Orange County officials discuss possible sites for vertiports

Orange County is getting ready for the flying future.

A consultant recommended future vertiport sites south of University of Central Florida and its Research Park, south of Oak Ridge near the Florida Mall and Northwest Orange County near the Eatonville, Winter Park and Maitland areas.

About 653 parcels of industrial zoned land could be a fit for vertiports, said Curt Ostrodka, principal and director of Smart Communities at VHB, during an Orange County Commission meeting.

Another 4,000 parcels — which are typically zoned for agriculture — could potentially work for vertiports, though they need a special exemption review, the consultant added.

“We did a GIS analysis of the entire county, excluding incorporated municipalities and towns, to look at the most likely places for vertiports,” Ostrodka said, adding that his analysis took into account transportation accessibility and the environment, with a 10,000-foot buffer from solid waste facilities that attracts birds.

One place that wouldn’t work: International Drive, the popular tourist destination with growing attractions and home of the Orange County Convention Center.

“It’s very important to note that the I-Drive District Overlay Zone actually restricts teleport and helicopter commercial activities and enterprises,” Ostrodka warned.

Some officials were surprised by the update since helicopters full of tourists often take off over the area. Ostrodka added that those were grandfathered into the rules.

County Commissioners listened to the results of the feasibility study as the state of Florida is pushing the new technology to someday transport people and cargo in the skies. Orlando International Airport, the biggest airport in Florida, is also moving forward with vertiports on their properties, Ostrodka said.

Additional details from the airport were not available late Tuesday.

State officials have been eagerly touting vertiports coming to Florida in a year or two.

Not everyone is on board.

“We’re talking about little helicopters flying people around before we can even get SunRail on the weekends. That’s offensive to taxpayers,” Orange County Commissioner Kelly Martinez Semrad said as the lone official voting down the feasibility study. 

She urged the county to charge landing fees or find other sources of revenue from vertiports as the community grapples with congested roads and a lack of public transportation.

“It’s a luxury mode of advanced air travel for the rich that can do this. And all of us are then the working class stuck down on the road,” she said.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings urged the county to continue looking for alternative forms of transportation. 

“We’re going to continue to fall behind. So I don’t see advanced air mobility as the only solution to our transportation woes,” Demings said. “It’s probably a small portion of what we should be doing, but the bigger portion is expanding our community rail system and expanding our bus system.”