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The unincorporated community of Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento is located in east Lake County, Florida on the edge of the Wekiva Protection area, and near the Lake/Seminole County line. The redevelopment area boundaries include properties within Township 19 South, and Ranges 27 and 28 East. This area encompasses the properties that lie adjacent to Wolf Branch Road in the north, South of State Road 46 to the Orange County line, and between Orange Street to the West of the CRA and County Road 435 to the East. In its entirety this area includes

Location

Figure 1: Zoom out boundary map of MPS CRA approximately 2,112 acres, or 1.87 square miles and is comprised of a mix of residential areas and

approximately 475 acres of scattered low intensity commercial and industrial development otherwise designated as commercial nodes. These two designated commercial nodes are located adjacent to SR 46 and between County Road 437 to the West and County 435 to the East. The older residential areas are located north and south of SR 46 and consist of low density residential and agriculturally zoned properties located in the south of the CRA behind and adjacent to the commercial nodes, County Road (CR) 437, and CR 435. The boundaries do not include large residential developments such as Sullivan Ranch on CR 437, and Redtail on SR 46 and 46A . Although many of the properties between the two established communities are not currently developed; the area has come to be known as the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento Community.

and Lake County Resolution 2012-77, and conducts bi-monthly meetings to receive input from community residents.

Figure 2: CRA boundaries highlighted in blue

Established/Created

The Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA was established on June 26, 2012 by Lake County Resolution 2012-76

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The Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Fund was created on April 22, 2014 by Lake County Ordinance 2014-17. It has generated approximately $123,188.00 since its inception. One major expenditure has been made using revenues generated from this fund: a master plan study of the commercial nodes that are adjacent to State Road 46. The CRA contracted with the University of Central Florida’s School for Urban and Regional Planning to

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Revenue $7,111 $12,130 $12,630 $20,501 $34,603 $36,248

conduct the research and develop Figure 3: Increase in revenues since the inception of the TIF fund the master plan report. Other expenditures include the annual membership fees required by the State of Florida, and membership fees for the Florida Redevelopment Association (FRA). The CRA Committee also approved a façade renovation program named the Façade Improvement Program that has already provided positive feedback from the local business community, and property owners within the CRA. The Façade Improvement Program is a matching grant program that will pay up to $2,500 dollars for paint and façade renovation for businesses located within the CRA that are in need of exterior improvements. This program was designed as a compliment to the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA Design Standards passed on 2017 by the Lake County Board of County Commissioners.

Population, Demographics, Employment & Income

Figure 4: Population broken down by Census Block within CRA

The population within the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento CRA is diverse and historically has been composed of residents that are employed in the agricultural industry. This trend has changed however as many residents that currently own or rent within the CRA are in fact commuting to professional or technical jobs throughout Lake County, and into Orange, Seminole and Osceola Counties. The population, when examined by Block Groups designed by the U.S. Census Bureau depicts the largest concentration of people residing to the South and to the East of the area within the CRA. This is the

area located principally within the Mount Plymouth CDP. The Mount Plymouth CDP is a much more established CDP. The Mount Plymouth CDP is a much more established residential community with many

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homes that are thirty or more years old and which contains residents that have lived in this area for nearly as long. The area in the Central, Northern, and Western sections of the CRA consists of many properties that are renter occupied homes and duplexes. Many of these residents are short term residents that may be commuting to work in jobs in other Counties or that are working in the agricultural industry that is still prevalent on this side of Lake County. This is expected to change however as the completion of the Wekiva Parkway and the upcoming realignment of County Road 437 induces large numbers of traffic. Many of these commuters are now finding it much easier to get to work in jobs located in the Metro Orlando area and the opportunity to live near a major regional connector incentivizes them to consider buying property that may otherwise may be of a much lower value than those in other areas of Lake County such as Mount Dora.

Jobs

The Central Florida region has experienced a substantial increase in direct jobs in the manufacturing industry. This is likely due to a State of Florida initiative to grow its manufacturing industry, increase load capacity for backhaul freight trips, and provide incentives for new and existing companies seeking to make, ship and sell products here in Florida. Large maker spaces such as the International Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research (ICAMR) in Osceola County have helped to induce a new and exciting interest for employment in the manufacturing industry. Lake County has in fact received direct benefits from this as Lake Technical College now operates its own school for manufacturing which is developing new employees for the manufacturing industry. New Manufacturing jobs on average start at $40 thousand annually which is above the per capita salary within the CRA. The industry that employs much of the workforce within the CRA however is in fact professional and management positions. These occupations can range from administrative assistants to teaching assistants and can even include office management positions within multiple industries such as manufacturing, and healthcare. These occupations offer higher wages than the traditional jobs in the agricultural industry and many of these employees do not commute very far, often 20 minutes or less.

