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Orange County commissioners voted January 13 to reject purchase offers from the Central Florida Expressway Authority for roughly twenty-four acres of county-owned conservation land near Split Oak Forest, as part of a long-running dispute over a planned toll road through protected areas. The vote was 4 to 3 and now opens the door to a possible eminent domain lawsuit if the expressway authority moves forward.
The parcels are outside the boundaries of Split Oak Forest itself but are tied to the same State Road 534 project, also known as the Osceola Parkway Extension. That project includes a route that would cut through a portion of Split Oak Forest Wildlife and Environmental Area, a preserve spanning Orange and Osceola counties. The road has been controversial for years because Split Oak was acquired and managed specifically for conservation, wildlife habitat, and environmental protection.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority delivered formal written offers for the land just days before the January 13 meeting. Those offers covered four parcels totaling about twenty-four acres and were intended to satisfy the good-faith negotiation step required before eminent domain proceedings can begin. County attorneys advised commissioners that rejecting the offers could carry legal risks, but a majority chose to oppose the acquisition outright rather than negotiate or enter mediation.
Some of the land targeted by the expressway authority includes portions of Eagles Roost, a county conservation area that is home to the Back to Nature Wildlife Refuge (Website). The refuge reopened in July 2025 after years of closure and extensive county-funded upgrades aimed at expanding wildlife rehabilitation and public education. Several commissioners said they were not aware Eagles Roost was included in the road authority’s plans until the parcels were formally declared “necessary” for the project last year.
The expressway authority has argued that the extension is needed to address congestion and growth pressures in southeast Orange County and northeast Osceola County. The proposed toll road would stretch roughly fourteen miles, with two lanes in each direction, and is intended to serve rapidly developing areas near Narcoossee Road and surrounding corridors.
Opponents, including environmental advocates and some county officials, say the issue goes beyond a single road, arguing that allowing conservation land to be converted into purchased sets a dangerous precedent that weakens long-term land protection across the region.
With the county’s rejection of the offers, the dispute now shifts into a procedural phase. Orange County has a limited window to respond further before the expressway authority can decide whether to file an eminent domain lawsuit.
