Lake Helen/Cassadaga, D.R.I. but not D.O.A.!

Recent newspaper accounts have listed the immensity of development planned for the 1-4/472 interchange just one exit south from the Lake Helen/Deland exit.

Seven million square feet of �light industrial�, six and a half million square feet of �office� space, another three million square feet of �retail space� with 258 acres of multi-family apartments and homes. All this packed into 1600 acres at the Hwy.472 exit. to become a development twice the size of the Lake Mary/Heathrow exit in Seminole County.

Yet some planners and elected officials question why Lake Helen and Cassadaga residents located as close as a half - mile away might have concerns for their future quality of life. Are they kidding?

The proposed �frontage road� will act as a traffic artery to interconnect the Volusia County and Deltona Activity Centers on both sides of 1-4. It could also become a major congested traffic thoroughfare for Deltona and Cassadaga residents.

Deltona has stated that it will add fifty thousand residents within fifteen years to its existing seventy thousand population. Many will live in the ever-expanding area to the east side of Deltona. In order to commute to this �employment center� workplace and shopping center mecca at 1-4 they will take the fastest route, which instead of Deltona�s already impacted streets ( such as Howland Blvd.), might be Lake Helen/Osteen Road north to Kicklighter, then west on Kicklighter to Cassadaga Road and through Cassadaga to the frontage road and south into the development.

So, County Road 4139, the �Scenic Corridor� Road designated by the County Council in 1993, containing two National Register Historic Districts in two 120 year old communities and three lakes arguably the most beautiful in Florida. should now become the expressway for commercial developers?

At what point will the traffic build so that the road needs widening, then four-lanes, then traffic signalized, then maybe take out that ninety degree turn in front of the historic Cassadaga Hotel? If this seems extreme, just think of small communities in Seminole and Orange County that used to have a distinct personality but don�t now. because of traffic impacts and rapid development. Oviedo comes quickly to mind.
Our Cassadaga Road (4139) already will be impacted by the Activity Center on the west side of !-4 which has a north side border and arterial roadways onto Cassadaga Road and our Prevatt Avenue/Kicklighter road route affected by the proposed industrial park on Highway 44 near 1-4 and the Volusia County Fairgrounds area.

Yes, our two small communities that have for years publicly stated their preference for slow careful development and a traditional village atmosphere respectful of the Florida environment do feel threatened by these proposed developments with seeming little regard for the negative influences they might entail.for adjoining populations.

D.R.I. required traffic impact studies by the consultants are to be completed this week and submitted to local city officials and planners for their critical review. The Lake Helen/Cassadaga traffic consultant will be advising us as to the various scenarios represented in these studies and the proposed road network s they advocate as being most efficient, for the development traffic.

Lake Helen and Cassadaga representatives will look for alternatives that do not encourage commuter traffic to go through our region to enter the Activity Center area.

New visions have to come forth from the planning consultants instead of the self-serving theory that more traffic congestion can be mitigated by re-directing it through already existing communities. Eliminating the proposed �frontage road� from the Deltona Activity Center up to Cassadaga Road is one of the first steps in preparing a truly well-designed DRI proposal that reflects the shared interests of all the surrounding residents.

Almost two years ago, the Volusia County Metropolitan Planning Organization denied long-range funding to a similar �Matanzas Road� proposed interconnect between Howland Blvd. and Cassadaga Rd. after hundreds of citizens signed petitions, emails, and letters and attended public input meetings. In my personal opinion, a similar effort to persuade Volusia County Council members to reconfigure this new DRI road network has to be quickly initiated by Cassadaga, Lake Helen, and even affected N.W. Deltona residents.

Local residents might consider if Cassadaga Road east of I-4 should be severed from this massive DRI Activity Center Project entirely, so we are insulated from the expansion traffic and commercial sprawl impacts. This would require Cassadaga residents to use the Lake Helen/Deland exit as their I-4 connection, a predictable inconvenience rather than unstoppable massive traffic escalations in the future.
Those of us in Lake Helen and unincorporated Cassadaga appreciate what we have now and are not going to exchange this quality of life for badly designed promises. We certainly support �economic development� projects both locally and County-wide, but this project needs to open itself to local concerns fundamental to our existence as unique livable communities.

We will not be bullied by someone else�s imperial ambitions.