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ORLANDO-Hit with 500 e-mails from area residents, Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty has pushed through a one-year moratorium on the development of retail stores larger than 75,000 sf. The regulation is believed to be the first governmental edict of its kind in the entire state, sources who monitor such activity tell GlobeSt.com.

The county commission quickly backed Crotty in voting 6 to 1 to set up a nine-member task force that could ultimately dictate to developers the size, design and infrastructure of all new big-box ventures in Central Florida's largest county. Commissioner Linda Stewart heads the task force. Crotty will select three citizen members and each commissioner will choose one person.

The proposed task force already has its detractors. "If half of the task force is composed of real estate development-related individuals, this whole thing will be nothing but a rubber stamp" for the mayor and county officials, an area residential association activist tells GlobeSt.com.

The only two previous attempts by local governments to curb large retail developments have occurred in suburban Oviedo in Seminole County and in Clermont in Lake County. Oviedo officials blocked a proposed 225,000-sf, $20-million Wal-Mart Supercenter in 2002, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. Clermont elected officials have limited development to 100,000 sf but have also waived their own caps on several occasions, area brokers who have represented clients before the Clermont City Council tell GlobeSt.com.

Officials at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville, AR declined comment on the big-box limitation issue until they have had a chance to present their arguments to Orange County commissioners. However, sources in a position to know tell GlobeSt.com Wal-Mart will probably sue the county if the moratorium is not withdrawn "in a reasonable length of time." Developers representing Wal-Mart and other big-box retailers have sued local governments in numerous major national markets over land rezoning issues, as GlobeSt.com has previously reported. Some of the suits were settled by compromises.

Among the items the Orange County big-box task force will consider are overall building size, design, outdoor lighting, operating hours, related infrastructure such as access and exit routes, and shopping cart control on parking lots, county staffers confirm for GlobeSt.com.

Local developers, acting on behalf of big-box retailers, see the moratorium as a condemnation of their property that could cost them millions in lost tax and interest-rate charges on bank loans, area marketers tell GlobeSt.com. Immediately affected by the moratorium is a planned 193,000-sf, $12-million, 24-hour Wal-Mart store at John Young and Central Florida Parkways in south Orlando. Another proposed 230,000-sf, $25-million Wal-Mart store at Sand lake and Turkey Lake roads near the International Drive tourist corridor could also be temporarily blocked, area retail brokers familiar with the projects tell GlobeSt.com.

Terrence J. Delahunty Jr., a partner with the Orlando law firm of Foley & Lardner LLP and a senior member of his firm's real estate practice, tells GlobeSt.com the Orange County moratorium may be the start of a new trend by local governments. "Personally, I think it is all tied into the big picture of growth management and lack of mass transit and that [big-box retailers and their developers] are just an easy target."

For instance, Delahunty asks, "Is a bunch of strip centers any better" in the quality of life for area communities? "It might be worse," he says. The lawyer adds, "I think the [moratorium] trend will spread as more communities struggle with growth."

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Orange County Bans New Big-Box Development for One Year

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