08/18/2026
Another example of Osceola County's history of catering to developers, overdevelopment and poor planning:
"When Osceola County created the master plan for its East of Lake Toho mixed-use district 16 years ago, the county designated 275 acres for public school sites. But now, as the thousands of acres of ranch lands are being transformed into new subdivisions, the county and school district are facing a critical shortage of classroom space.
The School District of Osceola County hasn’t secured a public school site in Bella Tara or Whaley Platt, two side-by-side master-planned communities on Kissimmee Park Road approved for over 4,500 homes. The district is in litigation with the developer of Bella Tara and could be headed toward a second lawsuit with Metro Development Group, the owner and developer of Whaley Platt.
The SDOC missed the chance to lock down 20 acres on Kissimmee Park Road in Bella Tara for a K-8 school in 2024 when the school board failed to execute the purchase agreement because of a price difference that equated to 1% of the total land cost. The developer, Centerline Capital, offered the school site for $12 million, but the SDOC’s appraisal came in at $11.7 million." (full article on growthspotter.com)