Income

Figure 5: Depicting resident’s employment by industry and median household income

The median household income for families living within the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA is well below the national average. Between calendar years 2013-2016 the median household income within the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA averaged below $45,000 per year. To put this into perspective the Census Bureau projected the

2017 Households by Incom e

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Infrastructure

Figure 7: Aerials depicting infrastructure improvements for CRA area and 437 realignment

The next 10 years will introduce a controlled and organized growth that will provide essential infrastructure improvements to aid in the development of a downtown environment conducive for furthered economic growth in East Lake County. The impending infrastructure improvements are a critical component for any business development strategy that the community seeks to implement. One industry that residents living in or near the CRA have identified as a target industry is ecotourism. Ecotourism has become a popular niche economic development tool in many Florida downtowns and can have significant positive economic impacts with minimal repercussions beyond maintaining resources and amenities such as recreational trails and trailheads. The infrastructure improvements will happen in multiple phases and include the completion of two new interchanges that will connect Lake County to the greater Orlando area via the Expressway Authority’s 429 toll road also appropriately known as the Wekiva Parkway because of its proximity to the Wekiva River and river basin. These interchanges will provide ease of access for residents currently residing in

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Orange, or Seminole Counties to Lake County, and most likely will provide a mechanism for these residents to commute to work in the greater Orlando area should they decide to make a new home in Lake County. This project is a priority for FDOT, and for Lake County, and is the catalyst for much of the redevelopment happening in the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA. CR 437, otherwise known as Plymouth-Sorrento Road will also see significant improvements over an 8 year period. CR 437 runs north from Apopka in Orange County and into the heart of the CRA. The realignment was devised to address critical traffic safety issues, one of those issues being the intersection of State Road 46 and 437 in Sorrento where freight traffic moving north must make a dangerous right hand turn into traffic that is expected to continue to increase both short and long term. The realignment will ultimately adjoin South CR 437 at SR 46, with North 437 at SR 44 creating a contiguous corridor that will allow freight traffic moving North to avoid a heavily traveled, two lane commuter arterial.

The realignment of CR 437 however will not be the only road improvement for this corridor, but it will in fact be the impetus for an improvement designed to create a safer community environment. Complete Streets is a U.S. Department of Transportation initiative that is facilitated by State DOT’s in an coordinated effort to design walkable and livable communities. After the CR 437 realignment FDOT will turn over the right of way for SR 46 to Lake County making it a County controlled and operated road. The County has designated the section of

Figure 8: Complete Streets concept of Sorrento Avenue (SR 46) in the Sorrento area of the CRA

this arterial that runs through the newly developed downtown with the name of Sorrento Avenue. A Complete Streets study was undertaken by Lake County for Sorrento Avenue, and it has been determined that many of the recommendations that were identified during the study will in fact be implemented. On street parking, traffic calming, additional turn lanes, pedestrian refuges with landscaping, and crosswalks are all improvements that are

Figure 9: Pedestrian related infrastructure improvements within CRA expected to happen in correlation with the

