HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006 05 22 Reports Miller
Date: May 22, 2006
The attached Orlando Sentinel Article was
mentioned for the Record on May 22, 2006
during Commissioner Miller's Report.
A26 Orlando Sentinel
OPINIO
Orlando
Sentinel
FOUNDED 1876
KATHLEEN M. WALTZ
Publisher and President
News
CHARLOTTE H.
HALL
Editor
and Senior Vice President
Opinion
JANE E.
HEALY
Editorial Page Editor
and Vice President
MANNING PYNN Public Editor
Don't delay Way
Our position: Orange shouldn't fall for
lobbyists' ploy to stall Innovation Way.
The Orange County Com- onto this plan. In short, they want-
mission Tuesday has a ed to transform property that sits
huge opportunity: It can next to the Econlockhatchee River
OK the start of an excit- into a huge subdivision.
ing vision for the eastern part of But by doing so, the county
the county, one that combines would undermine the whole point
homes with high-tech workplaces, ofInnovation Way's compactness.
rapid transit, parks and a universi- What's more, it would stretch
ty. schools and roads
Or it can do Model for growth to the breaking
what it did in a point. It would be
preliminary vote classic urban
in January and mar this wonderful sprawl, and it makes no sense for
vision by allowing thousands of the commission to approve it.
acres of sensitive rural area next Mr. Segal now understands
door to be turned into the next me- that. He says he will vote along
ga-subdivision. with Mayor Rich Crotty - the cre-
The choice should be easy. And ator of Innovation Way - Linda
if commissioners keep their word, Stewart and Teresa Jacobs for the
they will make the right decision. original Innovation Way without
But if they cave in to powerful lob- Camino Reale. Let's hope Mr. Sin-
byists again, they will completely dler, Mr. Hartage and Mrs. Fer-
miss the op- nandez do as
portunity at well and send
hand. BAD PLACE FOR SPRAWL a unified
Done right, message
Innovation from Orange
Way could be County.
a model for the But the
entire region. lobbyists
Stretching aren't dumb.
17 miles from They under-
the University stand that
of Central Mr. Segal has
Florida south changed his
from Orange
County.
But the
lobbyists
aren't dumb.
They under-
stand that
Mr. Segal has
changed his
vote. As a re-
sult, they
need a new
pitch so that
Camino
Reale doesn't
geteliminat-
ed altogeth-
er. Here it is:
Top lobbyist
Hal Kantor
on Tuesday
ORLANDO SENTINEL will ask that
the entire
vote be de-
layed up to a year so that the Inno-
vation Way corridor can be "stud-
ied" more. Yes, he's actually using
that old ploy.
Surely commissioners by now
realize that Innovation Way
doesn't need any more study. It
has had a year of that from four
different governmental agencies.
The county also has held 30 hear-
ings with residents and other in-
terested groups. Further studies
will achieve nothing except more
billable hours for the lobbyists.
It also would have a huge down-
side since it would stall initial
planning for the good part of Inno-
vation Way - planning that would
help ensure that developments are
held to higher standards.
This latest gambit is simply a
way to keep Camino Reale alive.
(Just in time for a new commis-
sioner or two in November, per-
haps?) Innovation Way doesn't
need to be studied. It needs to be
started.
Innovation
Way could be
a model for the
entire region.
Stretching
17 miles from
the University
of Central
Florida south
to the Orlando
International
Airport, it
would eventu-
ally host
42,000 homes
and apart-
ments and
enough com-
mercial and
office space
for 83,000
jobs, including
58,000 that are
high-tech.
Meanwhile, the Econlockhatch-
ee River, which lies east of this
area, would be protected. Critters
would be, too. A wildlife. corridor
connecting the Kissimmee River
basin from the south to the St.
Johns River basin to the north
would be created. Now that's a vi-
sion.
In effect, it could be the coun-
ty'sjewel.
Jewels shine brightly and de-
serve to be treated with care. But
in January that didn't happen.
Commissioners Bill Segal, Homer
Hartage, Mildred Fernandez and
Bob Sindler went too far and
agreed to consider adding another
10,000 rural acres to Innovation
Way.
They did so after falling for
pitches from high-powered lobby-
ists for the proposed Camino
Reale subivision. The lobbyists ar-
gued that land now zoned for
farming - one home for every 10
acres - should be allowed to latch