Ocoee leaders endorse plan for Park at 429

OCOEE – City leaders unanimously approved the final site plan for the Park at 429 Planned Unit Development March 7 after a contentious planning process spanning several months.

The 45-acre flex-office development will be situated adjacent to State Road 429 on East Crown Point Road and Palm Drive and comprise five buildings totaling 645,000 square feet.

Previous public hearings for the project, specifically pertaining to the rezoning, that were held in September 2016 generated concern from residents involving the overall layout of the preliminary site plan, potential impact on traffic and locations of the truck entrances.

In light of these concerns, Ocoee and Winter Garden had additional consultants review a transportation study provided by the applicant.

“So we wanted to pause at that point because when you do a traffic study, the traffic study … assumes some trips,” said Ocoee City Planner Mike Rumer. “What the residents of Winter Garden and PNZ were talking about was, ‘Well, let’s look at the project and ensure that (we are) assuming the right number of truck trips.’”

The consultants concluded the transportation study provided by the applicant was correct. At that point, the next decision made was a road design that addressed the trucks that come in from the south and north on East Crown Point Road, and east on Palm Drive.

The site plan was then modified to include signage that reads “No Left Turns,” as well as concrete barricade devices to prohibit trucks from making a left turn. The outcome was a site plan with three entrances on East Crown Point Road and two entrances on Palm Drive — two of which will be truck entrances. 

Initially, the northernmost entrance on East Crown Point Road was to be the designated truck entrance. Now, the middle entrance on East Crown Point Road will serve the designated entrance for semi trucks, as will an entrance on Palm Drive.

All the new modifications were presented as the conditions of approval in the revised document outlining the final site plan, and Ocoee Mayor Rusty Johnson and commissioners all expressed their approval for the collaboration shown by the applicant, Winter Garden and Ocoee city staff.

“I would say that the staff has gone well above and beyond their due diligence in this matter,” said District 3 Commissioner Richard Firstner during the meeting.

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Contact Gabby Baquero at [email protected].