Orange County commissioners approved a large-scale development near Shingle Creek earlier this month, but opponents of the project are not backing down.
Protect Shingle Creek is holding a community town hall Thursday at 6 p.m. at Somerset Village, 11425 Sandy Hill Dr., Orlando, to explain what comes next and what actions residents can still take.
The development, called “Tuscana,” would be built north of State Road 417 and south of Central Florida Parkway. The project would bring more than 4,800 apartments and around 1,000 hotel rooms to nearly 230 acres in the Shingle Creek Basin.
Commissioners voted 4-3 this month to approve the project’s land use plan application — a reversal from last year, when the board unanimously rejected it.
Odette Davis lives right by Shingle Creek and said the area’s protected status was a major reason she chose to move there over 30 years ago.
“That’s why we bought here, because it was protected and we want it to stay that way,” Davis said.
Fellow resident Linda Thomas said she felt shafted by commissioners after the vote.
“I felt betrayed. So many people had written them and said they were against it, and we thought that they understood that and then they turned out at the ninth hour and changed their mind, kind of like they’d been bought,” Thomas said.
Opponents of the development worry it will threaten wetlands, displace wildlife and cause flooding in the area. Activists also point out that Shingle Creek feeds into the headwaters of the Everglades, raising broader environmental concerns beyond the immediate neighborhood.
“If you start developing and you’re going to have all kinds of issues, quality of life will go down, traffic will go up,” Thomas said.
The commission reconsidered the project after a Special Magistrate recommended that commissioners revisit the landowners’ application. Some commissioners who supported the project cited concerns about the county’s potential financial exposure if property owners pursued legal action. But for many residents, that reasoning falls short.
“I wrote them afterwards, and I said, ‘you know, I’ll remember when I go to the polls. You’re supposed to represent the people,’” Thomas told News 6.
Shingle Creek Co-Owners also say the project would create thousands of jobs and generate more than $600 million annually for Orange County once fully built out, and that it includes measures to address flooding and protect wetlands, including partially elevated access roads.