HRT for Women in Gotha, FL

An 800-seat, 45,000-square-foot religious institution is being proposed in the Gotha Rural Settlement, and area residents turned out at a community meeting to hear information about the project. All who spoke were against such a large facility being built in their neighborhood.

Orange County case planner Nick Balevich led the meeting June 12 at Gotha Middle School. Nathan Milch is the applicant representing BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, the temple that wants to relocate from its current home on Oak Ridge Road after 50 years to 2198 Hempel Ave.

Milch is requesting a special exception in the A-1 Citrus Rural zoning district to allow for the construction of the religious institution on about 8.37 acres of vacant agricultural land on the west side of Hempel, east of State Road 408 and north of Florida’s Turnpike. Access would be from Hempel.

Before residents participated in a Q&A, Balevich shared Orange County staff findings and attorney Jim Willard, representing the applicant, also presented information.

County staff issued the following findings and requirements: An assembly place with 800 fixed seats with 15 employees equates to one parking space per three fixed seats, plus one space per employee, so 282 spaces are required. The applicant is requesting 312 spaces, including 12 handicap spaces.

The hours of operation would be 4 to 8 p.m. daily for religious worship with no school activities or planned outdoor events.

The Orange County Planning Division reviewed the application and found the proposed temple is consistent with the county’s Future Land-Use policy.

The county’s Transportation Planning Division reported a trip generation analysis was conducted, and based on the weekday operations of the temple, 22 trips are anticipated. There would be few visitors during the weekday, staff reported; on Saturdays, most visitors would arrive in the evening.

An intersection operational analysis concluded the intersection of Hempel and Lake Hugh Drive/project driveway would operate with sufficient capacity and no more than two vehicles would queue up at the intersection. Staff concluded left-turn and right-turn lanes were not warranted but a left-turn lane was recommended at the driveway intersection at cost to the applicant.

Willard said the applicant agreed to put in a left-turn lane so vehicles going north on Hempel can turn in without stopping traffic.

According to Willard, most of the congregation lives in West Orange County.

“This would be a modern and well-designed interior to accommodate their activities and more convenient to the congregation,” he said.

The proposed project includes a two-story building with meeting space, classrooms and a gymnasium set back more than 500 feet from Hempel. The building would be 30 feet in height with a 12-foot steeple. Willard said the temple would mostly be hidden from the road and added extensive landscaping is proposed.

Willard said the 312-space parking lot would be full only during the temple’s five major festivals each year.

“Other than that, the weekly services are on Saturdays and people would arrive middle to late afternoon and depart by 8 o’clock,” Willard said.

The proposal does not include a school or daycare on the property; the classrooms would be used strictly by the temple. The applicant said the facility would not be rented out.

Residents asked a barrage of questions and shared their opinion on the project.

Theresa Schretzmann-Myers, who serves on the board of the Gotha Rural Settlement Association, said stormwater mitigation is her biggest concern. She reminded officials of Orange County’s studies in 2009 and 2018.

“We are in a percolation closed basin,” she said. “We are already flooding on Lake Fischer, Lake Nally, Lake Mills, Lake Gotha; all the graveyards along Morton Jones (Road) are being flooded by water coming off (Florida’s) Turnpike. Three of our neighbors’ houses are under water.

“This will add more water,” Schretzmann-Myers said. “It is totally out of scale for the historic Gotha Rural Settlement. We’ve got 45,000 square feet plus about 300 parking spaces. That water has to go down, it percolates, and it rises up into the basin. Those studies … tell us, ‘Do not build these large, high-density buildings in Gotha because it adds to our flooding issues.’”

Several residents asked how the temple would benefit the Gotha community. Others questioned the size of the project.

“I know you want to find a new home for your church, but the name Gotha Rural Settlement implies rural,” a resident told the applicant.

“I really don’t think an 800-member church … is representative of what Gotha is,” another said.

Others questioned lights, drainage and the validity of the traffic study.

If built, this temple would be the largest building in Gotha.

“This is not something any of us are going to embrace,” one attendee said.

The original application was submitted Sept. 13, 2022. The public hearing before the Orange County Board of Zoning Adjustment is scheduled for July 6, and if approved, it will go before the Orange County Board of County Commissioners July 25.

There’s some Central Florida spice in this season of the Food Network’s “Holiday Baking Championship,” and her name is Zakiya Newton.

Newton, 31, a Gotha resident and 2009 graduate of Monteverde Academy, is delighted to be in the mix. In fact, it was the show that knocked on her door, not the other way around.

“I was contacted through Instagram and email,” says Newton, who admits she was reluctant at first. “My parents encouraged me to follow up and see what would be required … but I realized I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Indeed, in episode three of the popular competition series, now in its ninth season, a pie flight crafted by Newton and fellow contestant Kristen Weidlein, won the day. Newton’s solo contribution featured a citrusy orange curd pie, a delicious hat-tip to her home here in Central Florida.

