According to a comment posted on a Change.org petition started by Orlando resident Andrew Chang, the City is taking things slowly in regards to stepping into the possible development of popular downtown park Constitution Green (we wrote about it HERE on March 13).
At the time of this posting, the petition had collected over 4,000 signatures.
There will be a rally at Constitution Green [Gmap] on Saturday, March 21. More details HERE.
We’ve copied the City’s comment below:
Mar 17, 2015 — On March 13th, the City of Orlando posted this update in response to the efforts by all of the supporters here and the concerns expressed by the community:
“We’ve been getting questions recently regarding the green space in downtown known as Constitution Green and wanted to provide you with the latest information we have regarding that property.
This property is privately owned and we appreciate that the owner has leased this space to the City since 1987 for our community to use as green space in our downtown.
While there have been conversations, at this point, the owners have not filed any applications for development, applications for any tree removal or any formal notification to terminate the lease.
Again, we appreciate the property owner letting us use this space for the benefit of our City and hope to enjoy the loaned green space for as long as possible.”
UPDATE: The City’s comment can also be seen HERE on their website.
So… You want the airport moved so that you can live in an even higher building downtown? What does this have to do with Constitution Green?
As a former southern CA resident, I really hope our city is careful and respectful with its develpment. I appreciate the growth we are experiencing and, so far, am definitely benefitting from it, but the fact that I live downtown and can still enjoy seeing a variety of wildlife every day is what makes Orlando so appealing to me. That park does get used. I bike past it 5 afternoons a week on my way to work. There’s a group that plays volleyball every Sunday. I always see someone playing with their dog or kids or just relaxing. I would be sorely disappointed, on the verge of relocating again, if they decided to develop that land, much less cut that lovely tree down.
Alex Diggins
Yes, the quite archaic placement of the Orlando Executive Airport is negatively impacting our city’s development. This City really really should consider forcing the airport out….MUCH FURTHER OUT (envision Lake County). As a resident of one of downtown’s high rise buildings, I shudder at the inevitable accident that I predict will befall one of our buildings downtown soon enough. You really should see how dangerously close some of the airport’s traffic comes to buildings downtown!
When the total population of our city was only 25,000 this location made sense (hell, it was considered a suburban area not long ago) but it is high past the time the airport was relocated, the land redeveloped, and our buildings downtown allowed to be higher than what should by now be the quaint Sun Bank Building. Close the Executive Airport already!
Thank you Bungalower for keeping us in the loop!!!
Bungalower and what a bunch of legalese noncommittal baloney that was
Later tonight or tomorrow! 🙂
Let’s chat!
so true
that would be nice and would probable happen in a real city but here in floridah the developers rule the government and could careless what the tax payers want
This is a waste of time floridah is run by developers for developers we the people just pay the developers
What difference does it make if people are hanging out there. I go by there all the time and its a beautiful calming place, especially now that most of the small, single family homes have been ripped down. City’s response is pretty clear they don’t care and aren’t going to do anything to save this land from being another sea of concrete. Many people’s tax dollars were spent/wasted to build and/or renovate stadiums, or office buildings, etc, that mostly financially benefit private businesses. Sadly, my guess is that the city will ultimately shell over dollars to the prospective developer in the form of tax credits.
Buy constitution green and make it a dog park.
Basically, City of Orlando needs to use our money the way we ask (as tax payers)! City can afford to buy this park, please make an offer Mayor Dyer!
People have been married here, held family reunions, used as a general use. The land is a bog and would be difficult to build on, but not impossible. I spoke w director of city forestation yesterday and got info on trees being designated as national historic species. This is possible for this tree and almost 1k in city area. Bungalower … If like to share what I am researching and doing to organize these efforts. Let me know if you want to talk. We appreciate your support! There are actions we as tax payers and citizens can ask of the city!
The city still has to issue a permit to cut the tree down. If that doesn’t happen I don’t see any development happening. I think that is probably the only angle left in this matter. I believe the city will do the right thing and fight for something that is over 200 years old.
Gordon Spears, we were told that they’re actually limited by federal law in how high they can build because of the airport.
There are three large trees, by the way, and there is absolutely no way the city will not issue them a building permit. Private property rights trumps the public good, especially in this town. The only hope for the largest tree and the public space is if the City makes preservation of the tree a condition for increased density and/or height on the rest on the property. That would require a much higher degree of architectural creativity and civic will than I’ve ever seen in Orlando.
land is privately owned… pretty much end of story. Hopefully they will attempt to keep the trees… or a tree.
I get the idea of saving an old tree but in the 15 years I’ve been here I’ve seen a total of 7 people use that space, can’t fault someone for wanting build there