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I love the location far more than the Seidel Road location proposed (which doesn't currently have good road capacity). It's all a matter of where the students are, and right now the Lakeside Village and the Village of Bridgewater are what will be feeding the school, so it is centrally located to those two villages. Really, it ends up being a three-corner area, as the fourth direction mostly leads back into the itty bitty Publix shopping center with a small road leading back to an apartment complex.
I travel through that area at least two or three times a week, plus usually both Saturday and Sunday, and in a year, I've only seen one accident in that area. (There's far more accidents up at the Stoneybrook Parkway/429 intersection, and even there it isn't a major traffic nightmare.) Traffic is minimal at that intersection, and the high school won't be that much larger than Windermere Prep right next to it. I don't see what's wrong with the location personally. Besides, it's in the rural district…it can't be that bad.
But out of curiosity, if you were going to put it in Windermere, where would you locate it? (Preferably on property already owned by the school board the way that property was, but I'd be curious where else you'd be looking at. Most of Windermere is pretty built out...)
Traffic is minimal! You gotta be kidding! They had to put another lane on 535 because it took almost an hour to go two miles. I'm not talking about Saturday and Sunday. It is more quiet then. Anywhere west of Windermere, there is lots of open land, where parents and kids can drive in and out of, without blocking traffic.
Traffic is minimal! You gotta be kidding! They had to put another lane on 535 because it took almost an hour to go two miles. I'm not talking about Saturday and Sunday. It is more quiet then. Anywhere west of Windermere, there is lots of open land, where parents and kids can drive in and out of, without blocking traffic.
Are we talking about the same 535? It has been widened since 2010, which was done to accommodate the growth in the Village of Bridgewater, which was founded in 1999.
I travel along 535 in general every single day of the week, and travel past that particular intersection, not including on weekends, at least 2-3 times a week at different times. The only regular traffic I have run into is right when Windermere Prep is letting out. At that time of day, they have police direction, so if I get stopped to allow the people turning out or in to have right away, it adds maybe 2 minutes to my drive. There have also been some traffic issues during the first week of school at Sunset Park, but with the first relief elementary school opening this fall, things should be better.
But what I have to laugh about is your comment that "anywhere west of Windermere" has open land. The location that they are using for the relief high school is about as far west in Windermere as you can get. If you drive more than a mile down the road to the west, you're not in Windermere anymore!
If you're talking south and west of old-town Windermere, that would be a private golf course. Farther south is Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve. Neither of those are an option for a high school, for obvious reasons. The area around Lake Reams is protected conservation zone, as is large swaths of the area bordered by Reams Road (which already carries CM traffic and is a small and narrow road ill-equipped for school traffic).
So where is this large open land in Windermere that has decent roads where schools would not block traffic that you're talking about? Are you confusing Windermere with Winter Garden?
Are we talking about the same 535? It has been widened since 2010, which was done to accommodate the growth in the Village of Bridgewater, which was founded in 1999.
I travel along 535 in general every single day of the week, and travel past that particular intersection, not including on weekends, at least 2-3 times a week at different times. The only regular traffic I have run into is right when Windermere Prep is letting out. At that time of day, they have police direction, so if I get stopped to allow the people turning out or in to have right away, it adds maybe 2 minutes to my drive. There have also been some traffic issues during the first week of school at Sunset Park, but with the first relief elementary school opening this fall, things should be better.
But what I have to laugh about is your comment that "anywhere west of Windermere" has open land. The location that they are using for the relief high school is about as far west in Windermere as you can get. If you drive more than a mile down the road to the west, you're not in Windermere anymore!
If you're talking south and west of old-town Windermere, that would be a private golf course. Farther south is Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve. Neither of those are an option for a high school, for obvious reasons. The area around Lake Reams is protected conservation zone, as is large swaths of the area bordered by Reams Road (which already carries CM traffic and is a small and narrow road ill-equipped for school traffic).
So where is this large open land in Windermere that has decent roads where schools would not block traffic that you're talking about? Are you confusing Windermere with Winter Garden?
No, they finished making 535, two lane, in the beginning of 2013. Go look at all the houses for sale across from Windermere prep school! They can't take the traffic! West of the "new" Windermere, there is plenty of land.
