16-03-2025
A developer wants to remove wetlands in Orange County. Will it make Osceola flood?
Three years ago, as Hurricane Ian dropped nearly 18 inches of water on Central Florida, flooding from Shingle Creek left hundreds of Osceola County residents stranded.
Now Orange County is considering a development that threatens to increase the flood risk.
The Tuscana project would bring over 1,600 hotel rooms and 5,200 multi-family dwelling units to an area of agricultural-zoned land near Central Florida's theme parks and close to parts of 20-mile long Shingle Creek, extending into sensitive wetlands that serve as the headwaters to the Everglades and run through Osceola County.
'Florida originally had like 4 million acres of wetlands and … they're like the kidneys of our land so the pendulum of protecting them as they get more rare is critical,' said Gabrielle Milch of the Sierra Club, noting that wetlands absorb stormwater that otherwise can run off into neighborhoods. 'We've tried to do a good job but the competing interests of economics and social values doesn't always consider the environmental impacts.'
Last week the Tuscana project was set to be reviewed by Orange County's Development Review Committee. But applicant Kimley-Horn, representing developers Shingle Creek Co-owners LLC and Geyer Development LLC, amended its rezoning proposal the night before in an apparent effort to make it more palatable.
Included was a 22-acre decrease, from 58 to 36 acres, of the portion of the development that would remove wetlands. The entire development would occupy 227 acres surrounded by undeveloped forest and lying on the eastern portion of Shingle Creek Basin.
Kimley-Horn had already requested waivers from the county's code to build at a higher density, raising some buildings over 200 feet in the air. In this case, the company argues, the more intense development mitigates the environmental impact by reducing the buildings' footprint and the amount of wetlands affected.
Orange County staff said they didn't have enough time to review the new details and scheduled a decision on whether to move the proposal to public hearings at the next development committee meeting on April 2.
Kimley-Horn declined an interview request from the Orlando Sentinel.
While Orange County staff has many questions for the developer, Tuscana is being judged under more relaxed county rules established in 1987, but later tightened. The developer only needs to show it is attempting to minimize the project's wetland impact and that it doesn't require a cumulative impact analysis, said Tim Hull, environmental programs administrator for the Orange County's environmental protection division.
Kimley-Horn is seeking to make that case. Project Manager Jennifer Stickler told the committee board that the developer plans to offset any impact to the wetlands by preserving over 176 acres.
In 2023 the county adopted a more stringent code that more aggressively protects wetlands, but Tuscana began its application process right before the new code took effect. However, Hull said the county will require Kimley-Horn to explain in more detail how it will handle stormwater as part of its project.
'Shingle Creek is a very important drainage basin in the county,' Hull said. 'The county is very tuned in to flood concerns… once the applicant is at the level where they're providing engineering plans that's when they provide more details on stormwater management.'
Even though the impacts may be felt in Osceola, that county is not involved in the process, Hull said. Instead the South Florida Water Management District, which oversees waters in both Orange and Osceola, has oversight and it has already issued a preliminary permit for the development, he said.
Environmentalists say that's a concern.
John Capece is an environmental researcher who leads Kissimmee Water Keeper, a global network of water protection organizations. Capece said it's alarming that the development is even under consideration, given its invasion into critical wetlands that store so much water.
'The undeveloped complex there west of Shingle Creek where Tuscana is proposed is the largest wetland complex remaining along the Shingle Creek System,' Capece said. 'Whenever you constrain a flood plain, you have the potential to enhance flooding that will occur in other areas.'
Even with the existing level of devleopment, flooding along Shingle Creek during Hurricane Ian in 2022 rendered more than 500 homes uninhabitable in the Good Samaritan retirement community at Kissimmee Village.
Adding to Capece's concern, climate change has made previous flood maps outdated and extreme rainfall events more common, he said. A 2022 study Capece was involved with researching for the South Florida Water Management District estimated that extreme rainfall events would increase by roughly 60% regionwide, including in Orange County, from 2020 through 2059.
'It's a huge amount,' Capece said. 'And it'll generate even more than 60% runoff or flooding because much of the initial rainfall is stored in various parts of wetlands…therefore every acre of wetland, every acre of storage potential becomes more critical.'
Capece said the county or developer should be required to do computer modeling of flooding. State agencies in charge of overseeing multiple counties have become lax, he said.
Tuscana is just the latest illustration of the pressures growth is placing on environmentally sensitive areas in Central Florida. Once protected, Split Oak Forest soon will have a highway slice through a portion of it despite fierce community opposition.
There may be more stringent guidelines in the future. Hull said Orange County's new updated code increases environmental protections. While Tuscana is being considered under the earlier codes, the Board of County Commissioners has the ultimate say as it balances growth with conserving land. The project is scheduled to be presented to the board on May 20.
Gordon Spears formerly sat on the planning and zoning advisory board of Orange County. He said not only will the development increase flood risk but the area lacks urban infrastructure.
'It may pass the development review committee but it wouldn't surprise me if the board of county commissioners don't pass it,' Spears said.
The Shingle Creek basin not only offers wetlands that store water to mitigate flooding but trails and bike paths that are close to the heart of many in the region.
A mother of five, Lauren Allen brought two of her children to the development committee meeting where she spoke against Tuscana. Allen said her kids, who range in age from 7 to 18, enjoy the creek and are worried the development will destroy a treasured play spot.
'One of the things my daughter said is she was very concerned that they were not going to be any more beautyberries because when she had been hiking on one of the trails with her grandma they found them,' Allen said. 'Her grandma said next time we'll make some beautyberry jam but now she's worried she'll never get to make beautyberry jam.'
