The county commission quickly backed Crotty in voting 6 to 1 to set up a nine-member task force that could ultimately dictate to developers the size, design and infrastructure of all new big-box ventures in Central Florida's largest county. Commissioner Linda Stewart heads the task force. Crotty will select three citizen members and each commissioner will choose one person.

The proposed task force already has its detractors. "If half of the task force is composed of real estate development-related individuals, this whole thing will be nothing but a rubber stamp" for the mayor and county officials, an area residential association activist tells GlobeSt.com.

The only two previous attempts by local governments to curb large retail developments have occurred in suburban Oviedo in Seminole County and in Clermont in Lake County. Oviedo officials blocked a proposed 225,000-sf, $20-million Wal-Mart Supercenter in 2002, as GlobeSt.com previously reported. Clermont elected officials have limited development to 100,000 sf but have also waived their own caps on several occasions, area brokers who have represented clients before the Clermont City Council tell GlobeSt.com.