Montverde has almost no undeveloped land left, and two large Planned Unit Developments have already been approved: The Point at Montabella, a 137-unit luxury community on what used to be the Osgood property, and a 102-unit expansion of Bella Collina on former orchard land south of Ridgewood, bordering Magnolia Terrace. That means nearly every major growth decision left in front of this council is one of the last chances we get to do it right.
Credit where it's due: 239 homes, not 450
Our current Planning and Zoning Board and Town Council have done real work limiting how big these two projects got. Under our gross zoning code of two homes per acre, these two PUDs could have brought as many as 450 or more new homes into town. Instead, by working with the developers, that number was brought down to 239. That's a genuine win for Montverde, and it deserves to be recognized as one.
Limiting the unit count was only half the job
What hasn't kept pace is planning for what those 239 homes actually mean for this town's future. I hear the same worry at almost every door I knock on: will Montverde still feel like Montverde in ten years, or will we lose the quiet roads and small-town character it took a hundred years to build?
How much land is actually left
Before any more PUDs like these get approved, the town needs an honest, public accounting of how much land is actually left. Residents deserve that picture before decisions get made, not after. Here's what that picture actually looks like: outside of the two approved projects, there's really only one other large plot left in town, 38 acres east of the Ridgewood roundabout, sitting next to roughly 25 acres of Bella Collina's adjoining Common Area. Combined, that's up to about 63 acres that could become another PUD down the road. Past that, what remains is a handful of smaller 5 to 10 acre parcels, each too small on its own to become a PUD, but still able to be developed piece by piece over time.
We're close to the last of it, which is exactly why getting these decisions right matters so much right now.
Traffic and infrastructure studies before approval, not after
Traffic and infrastructure studies should happen before a project is approved, not after residents start complaining about the backup on their street. If a development is going to strain our roads, we need to know that going in, while there's still time to plan around it.
Montverde Academy traffic: a problem we saw coming
Anyone who has tried to get through town during morning drop-off or afternoon pickup knows exactly what this means. It isn't a new problem. It's been building for years, and it's only gotten worse as the Academy has expanded its footprint and enrollment. The current council is now talking about it, discussing options like dedicated turn lanes and elevated crosswalk islands. Those are reasonable ideas, but let's be honest about the timing: this conversation is happening years too late. It should have been addressed before the council approved 239 additional homes across these two PUDs, not after. Traffic planning has to come before growth is approved, not cobbled together once residents are already stuck in it every morning.
Green space and buffers, built in from the start
Every future development approval should come with real commitments to tree canopy, green space, and buffers, built in from the start, not tacked on after residents push back.
Growth is coming to Montverde whether we plan for it or not. I'd rather we plan for it.
My commitments
- An honest, public accounting of how much developable land is actually left in Montverde before any further PUD approvals move forward
- Traffic and infrastructure studies required before a project is approved, not after residents start complaining
- Real solutions for Montverde Academy congestion: staggered timing, dedicated turn lanes, or traffic control support during peak hours, planned for well before the next development adds to it
- Tree canopy, green space, and buffer commitments built into every future development approval from the start, not treated as an afterthought