Viera, Florida facts for kids

Viera, Florida
Planned community
Location of Viera, Florida
Country	United States
State	Florida
County	Brevard

Viera (pronounced /vyeh-rah/) is a master planned community located in the central coastal region of Brevard County, Florida. It is part of an unincorporated section adjacent to the Melbourne, Florida area. For census purposes, it is divided between the Census Designated Places of Viera East and Viera West. At the 2010 census, Viera East had a population of 10,757, while Viera West had a population of 6,641.

Geography

The Viera area borders 8 miles (13 km) along Interstate 95 starting at exit 195 and extending south 3 miles (5 km) beyond exit 191. It encompasses 14,500 acres (5,900 ha). About half of this has been set aside for conservation.

Neighborhoods

The community consists of 76 neighborhoods in two areas named Viera East (38) and Central Viera (38). Included are five active adult communities/55+, Brennity at Melbourne, Bridgewater at Viera, Viera Manor and Heritage Isle, Grand Isle, along with a military retirement community, Indian River Colony Club.

Viera East

The neighborhood communities of Viera East are Auburn Lakes, Bayhill, Crane Creek, Cross Creek, Fawn Ridge, Grand Isle, Hammock Lakes, Hammock Trace, Heron's Landing, Lakes at Viera East, Mission Bay Apartments, Osprey, Six Mile Creek, The Greens at Viera, The Heritage, The Villages of Viera East, Viera East Golf Club, and Wingate Estates.

Viera East Golf Club includes the communities of Aberdeen, Addington, Ashton, Blackheath, Brightwood, Canterbury, Collingtree, Durban Park, Oaklefe, Parkstone, Stratford Place, and Woodhall.

Villages of Viera East includes the communities of Bennington, Somerville, and Templeton.

Central Viera

The neighborhood communities of Central Viera are Adelaide, Arrivas Village, Artistry at Viera Apartments, Fairway Lakes at Duran, Heritage Isle, Highlands Viera West Apartments, Marisol at Viera Apartments, Modern Duran, Sonoma, Stadium Villas, Summer Lakes, The Brennity at Melbourne, Three Fountains at Viera Condominiums, Villages of North Solerno, Villages of South Solerno Wickham Lakes, and Wyndham at Duran.

The North and South Villages of Solerno include Capron Trace, Charolais Estates, Chelford, Colfax Landing, Cortona, Daintree, Eason Landing, Gatwick Manor, Indigo Crossing, Levanto, Ravencliffe, Sunstone, and Terramore.

Addison Village

Addison Village, which is a part of Central Viera, has the communities of Bridgewater at Viera, Kerrington, Loren Cove, Reeling Park, Seville, Strom Park, Trasona Cove East, and Trasona Cove West.

History

The land was developed by the Viera Company, a subsidiary of A. Duda and Sons. On August 4, 1989, ground was broken for the new community of Viera, the name deriving from viera meaning "faith" in the Slovak language in honor of family patriarch Andrew Duda, who emigrated from what became Slovakia in 1912. Starting in 1990, the Duda family has owned the property along I-95 and began turning the Cocoa Ranch into a new town with a mix of land uses, including a variety of housing types, offices, medical and industrial parks, shopping centers and recreational facilities. The family has donated a total of 622.7 acres (252.0 ha) of land to various organizations. The following lists the acres donated, the year, and what the land was donated for:

55 acres (22 ha) in 1986 for the Devereux Hospital and Children's Center

30 acres (12 ha) in 1988 for the Brevard County Educational Services

53 acres (21 ha) in 1989 for the Brevard County Government Operations Center

56 acres (23 ha) in 1991 for the development of the Brevard Zoo

74 acres (30 ha) in 1992 for the Space Coast Stadium and Spring Training Complex

32 acres in 1993 for the Harry T. and Harriet V. Moore Justice Center

27.36 acres in 1994 for the development of the VA Clinic

15 acres in 2000 for the Ralph Williams Elementary School

28 acres in 2001 for the Pineda Extension

96 acres in 2006 for the Pineda Interchange

117 acres in 2003 for development of Viera Regional Park and Soccer Fields

15 acres in 2004 to the Veterans Administration for an assisted living facility

7 more acres in 2007 for the Viera Regional Park

.30 acres in 2009 for the Brevard Zoo Animal Care Center

12.04 acre in 2013 for the Linear Park at the Brevard Zoo

The Viera Development of Regional Impact (DRI) was approved in 1990 for about 3,000 acres (1,200 ha), making up Viera East. In 1992 construction began on what would become Viera East. In 1995, a 6,000-acre (2,400 ha) expansion was approved by Brevard County as a Substantial Deviation to the original DRI. Application was made for Substantial Deviation #2 in 2006 and was approved to plan for the final expansion of the community. The 11,567-acre (4,681 ha) expansion will include 5,112 acres (2,069 ha) to be set aside as managed protected land, conservation areas, parks and open space.

The Viera Wilderness Park (5,112 acres (2,069 ha) to be set aside during the expansion) will join with the 44,000-acre (18,000 ha) River Lakes Conservation Area, which includes 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) of Cocoa Ranch purchased by the St. Johns River Water Management District in 1999. Additional acres will be set aside within development areas to serve as conservation, parks and open space bringing the total actively managed protected land in the expansion area to over 50 percent of the total area.

Parks

Viera Regional Park

Constructed on 125 acres (51 ha) donated by the Viera Company, Viera Regional Park has a community center (18,000 square feet), a fully equipped playground, three tot lots, 8 acres (3.2 ha) of lakes, a walkway system, two lighted Little League baseball fields, two lighted "major league" baseball fields, eight soccer pitches (2 lighted), lighted tennis and basketball courts, and two youth softball courts.

The Suntree-Viera Lightning Mighty Mites, an under-10 football team, won the Offense-Defense National Championship in 2009.

In 2010, two soccer clubs with a total of 1,200 members vied for space on recreational ground.

The Suntree-Viera Lightning Bantams, an under-13 Football Competition team, won the OD National Championship in January 2011. In 2016, he SVYFL Hawks (14 and under) won the National Youth Football Championships.

Community parks

Viera has six community parks and a number of pocket parks within each neighborhood. In Viera East, Clubhouse Park, Suseda Park and Woodside Park have children's play equipment along with adjoining trail systems. In Central Viera, Eastwind Park, Westwind Park and North Solerno Park contain modern play equipment with pools for local neighborhood communities. A dog park is also located in Addison Village just south of Quest Elementary.

Recreation & Tourism

The Brevard Zoo and the 200-acre (81 ha) Ritch Grissom Memorial Wetlands of Viera are located at the south end of the community. Viera has over 100 miles of trails throughout the community and multiple run/walk events are held throughout the year including the Christmas Fit-Mas 3k, Run Run Santa 1 Mile, Super Hero 5k and 1 Miler, Eat My Crust 5k, Komodo Krawl 3K at The Brevard Zoo, and Excalibur 10 Miler & Dragon Slayer 2 Miler.