Residents urge Orange County commissioners to block toll road through Split Oak, end ICE IGSA

Hundreds of residents and environmental advocates filled the Orange County commission chamber on Jan. 13 to press elected officials to stop a proposed Central Florida Expressway Authority (CFX) toll road and to end county cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Speakers during a nearly three-hour public-comment period said new toll-road proposals and interlocal deals would undermine conservation and the will of voters. “We ask that you uphold the voter-approved charter, enforce the 1994 interlocal agreement, and direct staff to hire an eminent-domain defense attorney,” asked Bob Stein of Friends of Lake Apopka, describing mitigation lands he said were at risk. Several residents invoked the 2020 charter amendment that voters approved to protect Split Oak Forest.

Immigration-policy critics also used the public-comment period to urge immediate action. Corey Hill of Orlando 50-51 told commissioners: “We demand that you end the IGSA with ICE and that you file the lawsuit.” Multiple speakers, several representing grassroots coalitions, cited reporting and family accounts they said showed detainees in the county jail were subjected to poor conditions and that the county was not being fully reimbursed for ICE detainees.

County staff and commissioners repeatedly said several of the concerns raised would be addressed later on the meeting agenda. County Administrator Byron Brooks told the room that some related items were scheduled for the afternoon session; county staff also noted that litigation, interlocal agreements and eminent-domain issues involve specific legal and procedural steps.

The public comment portion ended after dozens of speakers, many representing environmental groups such as Sunrise Movement Orlando, Friends of Lake Apopka and Sunrise Orlando, and multiple faith-based and immigrant-rights coalitions. Commissioners did not take immediate formal action on the public comments at the close of the comment period; subsequent agenda items and legal briefings addressed related topics including tract acquisitions and condemnation offers from CFX.

What happens next: Commissioners said staff would follow up on specific requests, and several speakers asked the board to place litigation or other formal actions on a future agenda. The meeting record shows the public-comment appeals and dozens of speaker cards were received and will be part of the county's public record.