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ORLANDO-Hit with 500 e-mails from area residents, Orange County Mayor Rich Crotty has pushed through a one-year moratorium on the development of retail stores larger than 75,000 sf. The regulation is believed to be the first governmental edict of its kind in the entire state, sources who monitor such activity tell GlobeSt.com.

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.