Public Hearing Orange County Public School West Orange Relief High
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Citizens United for Sensible Growth, Inc. Presentation to: Board of County Commissioners In Opposition to the Requested: Special Exception Application SE-13-07-046 In District 1 November 5, 2013 Karen Consalo, Esquire 836 N. Highland Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801 • Certified by the Florida Bar in 2010 as an expert in City, County & Local Government Law • Certified by the University of Florida in 2000 in Land Use & Environmental Law • Professor of Land Use Law at Rollins College (Masters and Undergraduate Courses) • Professor of Florida Constitutional Law at Barry University School of Law Rich Unger, FAICP Fellow of the America Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) Former Planning Director at MSCW, where he was directly involved in the planning of Horizons West Former Planning Bureau Chief, City of Orlando Over thirty (30) years as a professional planner June Cole and Ricardo Cumburbatch Residents of the West Windermere Rural Settlement. Property owners directly adjacent to the proposed high school location. Homes located at 5836 Oxford Moor Boulevard, Windermere, Florida 34786 (June Cole) and 5710 Oxford Moor Boulevard, Windermere, Florida 34786 (Ricardo) Citizens United for Sensible Lake Mary Jane Rural Settlement Growth, Inc. Lake Mary Jane Alliance Rural Settlement Alliance Lake Pickett Rural Settlement West Windermere Rural Lake Pickett Community Settlement Organization Clarcona Rural Settlement Tangerine Rural Settlement Clarcona Improvement Tangerine Improvement Society Association Lake Whippoorwill Hart Rural Bithlo Rural Settlement Settlement Gotha Rural Settlement Whippoorwill Hart Community Gotha Community Association Association Lake Avalon Rural Settlement Hearings Prior BCC: Two Development Review Committee Meetings to thoroughly review the project. At DRC, Orange County staff nearly unanimously against approval of this Special Exception due to noncompliance with Comp Plan and the LDC BZA voted 4-2 in favor of high school; however BZA member Tony Rey is nephew to the School Board’s lead attorney on this matter and BZA member Zachary Seybold left the meeting prior to the vote. Without these usual factors, the BZA vote may have been very different! Residents Do Not Oppose a High School! They Oppose the Poor Planning and Long Term Problems of Locating a High School at this Location. There are at least two alternative locations for this high school which are readily available, better suited, and do not require a special exception! So why here? Because: • OCSB choose to purchase property in a Rural Settlement • OCSB chose not to purchase access along Ficquette/Winter Garden Vineland Road • OCSB overpaid for the property Careless Acquisition History: Sales agreement included a contingency clause to allow OCSB to seek proper zoning for a high school prior to purchase. The School Board chose not to obtain the zoning and bought the property anyway! OCSB also had the opportunity to purchase the 10 acres immediately south of this property, to obtain a secondary access onto Winter Garden Vineland Road and chose not to purchase this property! These Poor Real Estate Decisions Might Have Been Avoided Had OCSB Consulted with Orange County Prior to the Purchase. OCPS CREATED THIS PROBLEMS BY FAILING TO COORDINATE WITH ORANGE COUNTY BCC On Nov. 1, 2011 Mayor Jacobs requested a meeting between Orange County and OCPS to discuss the school siting issues caused by lack of joint planning and coordination However, two days before this scheduled joint meeting to talk about better planning and coordination, on April 30, 2013, OCPS filed this Special Exception application precluding an effort toward discussion, joint planning, or coordination OCSB purchased the wrong land, avoided any joint planning with BCC, and now insists that the BCC grant this special exception because of the school board’s mounting problems SCHOOL BOARD THEN SAT ON THE PROPERTY, WAITING UNTIL THE NEED FOR A NEW HIGH SCHOOL WAS IMMINENT TO PRESSURE ORANGE COUNTY TO APPROVE A HIGH SCHOOL IN A PROTECTED RURAL SETTLEMENT To Enhance this Pressure on Orange County, the School Board has Exaggerated the State of “emergency” for a new high school: Fiction Fact* Current Capacity is 4,000 Winter Garden High School is Overcrowded Current Enrollment is 3,800 Students sitting on floor Empty classrooms are available Capacity Transfer Unused *Per verbal representation from WGHS Principal, Douglas Szcinski at the OCPS Open House on August 28, 2013 and restated by Mr. Szcinski via e-mail to Alisha Gill dated September 17, 2013. Capacity Transfer (Obtained from OCPS website) Exaggerated Time for Construction OCSB construction of Ocoee high school was only two years No reason this