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Flooding concerns in Horizon West lead to call for development moratorium

Orange County Commission voted to hold a work session at its Jan. 7 meeting to address the issue

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Remnants of flooding can still be seen along Reams and Ficquette Roads week after Hurricane Milton.

Orange County Commissioner, Nicole Wilson, is hoping to find a solution for people who live and work in the area after the roads have flooded after both Hurricane Ian and Hurricane Milton.

Wilson, is proposing a pause on development until they can figure out some long-term solutions for this area.

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“There’s no question about whether or not it was probably already affected by these types of weather events,” Wilson said. “But the development activity has exacerbated it.”

One of the problem the areas the commissioner point out during her presentation at Tuesday’s county commission meeting was an entrance/exit to an employee parking lot for Disney.

In photographs she showed during the presentation – the road was flooded on both sides.

“It’s an employment center where those people – they have to come and go – they actually have to come and go,” Wilson said.

Wilson said they removed the center blockades in the road outside the parking lot to give people more room to get around the flood waters.

But now she said that is creating a safety concern.

She said when the road floods, drivers are playing a ‘game of chicken’ to try and hug the middle of the street to avoid damaging their cars.
People who live and work in the area may have to wait a little bit longer for solutions.

The Orange County Commission voted to hold a work session at its Jan. 7 meeting to address the issue.
In the meantime the county will gather information on whether or not a pause on development is the right path to take.


About the Author
Emily McLeod headshot

Emily joined WKMG-TV in November 2022, returning home to Central Florida.

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