The intensifying political and legal battle between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Walt Disney Co. is causing growing concern and skepticism among residents, business owners, and elected officials in the bustling resort towns that have sprung up around Disney’s Florida theme parks. The conflict began more than a year ago when Disney spoke up against a new state law forbidding lessons related to sexual orientation and gender identity through the third grade. DeSantis immediately pounced, orchestrating a state takeover of a special taxing district created decades ago to help build and maintain roads and utilities around Disney properties south and west of Orlando. The drama intensified this spring after the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, whose five members DeSantis appointed, discovered the outgoing Reedy Creek Improvement District had stripped them of most of their powers over the entertainment giant.
Residents of Celebration, an idyllic town constructed by Disney in the 1990s, fear the feud between Disney and DeSantis could cast a shadow over their tranquil existence, as they find themselves caught in the middle of the dispute and forced to take sides. Celebration residents bought into a dream of living in a place with echoes of the magic of Disney World. Streets in Celebration are exceptionally clean and lawns immaculately manicured. A quaint downtown features pastel-hued buildings and ice cream shops. Many homeowners relocated from other states, hoping they’d found a place free of chaos and conflict. Now, residents fear the political squabble could jeopardize their peaceful existence.
DeSantis’s relentless squabbling with the builder and quasi-overseer of Celebration has caused him to lose the support of many residents. “He has done a wonderful job for the state of Florida, so why he has decided to pick a fight with Disney just doesn’t make any logical sense to me,” said Ted Baker, a 58-year-old retiree who bought a $300,000 condominium in Celebration eight years ago. “I now have people from Ohio calling me asking me, ‘If this is going on, is the governor screwing up other things in the state? And I will be very honest with you, as a moderate Republican, he’s lost my vote for presidency. And my wife’s too.”
Disney broke ground on Celebration in 1994, opting to first build a commercial center of vibrantly painted restaurants and shops on the edge of a small lake. It then began selling single-family homes, townhouses, and condominiums marketed to people who couldn’t get enough of the Magic Kingdom. Potential buyers arrived, often had a meal, and then visited model homes. They then could climb a tower to see exactly where their new home would be built on the marsh. The first residents arrived in Celebration in 1996, and today about 16,000 people live in the community.
In Celebration, most residents and community leaders are hoping that the governor’s quarrel with Disney is a fleeting drama, more geared toward television sound bites than lasting public policy. The unincorporated town is governed by 10 community and homeowners associations as well as Osceola County, but some aspects of daily life are still ruled by Disney, and now, the DeSantis board. The latter has a role in Celebration’s storm water and sewer management, as well as the distribution of natural gas. Some residents also receive electric service controlled by the new Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board. At the moment, some homeowners are engaged in a discussion with the DeSantis board over another testy topic: permitting for eight new pickleball courts.
According to the book, “Celebration: The Story of a Town,” Disney co-founders and brothers Walt and Roy Disney had ambitions to reimagine urban living even before their first Florida theme park opened in 1971. By the late 1980s, Disney executives finalized their vision for Celebration, which was built as a neotraditional town based on five pillars — health, education, technology, sense of community, and sense of place. Disney handed over control of downtown Celebration to an independent developer in 2004. But a board appointed by Disney still has final say about what sorts of aesthetic and cosmetic changes can be made to the community — including the color of properties and whether a business can hang a sign over its front door.
Despite the town’s being only marginally linked to the former Reedy Creek Improvement District, the battle between it and Disney has gotten the attention of residents in Celebration, where voters were nearly evenly divided during the 2020 presidential election. As residents licked ice cream cones and nibbled on fudge while wandering around town this week, many said they moved to Celebration to avoid political discussions. But they concede that’s harder to do now as residents stake out opposing sides or grapple with their own views about the battle between the governor and Disney.
Original Story at www.washingtonpost.com – 2023-04-29 13:00:00