Pine Hills residents urge redraw to keep community intact, cite lack of notice and funding

Speakers at an Orange County mid‑decennial redistricting advisory committee meeting in Pine Hills said the community has been shortchanged on public works and amenities and urged committee members to draw district lines that keep Pine Hills intact.

Public commenters said Pine Hills — described repeatedly as lacking parks and visible investment — should not be carved up across multiple county commission districts. “When you come out here to, the Pine Hills neighborhood, you don't see that same support in the neighborhoods,” a speaker identified in the meeting as Miss Parker said. Parker also contrasted Pine Hills with other Orlando neighborhoods that, she said, turn lakes into community amenities.

Why it matters: Advisory committee members are preparing maps that could change how county resources and commissioner attention are distributed. Several speakers said keeping Pine Hills together as a single district (or creating a district with two commissioners covering the area) would concentrate public‑works funds and make it easier for elected officials to pursue neighborhood revitalization projects.

Residents described problems they said stem from current boundary lines and outreach failures. Nancy Borkas and Theresa Malay said they and other homeowners in their subdivisions did not receive notice of prior redistricting, and that some precincts were reassigned without clear resident notice. Malay said her neighborhood has not seen county commission ballots for four years despite having been moved between districts. “If you don't notify them, they can't have input,” Malay said.

Latonya Nichols, president of the Pine Hills Community Council, told the committee she has lived in Pine Hills for more than 30 years and urged the advisory group to prioritize finishing started revitalization projects and to “think about equity” when drawing the lines. Other speakers — including Cynthia Harris, Jay Fortune and Hattie Bryant — urged the committee to avoid packing disadvantaged neighborhoods into single districts and to consider up‑to‑date population figures when assessing representation.

Several commenters challenged the committee's use of Census 2020 as the baseline. Hattie Bryant warned that relying solely on the April 2020 decennial census would ignore more recent population change and risk disenfranchising newer residents; she said outside estimates show tens of thousands of additional residents in Orange County since 2020.

Committee response and next steps: Committee leadership acknowledged the public comments and reiterated that the advisory process is a listening tour. Co‑chair Evans and other members encouraged submission of maps but also emphasized the need to hear from all districts before final recommendations are made to the county commission. The committee will accept maps sponsored by committee members, run them through consultant and legal review, and consider them in upcoming meetings.

Ending: Pine Hills residents repeatedly asked the advisory committee to prioritize keeping the community intact, improve notice about meetings and use any available updated data to inform map choices; committee members said those themes would be part of the public record as the mapping phase proceeds.