construction should take any longer than two years Mr. Mike Smith is going to present timeline for construction There is no emergency need for a high school. But if the School Board insists that there is an urgency to start construction, why not utilize one of the two existing sites? Either would save the time of seeking a special exception and the potential delay of litigation? Alternative Locations: Seidel Road Site Owned by School Board No need for a Special Exception Perfectly located for anticipated growth in Horizons West Sufficient roadway access on multiple roads Can start construction immediately Sell the Rural Settlement property to turn a profit Alternative Site 2: Tiny Road Land is government owned and likely OCSB can lease or purchase below market value School can use brand new Sports Facility, reducing construction costs and time (compliant with Comp Plan Policy 5.11.1 and LDC 38-1756) New roadway access points making traffic safe and efficient Profit potential in selling 535 land The New School Will Predominately Serve Horizon West and S. Winter Garden Described by Superintendent Blocker as “a site for one of three high schools to serve Horizon West and S. Winter Garden area of WOC”* This high school is not intended, nor will it, primarily serve residents of the West Windermere Rural Settlement *See purchase discussion in School Board minutes dated 4/6/04. Student Population 2017-18 --- Rural Settlement Boundary ____ Rural Settlement Boundary Existing West Orange High School Student Distribution by Zip Code by % Orlando Oakland, 47 students 251 students 1.4 Ocoee,246 students 7.3 7.1 Windermere Out of 879 students, 526 879 students are in Horizon West which 25.5 drops the Windermere % Winter Garden 2,022 students to 10.2% 58.7 Student Numbers provided by OCPS – Pupil Assignment, Sandra Simpson So Why Here? Why Force this School in a Protected Rural Settlement Area and set a precedent to eviscerate the protections of all of Orange County’s Rural Settlements? Comprehensive Plan Policies Which Require Schools Be Located Within the Area of the Population Expected to be Served. In this case, Horizons West: Public School Facilities Goal 2; FLU Policy 4.18.8 Section 38-1753 of the Orange County Code Decades ago Orange County set out to protect certain areas of the county from this very type of high density, urban development. Comprehensive Plan Policies Which Demand Protection of Rural Settlements: Objectives 6.2 and 6.3 and Policies 6.2.4, 6.2.5; 6.2.12 and 6.2.14 • OBJ FLU 6.2 RURAL SETTLEMENTS. Rural Settlements provide for a rural residential lifestyle. In some instances, Rural Settlements allow a transition of rural areas adjacent to the Urban Service Area while avoiding development in active agricultural areas. Rural Settlements were intended to recognize and preserve existing development patterns at the time the CP was adopted in 1991. The creation of Rural Settlements recognized the need to maintain agricultural areas and rural uses in the Rural Service Area, while providing for rural communities. • Our residential styles within the West Windermere Rural Settlement may differ from those found in other Rural Settlements; but the determination that the West Windermere Rural Settlement is in fact “rural” and therefore worthy of the same protections provided to other Rural Settlements, was made by the Board of County Commissioners in 1991 during the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. Rural character and lifestyle should include development densities and intensities. The average residential density in West Windermere Rural Settlement is one (1) dwelling unit per developable acre, which is defined in the Comprehensive Plan as “rural”. • OBJ FLU 6.2 RURAL SETTLEMENTS. Rural Settlements provide for a rural residential lifestyle. In some instances, Rural Settlements allow a transition of rural areas adjacent to the Urban Service Area while avoiding development in active agricultural areas. Rural Settlements were intended to recognize and preserve existing development patterns at the time the CP was adopted in 1991. The creation of Rural Settlements recognized the need to maintain agricultural areas and rural uses in the Rural Service Area, while providing for rural communities. • Our residential styles within the West Windermere Rural Settlement may differ from those found in other Rural Settlements; but the determination that the West Windermere Rural Settlement is in fact “rural” and therefore worthy of the same protections provided to other Rural Settlements, was made by the Board of County Commissioners in 1991 during the adoption of the Comprehensive Plan. Rural character and lifestyle should include development densities and intensities. The average residential density in West Windermere Rural Settlement is one (1) dwelling unit per developable acre, which