Though a trained pastry chef — Newton graduated the Culinary Institute of America in 2012 before embarking on a career at various boutique and upscale restaurants in Miami. It’s been five years since Newton’s been in a commercial kitchen, having spun up her home business — Celestial Sweets by Kia (linktr.ee/celestialsweetsbykia) — after becoming a mom to sons Ameer, 4, and Ahmed, 2.

“The experience was definitely challenging, but exhilarating,” she says.

Each episode sees bakers rising to multiple challenges that demand not only creativity, but extreme skill, all under tight time constraints. Celebrity chefs including Nancy Fuller, Duff Goldman and Carla Hall judge each dessert.

“They were all super nice and it was awesome being around them. Plus they offered really good constructive criticism.” Newton said. “I also I met some amazingly talented bakers with whom I’ve formed a very close bond and I would not change that for the world.”

Many of Newton’s earliest childhood memories involve being in the kitchen with her parents and grandmother, Celestine, helping to cook large family dinners — especially during the holidays.

“I remember my grandmother sitting in the kitchen creaming butter and sugar for days by hand… I named my business after her, as she was very influential in my love for baking.”

The title of Holiday Baking Champion is illustrious, as is the Food Network magazine feature that goes along with it. But it’s the $25,000 that will help Newton grow her business and establish a storefront that’s motivating her through the season.

Also, a genuine love for baking this time of year, which she believes taps into something magical.

“There is a special bond that develops when mom, dad and kids are all in the kitchen preparing to bake bread, cakes, cookies and pies for the holidays,” she says. “These are the memories that stick with me throughout life.”

Sweet potato pie, she says, is her favorite for the season.

“My dad’s is the absolute best.”

Cheer for the hometown girl

The popular holiday season show, now in its ninth season, airs at 8 p.m. Monday nights on the Food Network and also can be streamed on Discovery+. This week it’s a doubleheader, two episodes back to back.

Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie or email me at amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, and your question could be answered in the Ask Amy Drew column. For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.

Stacey DeHart is up to her knees in water as she wades through her neighbor's driveway.

She lives next to Lake Nally in Gotha, which has risen 11 feet since May 2017. The mosquitoes are unbearable, and DeHart is worried about bacteria in the water like E-Coli and Coliform.

Gotha has a problem. Rising floodwaters are threatening homes and properties in the West Orange community, and for months, residents have been asking the county for help.

If the lake rises just a few more feet, DeHart’s property will flood. She wants the county to pump out the lake.

“My kids know we wake up every morning thinking about it, we go to bed thinking about it every night, and we’re having to put huge resources into defending our home and our property when it’s not our fault,” said DeHart, a mother of four who runs a Facebook page for residents.

WMFE has spoken with residents and confirmed that at least two homes in Gotha have been abandoned because of the rising waters. DeHart, whose property is on the verge of flooding, said she can’t wait any longer. She and her neighbors need help.

“I like to try and think I’m positive and staying on the bright side of things, but I guess I am angry at this point because it’s been long enough,” DeHart said.

Orange County is looking into the cause of the flooding. But Commissioner Betsy VanderLey said first they have to update a 2007 hydrologic basin study. The county said the study could take nine months.

“There’s a long history of this area having problems, long before I ever considered running for office, so I think it’s critical for people to understand that, as quickly as I’m trying to move things around, some things just take time,” she said.

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Lake Nally is rising and threatening homes. If it rises one or two more feet, it will flood the DeHart's home. Photo: David Boers[/caption]

Devo Seereeram, a geotechnical engineer and an expert in groundwater, said he believes the flooding is most likely because of rainfall. Seereeram has been studying Gotha lakes since the 1990s and lives three miles from the flood sites. Seereeram says a drainage system for Lake Nally could cost millions of dollars.

He said Lake Nally’s like a bathtub with a clogged drain and two faucets: rainfall and underground water.

“If you’ve considered these two summers, these could be the wettest, two, back-to-back summers we have had in 100 years, so this could be the 100-year event," Seereeram said.

The rising water isn't just threatening homes. Floodwaters are also threatening Camp Ithiel, a Christian retreat center just a five minute's drive away from the DeHarts' home. It sits on flooded Fischer Lake. Michael Neff, the director of the camp, no longer uses his campfire site.

“[The lake's] come up and up and up. And so what we’ll lose next is our lakeside trees and what we’ll lose after that is the use of our lakeside buildings," Neff said. "And that means we’ll lose our ministry.”

[caption id="attachment_139486" align="aligncenter" width="743"]

Michael Neff stands in front of his now flooded campfire site. (Melissa Woodford, WMFE)[/caption]

Next door, lake water has crept into a bamboo grove. Theresa Schretzmann-Myers, the first vice president of Nehrling Gardens, said the bamboos were planted 100 years ago.

"Now it’s impacting our beautiful striped bamboos from Japan," she said. “It’s just heart-breaking to me, not just for us, but our neighbors whose houses are literally in the water.”

