Osceola approves Sunbridge rezoning

Osceola County Commissioners this month voted to create a new Sunbridge land use category for the 19,000-acre master-planned development in the former Northeast District and swap out the Mixed-Use zoning for Planned Development to accommodate the developer’s plans to build a 6,000-home gated community.

Tavistock Development Company first made reference to a large-scale active adult community in Sunbridge back in the spring when it filed the Phase 2 Concept plan, which designated five different gate locations for the private streets mostly east and south of Lake Preston. Tavistock officials have not confirmed that Disney is the development and branding partner for the project, but the initial planning occurred while the company was in negotiations with Tavistock to move thousands of jobs from California to a new campus in Lake Nona.

Dave Tomek, Community Development Director for Osceola County, said the size and scale of the gated community simply couldn’t be accommodated within the Mixed-Use zoning restrictions, so they agreed to take a different approach.