Orlando Surf Park Is Back Before Orange County: What the Horizon West Wave Pool Plan Includes Now
The proposed Orlando Surf Park, a 44-acre recreation destination on a former construction landfill near Avalon and Schofield roads, is once again seeking guidance from Orange County. The latest filing is a request for feedback rather than an approval, as the developer refines a wave pool, beach, restaurants, retail and athletic facilities on one of Horizon West’s most-watched sites.
A conceptual rendering of the proposed Orlando Surf Park, centered on a wave pool and artificial beach off Avalon Road in Horizon West. Conceptual rendering only; the final design may change.
Image: Orlando Surf Park (conceptual)
What to Know
The Orlando Surf Park plan in brief
A large inland surf destination proposed for a fast-growing corner of Horizon West, still working its way through Orange County’s development review process.
A 44-acre recreation destination. Plans center on a wave pool and artificial beach of roughly 380,000 square feet near Avalon and Schofield roads, with restaurants, retail and athletic facilities.
Built on a former landfill. The property operated for years as a construction and demolition disposal and recycling facility, and the plan aims to reactivate it for public recreation.
Still in county review. The latest submission requests Orange County’s feedback on revised plans, not approval. Transportation and environmental items remain open.
The Orlando Surf Park is a proposed 44-acre recreation destination in Horizon West, centered on a wave pool and artificial beach of roughly 380,000 square feet near Avalon and Schofield roads. As of this filing it is not approved. The developer is back before Orange County seeking guidance on transportation, environmental and site-plan requirements before the project can advance.
According to reporting by HorizonWestInfo.com, the developer behind the proposed Orlando Surf Park has returned to Orange County officials for additional feedback as it works through several issues that have kept the project from advancing. The new Development Review Committee submission is a request for guidance, not a development approval.
What’s proposed for the Avalon Road site
Earlier plans submitted to Orange County showed roughly 380,000 square feet dedicated to the primary wave pool and artificial beach experience, along with landscaped areas and a pedestrian promenade. The concept also includes two restaurant and retail buildings of about 19,950 square feet each, a two-story building with athletic facilities, classrooms and offices, and an approximately 11,000-square-foot maintenance building. Previous plans showed about 575 parking spaces.
The venue is the work of Coral Springs-based Ocean Sports Development, which has described the roughly $45 million project as a world-class surfing destination built around patented wave technology, with two large video screens overlooking the lagoon and a site directly across from the Orange County National Golf Center. What makes it unusual is the ground beneath it: the parcel previously operated as a construction and demolition disposal and recycling facility, so the plan is framed as an effort to redevelop and reactivate the property for recreational use.
Why the developer is back before Orange County
The latest filing follows extensive permitting challenges previously reported by HorizonWestInfo.com, when county reviewers flagged transportation, environmental, planning, utility, fire safety and other issues that needed to be addressed. Rather than an approval, the new submission asks county staff to review the applicant’s responses to earlier comments, along with a revised Amended Planned Development and site plan.
A major part of the conversation involves requirements for adequate public facilities, proportionate share contributions and right of way. The applicant is asking the county for guidance on those requirements and on the form of agreements that will be necessary, including feedback on an adequate public facilities open space table included with the revised plans.
Transportation and pedestrian questions
Orange County previously required a traffic study and operational analysis for the development, and reviewers identified improvements tied to Avalon Road and Schofield Road, including right of way needed for future widening. Earlier comments also called for a northbound left turn lane and a southbound right turn lane on Avalon Road serving the site. The proposed access point on Avalon Road was identified as roughly 653 feet from the intersection, and county staff noted that the requested full median access could require a traffic signal or relocation of the driveway farther north.
Pedestrian access is another significant piece. The county called for high-emphasis crosswalks on Avalon Road and Schofield Road, a median refuge at the primary Avalon Road entrance, accessibility improvements, and coordination with planned shared-use paths along both roadways.
The environmental piece: a former landfill
Because of the property’s history, management of material on the site is central to the redevelopment. Orange County environmental reviewers previously stated that a Waste Relocation Plan and a Developer’s Agreement must be approved before or concurrent with approval of the land use plan. Earlier comments also addressed an existing agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the considerations tied to building a wave pool on a former disposal site. The applicant is now seeking county feedback on both the Waste Relocation Plan and the Developer’s Agreement.
For Jared Jones of the Jared Jones Team, the location is the tell: “Putting a surf lagoon on a closed landfill off Avalon Road is a bet on Horizon West rooftops and household income, not on the coastline an hour east,” he says. “Whether or not it clears review, the fact that a developer is chasing this site says a lot about where the demand is.”
Orlando Surf Park by the numbers
The figures come from plans submitted to Orange County and remain subject to change as the project moves through review.
A light real estate read on the project
Whether or not the surf park is ever built, the site choice is a signal. Horizon West grew from roughly 14,000 residents in 2010 to more than 58,000 at the 2020 census, and estimates have pushed it higher since, making it one of Florida’s fastest-growing communities. Big recreation concepts tend to follow rooftops and disposable income, and the Avalon and Schofield corridor, minutes from State Road 429 and across from Orange County National, is exactly the kind of high-visibility spot developers chase once an area matures.
For nearby homeowners, the practical questions are the ones already on the county’s list: traffic on Avalon Road, pedestrian safety at the entrance, and how a former landfill is remediated. Those are worth watching, but the underlying takeaway is simpler. Concepts this ambitious do not get proposed for quiet, static markets.
The Takeaway
The Orlando Surf Park is not approved, and this filing does not change that. It is a request for Orange County’s guidance as the developer refines its plans and works through transportation, environmental and public-facility requirements on a former landfill off Avalon Road.
What it does show is momentum. A 44-acre recreation destination anchored by a wave pool would be a notable addition to Horizon West, and the fact that the team keeps returning to the county to solve for it is a real read on demand in this corner of Orange County. Watch the next round of county comments for where it heads.
FAQ
What is the Orlando Surf Park?
The Orlando Surf Park is a proposed 44-acre recreation destination in Horizon West, centered on an artificial wave pool and beach, with plans for restaurants, retail and athletic facilities. It is being developed by Coral Springs-based Ocean Sports Development on a site off Avalon Road.
Where would it be located?
On roughly 44 acres near Avalon Road and Schofield Road in the Horizon West area of Orange County, across from the Orange County National Golf Center and just east of State Road 429.
Has the surf park been approved?
No. The latest Development Review Committee submission is a request for Orange County’s feedback on revised plans, not an approval. The developer is still working through transportation, environmental and site-plan requirements identified in earlier county reviews.
What would be built there?
Previous plans showed a wave pool and artificial beach of roughly 380,000 square feet, two restaurant and retail buildings of about 19,950 square feet each, a two-story building with athletic facilities, classrooms and offices, an 11,000-square-foot maintenance building, and about 575 parking spaces.
Why does the former landfill matter?
The property previously operated as a construction and demolition disposal and recycling facility. Orange County requires a Waste Relocation Plan and a Developer’s Agreement to be approved before or alongside the land use plan, and there is an existing agreement with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection tied to the site.
External Links & Related Reading
For readers who want to review the reporting and the project directly, these are the key references.
Watching Horizon West’s next chapter?
Development stories like the Orlando Surf Park say a lot about where an area’s buyer base is heading. When a move is on your radar, local context matters.