ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County voters will decide in November on a charter amendment to establish a rural boundary.
The county commissioner approved the proposed amendment unanimously on Tuesday, pushed by residents looking to limit urban sprawl in the county.
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Let’s explain what a rural boundary is, and what the amendment does.
Planning and zoning
Orange County’s planning and zoning quick reference guide lays out a framework that defines development areas. The two biggest areas are the Urban Service Area, and the Rural Service Area.
The Urban Service Area is defined as areas where urban development patterns exist or are planned, and for the most part include areas where the county provides, utilities, infrastructure, and community facilities like schools and parks.
The Rural Service Area provides for a rural lifestyle or agricultural activity. Generally publicly owned facilities are not expected in this area, but there are exceptions, such as Horizon West or the Lake Pickett Study Area.
Proposed rural boundary
The charter amendment establishing a proposed rural boundary would essentially make it harder for the county commission to change the comprehensive plan to allow developers to build higher-density developments in those areas.
The amendment exempts certain areas that would currently be considered part of the rural area, including the Horizon West area, the Innovation Way Overlay, two growth centers in northwest Orange County, and any areas that are already part of the Urban Service Areas or any interlocal planning agreements between the county and the cities.
To change those rules, a majority of the seven-person county commission, plus one other member, would have to approve it.
Seminole County has a rural boundary in the east part of the county, which the government’s website says allows for large home lots, lighter traffic, limited commercial/industrial development, and reduced environmental impacts. In 2018, the rural boundary became a huge issue in Seminole County when a former state representative, Chris Dorworth, was told he could not build a megadevelopment in the rural boundary called River Cross. Dorworth tried to sue the county but a judge rejected the legal challenge.
An amendment on the ballot in Seminole County in November proposes requiring a supermajority to change the rules for land in the rural boundary.
Residents in Orange County have long fought for something like a rural boundary, particularly in east Orange County. For more than 10 years residents in the area around Lake Pickett have been fighting developments in that area.
But the mayors of Orlando, Apopka, Belle Isle, Eatonville, Edgewood, Oakland, Maitland, Winter Garden, Ocoee and Windermere signed a letter to Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings opposing the proposal last week, along with another proposed charter amendment that would make it harder for unincorporated rural parts of Orange County to be annexed by cities.
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