It’s not good. Nobody in the neighborhood is for this.”
Laird said she and her neighbors are concerned about more traffic and potential flooding issues that could come with the plan to develop more houses on smaller lots. She said they are already dealing with traffic and construction concerns on S.R. 46 where there is an ongoing FDOT project from French Avenue (U.S. 17-92) to Mellonville Avenue.
“During one of the hurricanes, over on Lily Court, there was quite a bit of flooding. Just the city of Sanford has a lot of issues with the drainage, so it’s definitely hard,” said Laird.
Our News 6 team looked at preliminary plans for the site with Laird Tuesday, where she pointed out that the entrance where new homes would be built would be at the end of Willow Avenue and 24th Street. The only way in and out would be for cars to drive down Willow or Orange.
“It’s just too many, too many houses,” said Laird. “And there’s a minimum of a 2 bedroom, 2 bath house, you have at least three people or more staying in that house.”
Laird and some of her neighbors have expressed concerns about the proposal on social media.
District 1 Commissioner Sheena Britton also posted about the project on Facebook and said she attended Monday night’s meeting to listen because if the company moves forward with their proposal, it will likely lead to a City Commission vote. In her post she stated the following streets may be directly impacted:
- 24th Street
- Groveview Manor Drive
- Willow Avenue
- Orange Avenue
- Glenway Drive
- Bay Avenue
- Mellonville Avenue
News 6 also reached out to city staff and was told that they have only received a pre-application at this point. You can read their pre-application review comments in the document below:
Commercial Plan Review Comments by Jacob Langston on Scribd
Laird acknowledged that the project is in the early stages and says her neighbors will keep attending public meetings and reaching out directly to the city of Sanford with their concerns.
“We’re trying to get the neighborhood together to attend those meetings, just so they can hear the public does care about the neighborhood, about what’s going on in the city,” said Laird. “It goes beyond the neighborhood. Just the city of Sanford in general, we just want them to listen to the citizens.”
To see the concept plan, see the document below:
Concept Plan by Jacob Langston on Scribd
