KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Orange County commissioners voted Tuesday not to rescind their approval of the Osceola Parkway Extension.

Commissioner Emily Bonilla, the vice mayor, put forth a motion to take back the board’s approval of the project at Tuesday morning’s commission meeting. In December, Orange County approved having Osceola Parkway’s extension run through Split Oak, affecting 160 acres of the forest.

She argued the project was filed under the wrong administrative code and needed to be refiled as a land exchange. Bonilla said the application was filed incorrectly as a "linear facility" instead of a “land exchange” she argued. “Land exchange” needs a 75 percent approval to pass while “linear facility” doesn’t. In December’s meeting, the issue passed with a 71 percent approval.

Bonilla also said the Florida Communities Trust, which oversees the project, was also pushing for the rule change. 

But at the meeting, county leaders did not vote in favor of the reversal. The only commissioners who voted to rescind December’s approval are the same commissioners who voted against the original measure in the first place, Bonilla herself and Maribel Gomez Cordero.

Ultimately, the approval of the Osceola Parkway Expansion stands.

The Central Florida Expressway Authority argues it should not be refiled as a land exchange because under the proposal, the county keeps ownership of the land.

Central Florida Expressway Authority attorneys insist the “linear facility” application is legal.

“The decision to go with one rule over another had nothing to do ... quite frankly, with whether or not there would be a 75 percent vote… because CFX has no idea how this vote is going to turn out here,” said CFX’s General Counsel Woody Rodriguez.

The Osceola Parkway Extension has been 15 years in the making, according to expressway officials. The nine-mile extension would connect State Road 417 to new and planned developments. Part of the roadway would go through Split Oak Forest, impacting 160 acres.

The Central Florida Expressway Board voted to approve that proposal in December. 

The board was also offered an alternate proposal that would take the extension around the forest, by Ajay Village. That plan would have impacted close to 20 homes. 

Commissioner Bonilla pushed for that route to be reconsidered.

“There are some people living on the south side that would actually prefer it not being near them either,” she explained. “But the alternative route, the avoidance route, would give them an opportunity to be able to move someplace where they could live in peace and that rural quality of life that they sought when they bought there.”

Supporters of this alternate route came to Tuesday morning’s commission meeting. They said they were disappointed by the Tuesday morning decision not to rescind the extension approval. 

“Something isn’t right here, and at a minimum, they should have said, 'OK, we’re going to rescind this and take another look at it and then we’ll vote on it again… but they don’t care about the people that much. They worry more about the Tavistocks out there then they do the people," said Orange County resident Sally Baptiste.

The Expressway Authority needs approval from both Orange and Osceola counties to move forward on the project, which they have obtained at this point. Also, the Florida Communities Trust still needs to approve the plan.