Legislators from Osceola and Polk counties told their Poinciana constituents – who packed Liberty High School to overcapacity Tuesday night – that they wouldn’t be sponsoring an incorporation bill in the upcoming legislative session.

“I feel that in order for a vote to be taken that will affect the lives of all of you that you, as a community, need to come to consensus before you come to us,” state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, said. “I don’t believe that the consensus is there.”

While no official decision could be made during the meeting, the four delegates attending had promised to try to come to a consensus on the matter that night. For about two hours, residents both for and against pushing incorporation to a vote next year lined up behind two microphones to comment.

Emotions ran high on the contentious issue. The high school auditorium, which holds about 600, was filled with about 900 residents, while another 200 who came after the meeting waited outside, officials said. Some proponents argued that those in favor of incorporation, mostly those who live within the Poinciana Villages, had longer to travel than those against incorporation – who mostly live in the outlying areas and closer to Liberty High School – and had been excluded from the meeting after the auditorium reached capacity. Others, they said, were just too busy with full-time jobs to attend.

“A major decision such as this should not be decided based on the turnout of people tonight,” Duenna Dorsett, a resident of Poinciana Village 7, said, arguing along with others that the issue should be allowed to go to a vote. “Let the people speak and voice their opinions.”

The boundaries of the proposed city would have extended north along Poinciana Boulevard – near both Kissimmee and Haines City – and south to the extent of the Association of Poinciana Villages’ reach in Polk County. Many of those against argued that they had not been informed that the incorporation process had been started and never want to be included in the community of Poinciana.

“This has created an ‘us-versus-them’ situation. A city divided against itself cannot stand,” Cypress Cove resident Heinz Rosen said.

One resident argued that if the city of Poinciana already existed, the outlying areas would have been allowed to vote on whether they wanted to be annexed.

“I think it’s important that those communities outside the APV not be included in an incorporation plan unless they ask to be included,” Dockery said after residents’ testimony. “I’m very concerned that this was not done in the sunshine. I think that many of you made a conscious decision to live in an unincorporated area with limited services and low taxes.”

Dockery also said she would like to see a 70-percent resident majority in favor of incorporation. She also cautioned proponents of incorporation that making Poinciana a city would not be a “cure-all” to the many issues residents are facing.

“I feel that there are some unrealistic expectations of what will happen if you’re incorporated,” she said. “Being a city means that the citizens are going to chip in more tax revenue and have elected representation, but that doesn’t mean you’re getting more police services, or lights or sidewalks.”

The three Florida representatives who also attended Tuesday’s meeting said they agreed with Dockery, who is the sole senator representing residents within the proposed boundaries of Poinciana.

“I just don’t feel like the whole concept is cooked well enough, so to speak,” Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Winter Garden, said. “Government is rarely the solution to these problems. Most cities around the state and the nation have continued to have the very problems that you’re talking about no matter how much money they tax and take and spend on the problems.”

Rep. Mike Horner, R-Kissimmee, agreed.

“I don’t know that we’ve exhausted all the other options,” he said. “As a rule, I generally want to let people vote. (But) I think it would be a disservice, even to those folks who are for it, to bring this plan that’s not ready yet for prime time to the ballot box.”

Thomas Bryer, a professor at the University of Central Florida and part of the team, contracted to draw up the incorporation feasibility study for Poinciana, said the process was still good for the community in the long term.

“Even though this hasn’t moved forward … attention has been drawn to the issues the community is facing,” he told the News-Gazette after the meeting, “So there are now opportunities for the APV, the counties, the state Legislature to think about how to resolve some of these issues.”