A group of south Orlando homeowners took on Universal Studios Florida and won.
The residents persuaded the city’s planning board to deny the theme park’s request to build a hotel and golf course near their homes after complaining about the traffic and noise they thought the project would create.
“We ought to have growth in the city, but it ought to be managed, it ought to be considerate, and it ought to be responsible,” said Daisy Lynum, a member of the city’s Municipal Planning Board. “I don’t think Universal has been a good neighbor in this application.”
In 1993, when Universal bought land at Turkey Lake and Wallace roads, the property a few miles south of the theme park had been approved for 600 homes. A year later, Universal requested a change to permit a 300-room time-share and an 18-hole golf course. It was approved and residents had few complaints.
Then in mid-October, the theme park asked to change its plans to build a 600-room hotel and a nine-hole golf course instead. That request was unanimously denied before a standing-room-only audience filled with residents who said the plans for the project had become too intrusive.
Universal officials, who have not decided what their next move will be, can appeal. Otherwise, the denial will be reviewed Nov. 3 by the City Council, which usually upholds board rulings.
“We don’t mind having them as neighbors, but we don’t want them to run over us,” said Barbara English, a resident of Spring Lake Villas, a subdivision with homes that back up to the property Universal wants to develop. Other affected neighborhoods include Orange Tree, Summerset Shores and Greenleaf.
English and other homeowners, including Orange County Commissioner Bob Freeman, who lives in the area, said they prefer the time-share plan because it would bring in families with an interest in maintaining property values. Hotels, on the other hand, bring more short-term visitors resulting in more traffic, noise and disruption, they said.
Development of the site is part of a $2.6 million expansion Universal announced earlier this year. It includes plans for more than 5,000 additional hotel rooms, several nightclubs and a new theme park, Islands of Adventure.
Residents are concerned about the number of employees needed to staff the expansion. They say those people would add to congestion.
But Jim Lee, president of Transportation Consulting Group in Winter Park, disagreed. He said he had studied the issue and was convinced the traffic impact would be minimal.
“This is a nonsubstantial change with regards to traffic from my standpoint as a traffic engineer,” Lee said.
Allen Eberly, vice president of real estate and governmental affairs at Universal, said the plans were changed from time-share to hotel because “believe it or not, there are not enough hotel rooms in Orlando. We need more hotel rooms.”
“This is a very responsible plan,” Eberly said.
Still, homeowners were not convinced. Mary Borgan, a 20-year resident of Orange Tree, a subdivision of about 900 homes just west of the site, likened Universal’s growth to a new neighbor with a pit bull.
“You know one day that dog is going to come over that fence, but you just don’t know when it’s going to happen,” she said. “This is a constant fight where we have to watch our neighbor’s dog.”
Universal officials would not say whether they will go back to their original timeshare plan or appeal the board’s denial.
“We’re obviously disappointed, and we’re continuing the process,” Eberly said.