No, they finished making 535, two lane, in the beginning of 2013. Go look at all the houses for sale across from Windermere prep school! They can't take the traffic! West of the "new" Windermere, there is plenty of land.
Earlier you said: There is alot of available land farther out in Windermere, which would accomodate all of this,
Are you now talking about land in Winter Garden instead and were just incorrect about your original statements that there is plenty of land in Windermere for a high school? Much as residents of Windermere (like myself) like to think we're the only town in the area, Winter Garden is not part of Windermere. :P
West of "new" Windermere = Winter Garden's part of Horizon West. Is that the area you're talking about?
If so, future high schools are already being plotted out for that area. Road improvements along Seidel Road are currently in progress for the new Village F High School (currently designated as 113-H-W-4). That one is on the 10-year plan. The other high school that is in the works will be the one out towards Hamlin in the Town Center village. With the growth of Horizon West, and with the concept of Horizon West having self-contained villages, there will need to be more than one high school built. The one being built at the corner of 535 and 535 is for Lakeside Village and the Village of Bridgewater, plus possibly a bit of overflow from the areas of Winter Garden in that area that are outside of the Village of Bridgewater. The other high schools will be used for the growing population centers in the other villages.
Currently on Realtor.com, there are two properties for sale across the street from Windermere Prep-- one house at $675K (which was built AFTER Windermere Prep opened) and one chunk of acreage for around $200K. (I'm not counting the new Sawyer Sound development, because that's houses under construction, so obviously they'd be for sale.) Zillow also lists one FSBO, built the same year as Windermere Prep, and for sale for $435K. RedFin doesn't list anything but the house and the acreage.
I want to say I've seen a couple other for sale signs posted along 535, but those are for the houses that are back on Lake Sawyer. Those houses are in the million-plus range, and were built after the school. Right next to Windermere Prep, there's a house on the market for around $1.5 million, also built after the school.
There were some older properties down the street a ways that were trying to sell off together to a developer, but I think that all fell through. (If you've driven through recently, it was the place where they were trying to sell the golf cart out front not that long ago.)
But I don't think that you can count two houses and one vacant lot as a mass exodus from the area. And if you're trying to sell your house at $675K, you probably aren't too worried that traffic will scare off buyers. To me, the only reason they'd have selling those houses is because they are much older than the rest of the area. And some of them are…uh…."character pieces".
First and foremost, though--were you thinking of Winter Garden when you've said Windermere throughout this thread?
Earlier you said: There is alot of available land farther out in Windermere, which would accomodate all of this,
Are you now talking about land in Winter Garden instead and were just incorrect about your original statements that there is plenty of land in Windermere for a high school? Much as residents of Windermere (like myself) like to think we're the only town in the area, Winter Garden is not part of Windermere. :P
West of "new" Windermere = Winter Garden's part of Horizon West. Is that the area you're talking about?
If so, future high schools are already being plotted out for that area. Road improvements along Seidel Road are currently in progress for the new Village F High School (currently designated as 113-H-W-4). That one is on the 10-year plan. The other high school that is in the works will be the one out towards Hamlin in the Town Center village. With the growth of Horizon West, and with the concept of Horizon West having self-contained villages, there will need to be more than one high school built. The one being built at the corner of 535 and 535 is for Lakeside Village and the Village of Bridgewater, plus possibly a bit of overflow from the areas of Winter Garden in that area that are outside of the Village of Bridgewater. The other high schools will be used for the growing population centers in the other villages.
Currently on Realtor.com, there are two properties for sale across the street from Windermere Prep-- one house at $675K (which was built AFTER Windermere Prep opened) and one chunk of acreage for around $200K. (I'm not counting the new Sawyer Sound development, because that's houses under construction, so obviously they'd be for sale.) Zillow also lists one FSBO, built the same year as Windermere Prep, and for sale for $435K. RedFin doesn't list anything but the house and the acreage.
I want to say I've seen a couple other for sale signs posted along 535, but those are for the houses that are back on Lake Sawyer. Those houses are in the million-plus range, and were built after the school. Right next to Windermere Prep, there's a house on the market for around $1.5 million, also built after the school.
