feature story
remain stubbornly attached to the land. Therefore Viera will always be, in some part, “the ranch.” “You know that phrase ‘stewards of the land?’” longtime
Viera community relations manager Judi John asks. “Well, they do. You hear it all the time from the Dudas, and they mean it.” What they mean is responsibility to the areas that surround
the communities and businesses that comprise Viera, which, despite its more than 15,000 human residents, remains home to several ecosystems.
A Place for More than People It is not uncommon to see a bobcat in the backyard or an
eagle perched atop a streetlight, and the developer intends to keep it that way; so part of its agreement for West Viera includes continued agricultural operations as well as enhancement of the 44,000-acre River Lakes Conservation Area, including “preservation of adjacent lands, which will create a permanent edge to development.” The Viera Wilderness Park, 5,612 acres of conservation
and rural areas, will serve as a focal point for wetland mitiga- tion and habitat for various species, managed according to a comprehensive plan. “We want to show good environmental stewardship… Really, that satisfies part of the need of the people that want to build here too,” Chapman said. “They want to (live in) this type of environment.” That adds up to a great deal of excitement for Chapman, an
attorney who remembers the land as it was, as she plans for the land as it will be, “going forward,” in her words. “From my perspective, it is so exciting to see Viera so vibrant
and coming to fruition in this way… We’ve been fortunate to have built a place in the right way; a place with a plan. That’s very important to us as a family. We’re very proud of Viera.” u
Steve Johnson, in front of the new Viera Hospital which is scheduled to open in 2011.
Viera Medical Park: What it Means to the Community and Village One “Initially, we should have about 400 employees,” said
Upon
completion next year, Viera Hospital will be a 100-bed, acute-care, not-for-
profit hospital and centerpiece for Viera Health Park, a 50-acre campus at which a variety of health care services will be offered. “The hospital has changed the skies in Viera,” said
Steve Johnson, president of The Viera Co., and he spoke figuratively as well as literally. Several hundred people now work on construction of the complex, and when it opens in early 2011, it will add hundreds of employees, meaning “potential residents and/or people with whom to do business,” in the eyes of Viera’s developer.
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Christopher S. Kennedy, president and chief executive officer of the hospital. No wonder then that Village One will be built in the hospi-
tal’s back yard, separated from it by retention ponds and berms, and will offer a variety of housing choices and prices. Officials of The Viera Co. have said that at least “10 percent of
the next phase of residential development in West Viera will be targeted for construction as attainable workforce housing,” and so the villages are expected to include apartments, town- homes and condominiums, as well as single-family houses. Construction is expected to begin on Village One as soon as regulatory hurdles are cleared.
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