ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Infrastructure improvements are underway in the Pine Hills community to make it easier for people to get around, improve their quality of life, and set the community up for the future.

The Pine Hills Neighborhood Improvement District (NID), created by Orange County in 2011, has been working on these changes to help revitalize the area and promote economic development.

Hardee’s owner Tim Haberkamp, and a former NID chairman, said he believes the improvements will transform the neighborhood.

Haberkamp has been a part of the community longer than his restaurant has.

“I actually started here at the same time they opened it when I was 9,” Haberkamp said. “Actually, my first day of working here was the day before we opened a restaurant, 1966. Made french fries. “

He grew up in Pine Hills and graduated from Evans High School nearly 50 years ago.

Haberkamp said as his business grew, so has the community.

He reminisces on photos of what it looked like before the area was built up around them.

“There was nothing here. I mean, it was a two-lane road. One single-lighted intersection,” he explained. “Now, it’s three lanes each way, with turn lanes.”

As the decades have passed, it’s clear the area needs to be refreshed.

“The older a community gets, you gotta get people to reinvest and rebuild — just like a residential area where they’re tearing out houses and building new ones.”

Haberkamp jumped at the chance to be the NID chairman, focusing on public safety and neighborhood revitalization along the major business corridor in Pine Hills.

“I can use my history of being in the community and what’s happened to kind of direct people so we don’t make the same mistakes twice,” Haberkamp said.

After nine years serving in the NID, he said he is excited to see projects he worked on come to fruition.

Among those are making pedestrian and bicycling safety improvements by widening sidewalks in areas like Pine Hills Road. There is also an ongoing septic to sewer project, which is currently converting five to six blocks at a time.

“That’s going to allow the developer that wants to build a nice new facility to prove the area, the infrastructure it needs to start right off the bat,” Haberkamp said.

A new Lynx Pine Hills transfer station will also open near Haberkamp’s restaurant.

The transfer station will offer 10 local routes, which will bring new people to the area and make it safer for residents to catch their bus in a safe, designated area.

“It’ll just, it’ll keep a lot of people from walking in between traffic and that kind of stuff,” Haberkamp said. “Safety is a big deal.”

Tamara Johnson, executive director of the NID, said she’s excited to see the end results after keeping residents informed of the changes and getting project feedback from the community.

“They could prioritize things that they wanted to see in the community and then we put it together and discussed it,” Johnson said.

She said she believes the upgrades will improve the quality of life for Pine Hills residents in every aspect. 

“Because that connectivity piece is there, the opportunity for businesses to grow, the opportunity for eyes and ears to be on our community and put a positive spin on Pine Hills,” Johnson said. “So I see this in the future as just a stepping stone and more importantly, I see, not just because I’m a county employee, but I see the investment that the county has put into these projects, meaning that they’re just not here for right now. They’re here for the long term.”

Haberkamp said he hopes that all the improvements will help build connections for residents in the Pine Hills community, creating a sense of pride in the place they all call home.

“Everything we do, every building that’s remodeled or rebuilt or whatever, all just shows them that they’re living in a newer area and something to be proud of,” he said.

JC Walker, who has lived in Pine Hills for 34 years, said he is excited about the changes coming to town.

He became more involved in the community after he started attending NID meetings. Walker said he and his wife have already been taking advantage of some improvements, like the wider sidewalks, and he can’t wait to use the transfer station when it opens.

He said he appreciates learning about the transformation projects at NID meetings.

“This is so cool that now there are steps that are being taken to improve the infrastructure for the current and future growth that is coming to Pine Hills. I love it. I love it, and hopefully, it won’t just stop there,” Walker said.

For those interested in attending NID meetings to learn more about improvements in Pine Hills, they occur on the first Wednesday of every month at 6 p.m. at the Pine Hills Community Center.

Everyone is welcome.