Latest news with #MeganSladek
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oviedo, Sanford urge legislators to kill ‘horrendous' rural development bills
Elected leaders in two of Seminole County's largest cities — Sanford and Oviedo — are blasting proposed state legislation that would make it easier to develop the county's rural lands. 'They are certainly developer driven,' Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek said regarding proposed Senate Bill 1118 and companion House Bill 1209, which would overturn many land development regulations, including some that have been in place for decades. On Monday, she joined fellow council members and Sanford commissioners in support of sending sharply worded letters to state legislators, calling on them to reject the bills. 'I would rather increase density in the city, where it is less costly to provide services than in rural areas. This is what our constituents have said they want,' Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff said before his city's commissioners also voted unanimously in opposition to the proposed legislation at a separate meeting. David Bear, president of the non-profit Save Rural Seminole, urged Oviedo and Sanford — whose borders either abut or are close to the county's rural boundary — to send the missives. He called the bills 'horrendous.' The proposed legislation 'doesn't automatically eliminate Seminole's [rural boundary] line. However, it makes the line functionally irrelevant through a Tallahassee approval process,' Bear said. A developer 'wouldn't have to come in front of a Seminole County board for a public hearing.' Established by voters in 2004, Seminole's rural boundary covers nearly one third of Seminole, much of it east of the Econlockhatchee River and Lake Jesup. Development densities within the boundary are mostly limited to one home per five acres or one home per 10 acres. Last November, Seminole voters overwhelmingly approved charter amendments to tighten the rules, requiring supermajority votes by county commissioners — or at least four votes on the five-member board — to remove and develop property within the boundary. The proposed Senate bill, filed by Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, would wipe out the 2024 referendums. It would leave Seminole's 2004 rural boundary in place, but with a significant modification. Under the legislation, a developer's request to develop an agricultural enclave — land that abuts existing zoning for residential, industrial or commercial development — would not even require a public hearing, Oviedo officials said. Local governments have long been required by the state to have land development regulations — known as comprehensive plans — that can be amended only through public hearings before local boards, Oviedo City Manager Bryan Cobb said. But the proposed legislation 'says that doesn't matter. You will approve this [development] without any due process,' he said. In Orange County, the proposed Senate bill would undo two charter amendments approved by voters last year — one that created a rural boundary and another that limited annexations initiated by developers. The proposed bills have been a priority for the Florida Home Builders Association and Deseret Ranches, the real estate arm of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which owns hundreds of thousands of acres of land spread across east Orange. The Senate bill was quickly approved in its first committee hearing last month. But as of Tuesday, neither bill has been scheduled for additional committee hearings. 'They would like to develop in the rural boundary,' Oviedo Council member Natalie Teuchert said of bill supporters. 'It disregards what voters voted on.' Sanford Commissioner Claudia Thomas was more blunt. 'Put it in all caps and in bold face,' she said in recommending how Sanford should write the letter in opposition.
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oviedo advances $10M police HQ annex after delays, voter rejection of asks for more funds
The journey to building a larger Oviedo police headquarters has involved years of delays, discourse, voter approval of millions of dollars for construction then rejection of city requests for millions more in back-to-back referendums. But earlier this week city leaders took a major step toward expanding the long-cramped police station. Council members Monday approved building a 10,000-square-foot annex next to police headquarters off Alexandria Boulevard for an estimated $9.7 million. 'It's nice to see something come to fruition,' said Chief Dale Coleman, who has long complained space is tight in the current 11,000-square-foot public safety building for the fast-growing Seminole County city. Oviedo's Police Department has 82 employees, including 73 sworn officers — nearly double when the headquarters was built in 1990. As a result, officers and detectives often must share cubicles. There's also no storage space for evidence and or an area for K-9 police dog units. In 2016, voters approved a referendum allowing the city to borrow up to $11.4 million for a new police building. But the project never advanced because city and police leaders couldn't agree on building size. In November 2023, voters rejected by nearly 64% a second bond referendum asked to borrow an additional $35.5 million — on top of the previous $11.4 million — for the project. Then Nov. 5, voters rejected a third referendum by 58% asking to borrow up to $20.4 million for a nearly $32 million building. That left the city with authority to borrow $11.4 million for the project but no direction — until now. 'My favorite question is: How fast do we get this moving forward,' Council member Natalie Teuchert said at Monday's meeting after joining Mayor Megan Sladek and council members Jeff Boddiford and Alan Ott in agreeing to the annex. Council member Keith Britton did not attend the meeting. Council members will review additional plans for the proposed annex at a public meeting in March before hiring a contractor. City officials will then be able to estimate dates for starting and finishing construction. City Manager Bryan Cobb said building the annex at the estimated cost would leave Oviedo with $1.7 million leftover, which could be used for security fencing and renovations to the existing police station. Even so, any amount borrowed would be paid back mostly with property tax revenues. The new annex would include enough space for training rooms, offices and storage, officials said. Council members turned down an alternative of completely renovating the existing building at a cost of $13 million. City staff said it would require borrowing or finding a source of funding for an additional $1.5 million. 'I'm in favor of the annex,' Coleman said to council members. 'I think it gives us a blank slate to design a building and design everything inside of it for the needs that we need. … It's more advantageous.' Mayor Megan Sladek agreed: 'It makes the most sense." mcomas@
