Letter submitted on March 2, 2023, partly in response to OCN’s article Winter Springs pushes to keep power in contentious school vote
Oviedo Mall apartments were to be senior apartments, which means the nest has gone… no kids. And that the mall would be more artsy and dining venues than it once was originally.
As a retired educator and now an active senior in our community, I can affirm that children learn more effectively when travel is not a significant factor, to and from school. So, “shipping,” so to speak, or bussing students to nearby towns, is not advantageous to fostering essential skills for today and instilling the ideal of continual learning on their own, as adults in the workplace, professional or technical.
The development of apartments and land for industry or offices or for additional homes, is hindering the “small town” feeling and aesthetically pleasing surroundings. Those of us who have been in our town for decades, have come to greatly appreciate it, as it sets us apart from larger cities, like Downtown Orlando or the crowded Disney areas. I remember this being an issue a few years back. These land developers who take away from natural areas are hindering the natural resources, ground water, the creeks, the streams, the natural lakes, rivers, the retention ponds that are designed to prevent flooding from 100-year and 25-year floods depths.) and the habitats of nature’s wildlife.
These developers need to be limited or stopped to preserve our town. Please, revisit these important factors as the city commissioners contemplate the fate of “our community, your community,” for the present and for the future! Respectfully submitted!
–June Denigris Hagood, Winter Springs resident
Letter submitted on Aug. 17, 2022 in response to OCN’s article Council members object to proposed shared road lanes, driverless shuttle.
Adding bicycle lanes/buses will just drain the cities’ already negative cash flow. It’s easy to predict they won’t be widely used and will have zero real impact on traffic. Look up what happened in Orlando’s Hourglass District. They put them in, and like three months later pulled them out. How about some timing of lights, some roundabouts and some cell phone enforcement? Those are relatively cheap, tried-and-true methods at reducing traffic.
-Bryan Horgan, Oviedo resident
Letter submitted on July 21, 2022
Dear Editor,
I agree with (Oviedo Local Planning Agency Board member) Steven Rich and (LPA Chairman) Darrell Lopez (in Oviedo Community News’ July 20 article “Oviedo Mall housing project no longer age restricted; new housing project surfaces”) that there is a great need for dedicated senior housing in Oviedo. As someone who has been working with and for seniors for many years (former Area Agency on Aging project director and current board of directors member for Neighbors Network, which helps the elderly age in-home), I encounter this need often. At its best, senior housing needs to be priced below market rate and accept housing vouchers, if potential renters qualify for them. I understand this is a challenge for developers, but it’s something the City (of Oviedo) can and should require in exchange for permission to build. It’s the right thing for our city to do.
Respectfully,
Laura Capp, Oviedo resident
