Orange, Osceola boards rebuff Split Oak Forest defenders' last-ditch pleas
Defenders of Split Oak Forest tried but failed Tuesday to persuade Orange County government to take legal action to halt construction of a toll road through the public land's southern wedge.
Forest advocates insist Orange County has grounds to oppose the highway, even though it sits solely in the Osceola County portion of the preserve. County lawyers say they don't.
Without a lawsuit to stop it, the Central Florida Expressway Authority seems set on its preferred route to run a 1.3-mile leg of the Osceola County Parkway through the forest. CFX already has planted stakes outlining the path, and on Monday Osceola County commissioners approved the plan.
The Orange and Osceola meetings marked the apparent, anti-climactic conclusion of one of Central Florida's biggest environmental battles in recent years, one that pitted environmentalists against state road builders and the developers whose land will be served by the project.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the highway cut-through in a closely-watched vote almost exactly a year ago, but the Save Split Oak contingent vowed not to give up the fight.
Toll road approved to cut through Split Oak Forest
Nearly two dozen supporters of the forest turned out Tuesday to plead with Orange County to intercede.
They argued that Osceola County's deal with CFX violates the original pact signed in the 1990's by Orange and Osceola counties to buy the 1,689-acre forest, now considered vital habitat for gopher tortoises and other endangered species.
But Orange County Attorney Jeff Newton says the county has no say because CFX will use land only in Osceola.
'This board and the citizens and voters of Orange County could not vote to restrict or regulate any lands in Osceola County,' he explained to a crowd in Orange County Commission chambers. 'They don't have the jurisdiction to do so.'
Orange County owns 1,004 acres of the forest. Osceola owns the other 685.
Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad wanted the county — either through Newton's office or outside counsel — to seek an injunction to stop the project, insisting the entire forest would be harmed by the intrusion across Osceola's segment.
'It's not just about what happens on Osceola's part of the forest,' she said.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said the board has thoroughly vetted the issue through a series of meetings and agreements last year.
'I do believe Orange County has taken appropriate action to protect the portion of Split Oak that Orange County owns,' he said.
In their Monday meeting, Osceola County commissioners approved the agreement with CFX without discussion.
The 11-page document spells out Osceola's duty to release its conservation easement to the road builders.
Only a few people attended the meeting. Two held signs that read 'hands off our nature.'
'I just think this is horrible so I had to come,' said Linda Chastain, who sat in the second row of the commission chambers. 'I heard about this being on Osceola's agenda last minute so I had to rush over here.'
She attended Orange County's meeting, too, occasionally waving a multi-colored sign that read, 'PROTECT NATURE SERIOUSLY…IT'S UP TO YOU!'
But even Semrad — elected last year after promising to continue the fight — could muster little hope by the meeting's end. She listed possible legal issues the county could pursue but added, 'Or is it time for us to just say to the people, 'We've got no shot here. You've lost.' '
shudak@orlandosentinel.com
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