There were some older properties down the street a ways that were trying to sell off together to a developer, but I think that all fell through. (If you've driven through recently, it was the place where they were trying to sell the golf cart out front not that long ago.)
But I don't think that you can count two houses and one vacant lot as a mass exodus from the area. And if you're trying to sell your house at $675K, you probably aren't too worried that traffic will scare off buyers. To me, the only reason they'd have selling those houses is because they are much older than the rest of the area. And some of them are…uh…."character pieces".
First and foremost, though--were you thinking of Winter Garden when you've said Windermere throughout this thread?
Ride by windermere prep and you will see all the for sale signs across from it. A realtor is the one who informed us about this situation and all the traffic it has caused for the people living in that area. Also this school has enormously expanded since it first opened.
Ride by windermere prep and you will see all the for sale signs across from it. A realtor is the one who informed us about this situation and all the traffic it has caused for the people living in that area. Also this school has enormously expanded since it first opened.
I might drive on down this afternoon after I drop my daughter off at school.
But I noticed you still are avoiding your original assertion--that there is plenty of open space in western Windermere to put the school. Have you decided that you were in error about the area you were thinking about?
To assist in this discussion, I just drove by and took pictures of the traffic leading up to Windermere Prep, in front of Windermere Prep, leading up to the West Orange High Relief site, and then parked the car and took three snapshots of the intersection there at 535-535-Ficquette-Summerport Village. Perhaps it is a different idea of what constitutes traffic. This is what traffic is like at a little after 1 PM. It may just be me, but I don't see this as congested.
535 at Chase:
535 at Windermere Prep:
535 at the High School Site (on the right):
535 approaching Summerport (high school site on the right):
535 at 535 (WG left, Windermere right, school on the vacant lot center)
Ficquette Road side of the intersection
Looking down Ficquette:
Looking up 535 towards Winter Garden:
I did count all the houses for sale between Summerport and Lakeside Village. I counted four for sale signs in that area, and none of them are directly across from Windermere Prep. (They are down the road a bit.) Two are for sale by owner (and appear to be the ones I was told are looking to sell to a developer). There's a vacant lot. There's also one other house for sale…the "character piece" house.
Go by there at 3:30 p.m. and up until 5:30 p.m. There is lots of land next to 429 but maybe that would have to annexed to Windermere. Even going west on Reams Rd, there is a lot of land out there.
Go by there at 3:30 p.m. and up until 5:30 p.m. There is lots of land next to 429 but maybe that would have to annexed to Windermere. Even going west on Reams Rd, there is a lot of land out there.
So first you say that Saturday and Sunday isn't the time to look at the "congested roads", so then I went during a weekday. Now you don't like the time that I was out there on a weekday. I'll see if I can swing out by there tonight or tomorrow to take some pictures during that time. But in the end, it doesn't affect and isn't affected by the school going in there.
High school hours are 7:15 AM-2:15 PM (and 1:15 PM on Wednesday) or so (fluctuating by a couple minutes depending on school). That means that 3:30-5:30 won't be affected by the school, and the school traffic will be gone before that time of night.
A lot of the area on the north side of Reams (around lake Reams) is conservation area. The remainder of the areas are in the hands of private developers. But let's say that OCPS was able to buy out the private developers and convince everyone that building up a conservation land was a good idea. Traffic peaks in that area for CMs going to work between 6 AM and 8 AM. In other words, the same time that the school traffic would be coming in. Reams Road is only one lane in either direction and already needs police direction at the corner of Reams and Center Drive. You honestly think that is a better option -- an area with smaller roads and more traffic at the time when school drop-offs would be -- than an area with wider roads and less traffic during the time for school coming in and letting out?
Okay, I did. Here's pictures from about 4:05 today.
Chase Road at 535
Approaching Windermere Prep:
Approaching the High School site:
Ficquette Road:
535 Headed Towards Winter Garden (apologies on the picture--was shooting out of the side window and the auto-focus focused on something other than the road):
535 Headed Towards Lakeside Village (again, apologies--the auto focus did not focus, but you still can see the "traffic")
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