Zoning board rejects indoor waste treatment plant near South Orange Blossom Trail

Central Florida Public Media | By Joe Byrnes

Published December 6, 2024 at 8:20 AM EST

Waste Resource Management is seeking a special exception to use a building located at 10002 Satellite Blvd. as an indoor septage management facility.

Orange County's Board of Zoning Adjustment voted Thursday to deny the application for an indoor facility near South Orange Blossom Trail that would treat wastes like oils and greases from restaurants and sewage from septic tanks.

Waste Resource Management promised a sealed indoor system in an existing building at 10002 Satellite Blvd. with air scrubbers to prevent odors from getting out

But area residents and business owners still raised concerns about the possible stink along with around-the-clock traffic from trucks hauling waste.

Attorney Logan Opsahl, representing Waste Resource Management, argued their application won staff approval by meeting the special exception criteria for a septage management system in an area zoned for the most intense industrial uses.

"There is actually no industrial zoning designation we could potentially rezone to," he said. "This is the most intensive use and the most appropriate for our requested use."

Zoning board member Roberta Walton Johnson agreed, saying, "if not here, then where?"

The businesses along South Orange Blossom Trail near the proposed waste treatment plant include several restaurants.

Chairwoman Deborah Moskowitz -- in her last meeting after many years on the board -- said she has seen that area of Orange Blossom Trail change so much over the years. It may be zoned industrial, she said, but scores of businesses near the proposed treatment facility are restaurants, offices, shops, even day-care centers.

"And I don't think that this meets the criteria based on what has been built there now," she added.

Area residents and business owners said the treatment facility wouldn't be compatible with the actual neighbors.

Patricio Hernandez was one of several area residents who spoke to the Zoning Adjustment Board. “The site,” he said, “is in one row of businesses from Orange Blossom Trail, where there are public gathering places, restaurants, retailers and schools. These are not heavy industrial uses.”

"Most of the businesses around this property are small warehouses and offices," said George Perez, a landlord who rents out nearby properties along South Orange Blossom Trail. "So they’re not concrete plants. They’re not garbage transfer facilities. There's nothing like this around this area."

When the board voted 4-3 to recommend denial, the packed meeting room broke into applause. The board's recommendations now go to the County Commission.

Opsahl says they'll appeal the BZA recommendation and ask the commission to hear their case.