The attached ordinance will adopt the Vista Commerce Park Planned Development (PD), located east of SR417 Central Florida Greeneway, south of the Beltway Commerce Center PD and Leevista Blvd., and east of the County Landfill. The applicant is DAL-BM Orlando Land Holdings, LP, represented by Jonathan Huels with the Lowndes Law Firm.

The PD development plan proposes a maximum of 3,388,000 sq. ft. of industrial distribution warehouses and offices on nearly 200 acres. Vista Reserve Blvd. (in Beltway Commerce Park to the north) will be extended south ±1,600 ft. as a 3-lane major industrial collector roadway. There will be two other lesser width minor collector roadways running east/west and further south, to a cul-de-sac (for future access to land-locked property to the south in Orange County). The owner/applicant is negotiating with property owners to the northeast, in an older portion of Beltway Commerce Center, to one day allow extension of Vista East Pkwy., to allow a second access north to Leevista Blvd. The request is tied to concurrent requests to amend the future land use designations on the property to reflect revised wetland boundaries (GMP2020-10006) and to amend Growth Management Plan Sub-Area Policy S.39.5 to reflect changes to the area to be developed (GMP2020-10007).

The subject property was part of the former Army Air Corps Pinecastle Jeep Range (FPJR), which operated between April 1943 and August 1948. During a wetland jurisdiction investigation in May 2019, unexploded ordnance was detected within the Vista Commerce Park portion of the FPJR. The unexploded ordnance was avoided and will be further investigated during remedial actions via the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) Voluntary Cleanup Order (VCO) currently pending review and approval with the FDEP.

Currently, the site consists of forested uplands and wetlands and herbaceous wetlands. On-site wetlands were field flagged by the applicant’s scientists and the boundaries recorded by Global Positioning System (GPS) in the spring of 2019. The newly flagged wetland lines will be reviewed by FDEP staff following issuance of the FDEP VCO, and prior to initiation of remediation activities on the site. Additionally, a Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM) analysis will be completed and submitted to the FDEP for review and approval prior to initiation of remediation activities. A post-remediation UMAM score will then be assessed following completion of remediation activities, and mitigation for wetland impacts/vegetation clearing associated with the remediation activities will be provided in accordance with the FDEP VCO mitigation requirements. The post-remediation condition will be the baseline for submitting development applications.

The Municipal Planning Board (MPB) recommended approval of the PD (ZON2020-10002) on May 26, 2020. City Council accepted the MPB minutes concerning this request on June 15, 2020.

The City Council approved the 1st reading of the ordinance on October 19, 2020.