But county Chairman Richard Crotty isn't placing the request at the top of the commission's agenda because he feels real estate developers already have a loud voice on county decisions through their hired lobbyists, county staffers tell GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.
Crotty and Doudney couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline.
Doudney has submitted a petition to Crotty with 260 names of prominent professionals associated with the real estate industry, property owners, lawyers and developers.
County staffers tell GlobeSt.com Doudney's idea for the new advisory board may have been prompted by his unsuccessful attempt in 2000 to have land rezoned in southwest Orange County for a 300-unit apartment complex.
Associates of Doudney tell GlobeSt.com he acknowledges the commercial and residential real estate industry in Central Florida has a public relations problem and that is why he is pushing for a citizens advisory board.
A 2001 informal citizens survey by the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce placed developers and builders at the bottom of a list of most trusted professionals. Elected officials and the local media placed in the next-to-last ranking.
The Orlando Sentinel, the area's only metropolitan daily newspaper, editorialized, "The last thing Orange County needs is more influence by developers."
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