After another route shift, fruit farm stands in way of 417 airport connector

ORLANDO, Fla. — Hair tied up, dressed in flip flops and a loose-fitting shirt, Adam Shafran carefully examined the branches of a 20-foot tall tree growing close to the side of his Seminole County home.

“That’s probably my best tree,” Shafran said, before regretfully announcing he couldn’t see any fruit on its trunk.

Many other trees on his farm did. He scowled as he picked off the remains of one gnawed by an animal, then nearly shouted with triumph as he grabbed an untouched purple lump that resembled a small plum.

“Jabuticaba,” he identified, peeling back the skin to reveal an almost white-like flesh and a single seed at its center.

Shafran is one of Florida’s main growers of the rare fruit, a native of Brazil that is most often compared to a grape. His business, Flying Fox Fruits, supplies growers and hobbyists with seeds, cuttings, young trees and – once, he said – leaves from one of his trees.

Shafran began growing the trees 20 years ago, moved his farm to its current location in 2014, and has spent little time looking back.

“I was… thinking of permanently being here, planting in the ground,” he said. “My business is based off of trees that take 20 years to fruit.”

Shafran found out two weeks ago his dreams could be shattered, when the Central Florida Expressway Authority shifted the proposed routes of its planned 417 Connector project that would link the major highway with the Orlando Sanford International Airport.

Prior to this month, CFX was studying multiple routes, all but one of which steered far away from Shafran’s farm. The two finalists would both cut into his property.

The first, that has long been part of the equation, would slice through the northern end of his property, which includes his driveway and potentially his house. Most of his trees would be safe, he believes, though he wasn’t sure what damage shadows or drainage systems would do.

The second, new route would be the more devastating. It would cut through his property, razing his greenhouses and all his trees.

“That’s when I really I lost sleep,” he said. “You’ve got me in a state of limbo here, where I was trying to take action for my business, to do certain things. For instance, planting trees in the ground.”

The highway spur has been in the works since around the time Shafran moved to the property. It’s intended to alleviate traffic on Lake Mary Boulevard and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, both of which converge into a pair of intersections sharing the same 417 on- and off-ramps.

The connection to the airport is a bonus. By 2036, it’s expected to serve one million more passengers annually, while the neighborhoods around it are expected to have 10,000 more homes.

“That intersection, that exit on east on Sanford Avenue, will back up quarter half a mile,” Seminole County Commissioner Bob Dallari explained. “That’s unacceptable, so we either have to do something or wait till it gets even worse than try to do something even more well.”

Dallari said the numbers for the road’s construction have finally started making sense.

When he was asked why an entirely new road was needed instead of reconfiguring the problematic intersections, he said since the project was still in the study phase, other options were also being examined.

He and expressway authority leaders urged community members like Shafran to attend feedback sessions, including an upcoming meeting on April 2.

“We want to save as much of our environment as we can,” he said. “So do you move it to the left, to the right, east, west? Do you double decker road? Do you do an intersection? Even if you widen the road or improve the intersection, someone’s going to be unhappy.”

Shafran said he’s working with an eminent domain attorney and plans to attend that meeting. He’s hoping the road can be shifted to lessen the impact on his property, and said he understood the need for the area to progress.

His other concern is trying to prepare for a move. He’s looking at nearby property that he can acquire. However, because of jabuticaba’s rarity in Florida and because several of his varieties are his own creation, he’s worried the state won’t fairly compensate him.

“They say, bring in an expert. And I’m like, I am the expert,” he recalled, seriously. “You could come in here and offer me to buy my position right now, and I’d say, ‘No.’ It would take a ton of money to get me to say, ‘Leave your job. Let me take everything you have and move.’”

The April 2 meeting will be held at the Galileo School – Skyway Campus. 3755 Skyway Drive, Sanford. It’s scheduled to last from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

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