[caption id="attachment_139487" align="aligncenter" width="743"]

Lake Nally's rising water threatens the 100-year-old bamboo trees at Nehrling Gardens. (Melissa Woodford, WMFE)[/caption]

In the meantime, residents are doing what they can to protect their homes. David Boers owns a construction company, and even though his house was high and dry, he used heavy earth-moving equipment to build a berm for his neighbor, Nancy Dougherty, when nearby Gotha Pond started to flood.

“I would think that society hasn’t gone in such a bad direction that people wouldn’t help a neighbor out," Boers said. "They were about to lose their house.”

Dougherty said that without the berm, her house would be underwater. “We were petrified when we thought that hurricane was coming this year because I would have had to move out,” Dougherty said.

[caption id="attachment_139484" align="aligncenter" width="743"]

From left to right: David Boers, Nancy Dougherty and Jim Dougherty. David used construction equipment to build a berm for his neighbors.[/caption]

GOTHA, Fla. – Satellite images give us a better look at flooding problems in the Gotha community over the years.

Residents first brought the issue to News 6 last week when the website Gotha Floods was created.

Some residents said they believe new nearby housing developments and interstate expansion are to blame.

Florida's Turnpike Enterprise responded to these concerns, saying:

"During the past year, our engineers have met with some of the Gotha residents who reached out to us about their concerns. We are not aware of any recent complaints specifically related to Lake Nally Woods Drive. But we are always working with our partners, including Orange County and the St. Johns River Water Control District, regarding nearby residents' concerns. As always, Turnpike projects are designed to meet FDOT and water management district criteria. This particular project included floodplain compensation and a design that did not increase roadway runoff to any adjacent roads, homes or developments."

Orange County District 1 Commissioner Betsy VanderLey said: "We understand and share concern with the residents regarding water levels in Gotha. As you can imagine it's a very complex issue. There is a history of flooding in this closed basin which has been exacerbated by record rainfalls last year in the area - (15.42 inches above average in 2018). There is no magic bullet to solve this, but we have been engaged in this issue for quite some time and we continue to work with County staff to assist." Satellite images show the growth around Gotha from 1990 to 2018, with hundreds of homes built and new ramps put in for the Florida Turnpike.

The image above shows 1990 water levels.

[SATELLITE IMAGES: Gotha water levels 1990-present]

This is not the first time these lakes have flooded. News 6 obtained complaints to the county about flooding that date as far back as 1998. "This is unprecedented flooding on Lake Nally and other lakes in Gotha," Theresa Schretzmann-Myers, vice president of Nehrling Gardens, told News 6. "Dr. Nehrling came here in the 1880s and he planted those bamboos well above the 100-year flood plain. But now they are being flooded out and we're going to lose them quickly if we don't resolve the situation."

The image above shows 2018 water levels. News 6 has tried several times to talk on camera with a representative from the Orange County Public Works Department. Orange County leaders previously said Lake Nally is a private, not a public, water body. “The county is amenable to discussing options for the homeowners to undertake to alleviate any flooding on Lake Nally Woods Drive,” leaders said. Scrolls through the gallery below to see the area lake water levels through the years.

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1990 satellite image

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GOTHA, Fla. — Orange County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a newly updated wetland conservation areas ordinance.

The ordinance aims to strengthen the protection of valuable wetlands and surface waters by balancing natural resource protections and property rights.

What You Need To Know

According to the county, the original ordinance was created 35 years ago and hadn’t been modified much since then. But now, after two years of studies and discussions, that is all changing.

The update adds new mitigation site monitoring requirements, clearer code language and streamlines the permitting process, making it more consistent.

Experts say wetlands, which act like sponges, capture rain water and prevent runoff.

A study from by Orange County shows they’ve lost about 4% of wetland acreage since 1990.

That is a concern for developer David Boers, who has lived in Gotha his whole life. He’s watched Orange County build up all around his horse farm.

Boers said he’s most excited about the 100-foot buffer requirement for future projects, and the extra staff to review where the wetlands start and end.

“It is a little bit more restrictive, but we have seen the past pattern not working,” he said. “The Orange County that I grew up in and I saw back in 1987 is completely different than the Orange County that I see today, so we had to change and we had to adapt.”

Over the years, Boers said he has paid close attention to development, since his property backs up to what he calls environmentally sensitive land that he’s watched get smaller.

“It’s kind of like one of the last spots that you have some open land, some space," he said. "You just don’t see that anymore. All new developments are packed in.

"They’ve encroached and taken a lot of the wetlands throughout this area away. You just have a lot less volume of storm water storage that these wetlands do for us and the surrounding properties.”

Because of that, he says flooding has become a major issue for the area.

“I had a really good neighbor that had to move out and he had to find a new residence because his entire property down here flooded,” said Boers.

He said that’s why he was vocal in his support of updating the wetland conservation ordinance.

“This was something that needed to get changed,” said Boer. “I think everybody in Orange County wins on this one”

Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson spearheaded the effort and said the wetlands ordinance update is an important piece of legislation.

The ordinance will officially go into effect on June 1, 2024.