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CR 437 realignment. This will aid in the Community’s ability to support existing businesses, attract new business, increase the tax base, and develop sensibly, all while developing a sustainable plan for future growth. To compliment the realignment and Complete Streets initiatives for Sorrento Avenue, and also in support of expected increases in pedestrian traffic throughout this corridor, each roundabout will provide pedestrian signs and crosswalks, as well as increased sidewalk capacity, and a connection to the Wekiva Trail. The Wekiva Trail, which was designed to interconnect the entire Wekiva Study area, will be a two-phase project and involve coordination with a partnership between FDOT and Lake County. Phase 1 of the Wekiva Trail project will run through the Mt. Plymouth-Sorrento CRA and will have a trailhead at the existing East Lake Park located at Wolfbranch Road and CR 437. There will also be a connection to the Neighborhood Lakes Trail at Camp Challenge, and a trail spur that will connect SR 46 with the newly constructed SR 46A. The Neighborhood Lakes Trail will run parrallel to CR 435 into Orange County through Apopka with a potential future connection to the West Orange Trail. The infrastructure improvements when aggregated complete an initiative that will literally change the landscape indefinitely in East Lake County. The provision of amenities that increase the potential for pedestrian traffic also increases the liklihood for new commercial traffic. Commercial traffic always follows residential development which makes a strategy predicated on the facilitation of pedestrian traffic and a the development of a downtown even more crucial. The continued success of any CRA is contingent upon a dedicated funding source that can fund public projects designed to meet the capital goals for the area within the CRA’s boundaries. The design standards that the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento CRA Committee, and the Lake County Board of County Commissioners enacted in 2017 now provide a foundation for development that must meet a demand, not just financially but asthetically. The Wekiva Parkway and Trail projects are introducing an area traditionally known as a rural gateway to Lake County to a new and much younger generation of potential residents who are willing to sacrifice immediate financial success for quality of life and the availability of resources within walking distance. Capturing this demographic is a critical component of the long term growth strategy for East Lake County and it will be crucial to develop and sustain a live/work/play environment conducive for a generation of young adults that are atypical and do not follow the large lot size, not in my backyard traditions of the past. Having the ability to move freely in an urban environment is appealing and adds to the character of an generally equestrian habitat.

Figure 8: Concept of new commercial building within CRA boundaries

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Living within the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento CRA means that you are living in an active community in on the outskirt of the more urbanized area of Northeast Lake County. Business owners and residents living and working in the CRA have an opportunity to be participants in developing a community that they feel both safe, and comfortable enough to have an ideal quality of life. The Façade Improvement Program, a grant program designed subsidize the improvement of commercial properties within the CRA, has had some success, but continued residential growth will induce a demand for the supply of

What We’re Doing

Figure 10: Annual 5K event held within the CRA commercial goods and services. A general theory related to economics and land planning is

that style and character of new development becomes a benchmark for existing development as it impacts the visual appeal of the landscape, as well as increases the property value of the adjacent and surrounding properties. This concept was a major component during the development process for the implementation of a program that would ultimately be designed to ensure that business owners that may be impacted by the veneer of new development would have access to financial assistance that would help to alleviate the burden of paying for infrastructure upgrades to their property. The program has only been enacted for one year so we expect to have more success stories in the coming years. The success stories that we do have provide justification for the development of this program

Figure 11: The Tooth Shop on 46 was granted a Façade Improvement Grant and we look forward to continued success.

The CRA has also become subject to an administrative reorganization initiated by the Lake County Board of County Commissioners. The reorganization moved CRA staff from the Community Services Department to the Planning and Zoning Department. This was a natural transition as much of the day to day business conducted by CRA staff was planning in nature and a substantial amount of collaboration with Planning and Zoning staff was necessary for the approval of the new development within the CRA’s boundaries.

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To date however the largest project that the CRA has undertaken has been the Master Plan Project for the commercial nodes that sit adjacent to State Road 46. These two nodes, separated by County Road 437 to the Southwest and to the Northeast have the greatest potential for commercial development within the CRA boundaries and are expected to experience substantially higher traffic and pedestrian travel volume.

To conduct the study the CRA contracted with the University of Central Florida’s School for Urban and Regional Planning and engaged multiple community partners include the Florida Department of Transportation, the Florida Department of Health, the Lake Sumter MPO and many private stakeholders within

the Community. UCF students and collegiate staff lead a comprehensive effort that consisted of two semesters of research pertaining to current/existing land use, pedestrian infrastructure and activity, any/all potential for residential and commercial growth, and much more. The project was developed as a service learning project and much of the work under each deliverable was conducted by students working on their Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning. Major highlights of the project included a project kickoff meeting, a a Community charrette designed to engage residents and stakeholders in an effort to solicit feedback about their vision for the Community; a Community driven, walkability audit Where students and staff used a new mobile application developed by Lake County to identify potential locations for pedestrian related infrastructure and any safety concerns pertaining to pedestrian activity; and a Community workshop where students had the opportunity to present their findings from two semesters of work to members of the Community, stakeholders, and governmental staff in attendance. Each event was well attended and all of the

Community members in attendance were highly satisfied with the work that the students had conducted, the results that they had returned, and left with hope with a new vision for the future. The final deliverable for the project was a Master Plan of the Commercial Corridor within the CRA that will be used to drive multiple planning and economic development related efforts designed to create a new and improved Community identity for the Mount Plymouth-Sorrento Communities.

Revenue: undefined: 41592: 2016: