Developers report progress, buffering and traffic concerns at semiannual Wildwood PUD update

At the commission's July 28, 2008 meeting, Sean Day of Duval LLC provided the semiannual update on the Wildwood Planned Unit Development (PUD), describing construction progress, open‑space accounting and several outstanding infrastructure and traffic issues.

Day reported 61 building permits and 17 certificates of occupancy since the last update; the PUD has 1,826 units with certificates of occupancy out of the 3,792 total allowable units, leaving 1,966 units remaining to be built. "It tracks the existing units that are building under a CFO, which is at 1,826. That leaves 1,966 units left to build in Wildwood," Day said.

The update included project‑level notes: Challenger (25 building permits issued, CFOs pending), Primrose, Sturbridge and Orchid Park (model home park) activity, and two site plans currently in process—Woodland Park and Wildwood retirement/eldercare village. The presentation also summarized open‑space requirements: full build‑out requires 442.92 acres of open space and 84.88 acres of developed open space; the current provided amounts exceed those minima based on units with CFOs.

Commissioners and residents raised concerns about Woodland Park's adjacency to undeveloped woodland, excavation or import operations (the project may be an import site), and the extent of perimeter buffering after issues raised during the Challenger Estates review. Day said the Woodland Park area is more rural than the previously reviewed Challenger site and that the developer is planning natural buffering and plantings. He also confirmed that the stormwater and infrastructure originally constructed for the larger subdivision (including Bradley Boulevard and a stormwater pond) are being reevaluated and, where required, upgraded: the pond is being redesigned to meet revised stormwater requirements.

Traffic and the need for a traffic signal at the Wildwood Parkway exit were discussed at length. Commissioners said Department of Public Works and state authorities are involved in ongoing meetings about traffic mitigation. Day said the developer is aware of the concerns and that negotiations and studies are underway, but he did not provide a timetable for a signal.

Day and the commission reminded the public that the PUD receives semiannual updates in January and July; the next formal steps depend on final site‑plan approvals, engineering reviews and any required county or state permits related to traffic and stormwater.