The Orange County Commissioner sided with the environment Tuesday by unanimously denying the proposed Tuscana development and the thousands of hotel rooms and housing units it brings.
“The reason for property insurance is rising is not a mystery, so we had to learn from the mistakes,” Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said during the meeting. “We developed where it doesn’t belong, and water doesn’t know the boundaries – it goes where it needs to go.
“The problem is not just about environmentally sensitive land, but the issue is about public safety.”
The project will build more than 1,200 hotel rooms and 4,800 multifamily residential units in an area of land with an agricultural zone near a theme park in central Florida, and extends into a delicate swamp that passes through Osceola County towards the Everglades.
The vote will provide a strong environmental signal on the first major development issue to stand up to the board since the November election. In that election, voters rejected candidates for the developer-backed committee and approved two voting measures that would limit growth outside of urban areas.
More than dozens of people spoke to Tuscana at the meeting. Many opposing reasons have been cited, including the risk of loss of animal habitat and the risk of increased flooding due to the development of water-absorbing land.
“The Everglades have been fully broken for centuries due to the flooded developments that have since developed,” said Orlando resident Val Mobley. “I’m worried that the more specific we pour this peninsula, the sooner and farther we’ll be completely underwater.”
The commissioner has also heard from the applicant Shingle Creek co-owner LLC and its team of lawyers and engineers during the nearly two-hour discussion. Many of the 170 or more property owners collectively made up of applicants argued that it was their right to sell the land for development.
Dan Shovel owns one parcel of properties that will become Tuscana. He said he and his fellow property owners have been waiting for decades to sell their land.
“We did a fair amount of due diligence, but we didn’t buy any bogs that we couldn’t use,” Shovel said. “We purchased the property near Disney and SeaWorld, which you designated for very intense development, and showed you future access plans.”
County spokeswoman Amanda Dukes said in an email that the committee’s decision is the final step unless the developer decides to bring the matter to court.
Engineering and design company Kimlee Horn represents developer Kobo development in projects that directly impact more than 22 acres of wetlands. The entire development occupying 227 acres surrounded by undeveloped forests and is located in the eastern part of the Single Creek Basin. It is home to species including bald eagles, black bears and endangered bats.
According to a memo from the county’s Environmental Protection Department, Hubed Eagles and Black Bears are routinely recorded in areas with three known eagles nests near project restrictions. Additionally, recent acoustic monitoring has discovered at least three rare or hit bat species within the Ogawa basin. Florida’s bonnet bat (designated at state and federal levels as endangered), trichollard bat (suggested to be at risk), and Raffinek’s large-eared bat (thought to be rare in the region) state.
Tuscana has been caught up in the Orange County application process for many years. Since 2022, we will be revising the proposal to travel back and forth with county staff to minimize the impact on the wetlands. The latest proposal shows that more than 150 acres of wetlands and buildings that exceed the area’s maximum height of 60 feet (150 feet tall) are 150 feet tall to promote and minimize environmental impact. However, the county’s development review board rejected the project on April 2, as did the Planning and Zoning Board.
Kimley Horn engineer Jennifer Stickler said at Tuesday’s meeting that the applicant team has committed to a state and federal stormwater requirements meeting, amending proposals to work with the committee, providing a stormwater model that is not needed by the county code that does not detail how development will not affect water flow.
The county will hold a workshop Wednesday to study the Single Creek Drainage Basin to see if additional development protection is needed. The meeting will be held at 6pm at Dr. Phillips Elementary School, 6909 Phillips Blvd.
Original issue: May 20, 2025, 7:15pm EDT
