- March 28, 2024
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Plans to fill in up to 3 acres of wetlands along Lake Charity with dirt and re-dig it into a retention pond are causing tensions between Maitland residents, developers and the Florida Department of Transportation.
Developers of Maitland Concourse North negotiated a contract, which was scheduled to go into effect Oct. 24, with FDOT that would allow them to fill in 3 acres of wetlands along Lake Charity to make room for a retention pond that will service drainage for both the proposed development and the expansion of Maitland Boulevard.
After an outcry from neighbors who live along the lakefront, who called the proposal “inexcusable” and “morally and ethically wrong,” FDOT decided in a meeting with community members on Oct. 21, three days before the contract was set to be finalized, to put the agreement on hold for now.
“But I don’t want people to think this is over,” said resident Vance Guthrie, who lives along Lake Charity and serves on Maitland’s Lakes Advisory Board. “This is only a stay of execution.”
Those who live up and down Druid Isle Road and the surrounding areas have been papering local officials’ mailboxes and starting petitions to get FDOT and the developer to change their minds about filling in the lake before the ink on the contract is dry.
“Wetlands, once they’re gone, they’re gone,” Guthrie said. “No one ever tears down a condo to put in a wetland. We need to save what we’ve got.”
State Rep. Bob Cortes responded to residents’ calls for help by sending a letter to FDOT District 5 Secretary Noranne Downs asking for the department to reconsider the placement of the pond.
“It is my opinion that the state should not be filling in any portion of a non-manmade body of water, regardless of how the environmental impacts are mitigated,” Cortes wrote in the letter dated Oct. 13. “I urge FDOT to continue to look for alternative areas around the property for placement of the retention pond that is needed to go along with the widening of SR 414.”
Downs responded with a letter on Oct. 15, saying that it wasn’t FDOT’s intention to fill in any portion of the actual lake, but only the low-quality wetlands nearby. She said FDOT is doing what it can to ensure the quality of Lake Charity remains intact.
But Guthrie, who often paddleboards on Lake Charity, said that those wetlands count as part of the lake. When he reaches nearby the area in question, he said, he’s able to put nearly his entire 8-and-a-half-foot paddle into the water before it hits the bottom.
“If you pull up the plants, it’s lake underneath,” he said.
A petition started on Tuesday, Oct. 20, to save Lake Charity’s wetlands received more than 100 signatures in less than 24 hours.
Dozens of residents flooded Maitland City Hall on Oct. 15 for a Planning & Zoning Commission meeting discussing the Maitland Concourse North proposal. Many pleaded during the public comment section, asking the developers to reconsider the location of the pond.
“I want to tell you what beauty is, it’s Lake Charity, not a retention pond,” said resident Susan Lakasik.
“We’re against losing a beautiful part of our heritage. Because in Maitland, our heritage is our lakes,” added resident Lee Adkins.
The retention pond would service the proposed Maitland Concourse North development, which is planned to include 350 apartments, and 150,000 square feet of retail and border lakes Hope, Faith and Charity. The development plans are currently making their way through Maitland’s city boards before going up for approval by the City Council.
The project’s engineer, John Martin, said installing the pond along the lakeside would improve the quality of Lake Charity by capturing stormwater and runoff from the development.
But Guthrie said the wetlands that exist along the lakeshore that’s to be filled in are doing a fine job themselves filtering the water that runs into the lake. He said the wetlands function as the “kidneys” of the lake, purifying water that runs into it.
“And who fills in a natural lake to put in a fake pond?” he said. “You’re putting a pond in a lake … that’s the silliest thing I’ve heard.”
Maitland’s Assistant City Attorney Virginia Cassidy said FDOT can fill in the lake, despite opposition from the city or its residents, because the pond will be installed as part of the highway transportation system, which is allowed preemption over local ordinances. And in this case, she said, that preemption might not even be needed, as the project’s Comprehensive Development Plan can be interpreted in a way that would allow the pond to be installed as planned.
“I think that they would not be able to say that it’s inconsistent with the Comprehensive Development Plan,” she said at the Oct. 15 Planning & Zoning meeting.
After more than three hours of input, the Planning & Zoning Commission agreed to continue its discussion of the Maitland Concourse North proposal to its Nov. 5 meeting.
Members of Maitland city staff are set to meet with representatives from FDOT regarding the retention pond on Oct. 22.