Some Osceola County residents remain concerned about the future of Mac Overstreet Regional Park, after seeing conceptual plans for the property that the county recently shared at a community meeting.
Initially, Osceola commissioners were negotiating the sale of land at the park to a private company that wanted to develop green energy production facilities there, including for hydrogen. But public outcry about the potential dangers of producing hydrogen so close to residential areas prompted those plans to shift.
Now, earlier this year, Osceola approved the sale of a different site for Panacea Global Energy, Inc. to develop its green energy technology park. But although many community members are relieved a hydrogen plant is no longer slated for Mac Overstreet, some remain concerned about what will become of the planned, 400-acre public park.
“We were hoping for things like a community center where we could hold meetings, where there could be exercise classes. We were hoping for a pool,” said Debbie Rambis, who is currently running against Osceola County Commissioner Brandon Arrington for the District 3 seat he’s held for 16 years.
But Rambis says those hopes weren’t reflected on two conceptual plans for Mac Overstreet, shared recently by county staff at a community meeting.
Compare: two visions for Mac Overstreet
The two renderings weren’t much different from each other, Rambis said, but her concern is what they do have in common: a lot of land currently designated “vacant,” instead of for future park amenities.
“It's a start, but it's also disappointing,” Rambis said of the county’s plans. “To our group, it signals that this may be a constant fight: that we continue to fight for the Mac Overstreet Park, [which] was purchased with bond money and then a penny sales tax to get it fully developed.”
If those acres of “vacant” land were instead designated for future park use, it would help ease residents’ concerns that portions of the park could still be siphoned off for future development, according to Rambis.
Meanwhile, Rambis is hoping the county will soon open the Mac Overstreet property, which she says currently remains closed for public access.
Members of the public can email their feedback for the future of Mac Overstreet to: parksurvey@osceola.org.
