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Article Courtesy of The Orlando Sentinel
By Stephen Hudak
Published June 20, 2016
In the standoff between Westgate Resorts and an
81-year-old widow who doesn't want to sell her condo, nobody has blinked
yet.
Representatives of the vacation-rental giant appeared Wednesday at a hearing
where it faced possible revocation of building permits for misrepresenting
its ownership of a site where it wants to erect twin timeshare towers. A
tiny plot of land is owned by widow Julieta Corredor on the site.
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Despite cajoling by
Orange County Planning Administrator John Smogor, who
pleaded with the sides to strike a deal, the company and the
widows' sons, William and Carlos, left the meeting without a
resolution to their squabble, which could force the county
to shut down the $24-million project.
Smogor directed both sides to return June 22, the next
meeting of the development review committee, which examines
building plans. He asked them to find a solution where they
could "shake hands and walk away and everybody's happy."
Jim Hall, a planner representing Westgate, proposed what he
called three reasonable options to resolve the stalemate.
Option one: The company will fix the family's 30-year-old
condo, damaged by a bulldozer clearing the site without
valid permits; reconnect utilities; and restore sidewalks,
parking, and landscaping. The company would then build
towers around the condo. |
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Construction activity on a piece of land continues
Thursday, May 26, 2016 around a vacation home, center, at Westgate
Resorts. Neither money nor bulldozers have loosened the grip an
Orlando vacation home as on the Corredor family.
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"It's their decision," Hall said. "If that's what they
want, we can do that."
Option two: Westgate would buy the damaged condo as is.
The company would not reveal how much it would pay, and the Corredors would
not reveal their asking price.
Option three: Westgate offered the family ownership of a nearby timeshare
unit, now owned by the company.
The sons said they don't know if that would satisfy their mother as they
don't know the condition or exact location of the replacement unit.
Smogor suggested a fourth option: a unit in the new towers.
Hall insisted the family had not used their condo in years, and adjoining
units, owned by Westgate, were uninhabitable 10 years ago.
"Whether or not they were using the unit ... it was still their unit,"
Smogor said. "They had property rights."
Afterwards, the Corredors said they would study the options. They said the
county should shut down Westgate's project in the meantime.
Deputy County Attorney Joel Prinsell said that could still happen but not
before the meeting June 22.
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