Wimauma Sprawl Project, Part 2: Withdrawn

Good news! The developer has withdrawn their proposal to build what we’ve been calling Part 2 of the Wimauma Sprawl Project.

This was a prime example of urban sprawl: 1,500 houses in rural Wimauma (in orange on this map) on Bullfrog Creek wetlands adjacent to the Balm Scrub ELAPP nature preserve, outside the Urban Services Area, in an area where major roads are already failing, with no plans and no money to improve them. Since the County Commission approved the equally horrid Part 1 with 1,010 houses, (in red on this map) we were gearing up for a bigger battle. It may be that after many of you expressed your disappointment with those commissioners who voted FOR Part 1 (only Mark Sharpe and Kevin White voted to deny that part) the developer figured they’d better wait until after the election to try to get Part 2 approved.

Big thanks to all of you who were preparing to go to battle in the public hearings to protect our communities, our roads, our wildlife habitat and our wallets — you can stand down for now. And thanks to everyone who sent letters of opposition — you may well have helped warn them off.