Directing development in Lake County, Florida

Lake County, which has become the leading edge of metro Orlando’s suburban sprawl, has devised a new impact-fee incentive program aimed at steering home builders toward vacant lots in older or blighted areas of the county. Under the rules, which county commissioners approved in May, builders can be exempted from school impact fees for homes built in older neighborhoods — and in somewhat newer subdivisions, provided they are at least 80% full already — as long as the lot is within three miles of a city hall, within two miles walking distance of a public school or within a historic preservation district. There must also be capacity at the elementary, middle and high schools that serve the site. The pilot incentive program will run for one year and has a cumulative cap of $250,000.

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