For example, the 800-employee Campus Crusade for Christ group and the Wycliffe Bible Translators organization envision their own community of at least 3,825 homes. Lake Nona, a 22-year-old upper-end, laid-back subdivision that is only now gearing up for growth, will have 9,000 homes.

Maury L. Carter, the dean of land brokers in Central Florida, plans to develop a 3,000-home golf course-oriented community nearby. Carter was the only broker in the area to spot the niche in 1978. He bought 6,700 acres and sold it to British investors who started, but did not complete, the Lake Nona community. The championship 18-hole golf course was completed, however, and is highly successful.

Another 4,240 homes is planned off Narcoosee Road (County Road 15) almost overlooking the airport's runways. The PGA Golf Resort is under construction. Three golf courses and a hotel will be on the site. Other developers are submitting city approvals for at least 5,000 more residences and at least one million sf of commercial/retail space.

Orlando city planner Paul Lewis has no doubts the activity will result in the creation of a small city. "We're hoping Lake Nona will set the tone for the rest of the area," he says.

Residents have been working with city planners for over a year, hoping to come up with a buffer idea that would protect at least some of the established neighborhoods from the predicted runaway growth that no one expects to diminish.