The Central Florida Expressway Authority has filed an eminent domain claim against Orange County, in pursuit of access to about 24 acres of county-owned conservation land the agency says is necessary to build its toll road planned through Split Oak Forest. A hearing is set for early June.
The agency’s governing board voted 7-3 last summer to declare about 44 acres of Orange County land as necessary for building State Road 534, including 24.3 acres of environmentally-sensitive land. Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and Commissioner Christine Moore, plus Brevard County Commissioner Katie Delaney, voted against the declaration.
CFX seeks to own outright just under three acres of the total, 24.3 acres of environmentally-sensitive land. That 2.83-acre parcel is located within Eagles Roost, a protected Green PLACE property located in south-central Orange County…