This is the board of county commissioners regular meeting on February 3rd 2026 in board chambers to various Florida Good morning. >> I didn't notice. I'm sorry, but I just noticed. Huh? Maybe.
Recording in progress. Good morning everyone. Welcome to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners meeting this February 3rd, 2026. We are going to open the meeting with an invocation as we traditionally do. And then if you'll remain standing
for the pledge of allegiance. And today, Pastor Brooks Brazwell from the First Baptist Church of Ematilla will lead us in our invocation. >> Good morning. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we just come before you today. And it's humbling to think that before the creation of the world, you knew
exactly what Lake County was going to look like. You knew all the leadership that was going to be in place. And so today, we just humble ourselves before you and ask that you'll continue to guide us and lead us and give us wisdom and discernment with all the decisions that need to be made in this wonderful county. We pray that we will continue to
live by the code to love our neighbor as oursel. And most importantly, Lord, we just want to we want to thank you for giving us this opportunity to pause in the midst of a busy world as we've got schedules and appointments just to call upon you and ask for wisdom. And so we
do that today. We pray a blessing over our leadership, the men and women of law enforcement, those that are fighting for our freedom right now all around the world so that we can be free. God, let us always be the land of the free and the home of the brave. Bring them home to us safely in due time. And we ask
these things in Jesus' name. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
>> Thank you, council. >> Thank you, pastor. >> Appreciate it. >> All right. Uh, Miss Barker, do we have any updates to our agenda? >> Uh, we do. Good morning, Madam Chair. Commissioners, tab three was added as an addendum after the agenda was first published, and I'm requesting that that
be placed under the public hearings. All right. Okay. Um, moving then to our citizen question and comment period. Um during this portion of our meeting uh we can discuss items that are on um today's agenda with the exception of zoning
items and those items we will hear when we get to those uh zoning cases. Anyone who's joined our meeting by Zoom using their phone may press star 9 to virtually raise their hands. And if you are joining us online, you will need to
click the raise hand button to let us know that you wish to speak. Uh we have a three minute uh limit and you will hear the uh buzzard go off and we just ask at that point you wrap up whatever sentence if possible that you were in so
that we can um keep things moving along and we can be uniform and and how we um do our speaker um time periods. So um with that I'm going to go through the cards that we have and then I'll check to see if we have anyone online. And
this is again for comments that are unrelated to the zoning cases that are on our board meeting today. Okay. All right. Uh Cindy Newton and Cindy I it indicates she wanted to talk about the JPA workshop I would
imagine from yesterday. Good morning. Cindy Newton, District 4, and I want to thank the commission for hosting the countywide JPA workshop yesterday. It was refreshing and productive discussion, particularly regarding the transfer of development
rights, the TDRs, which was seemed to be very well received by the municipalities. It was encouraging to hear that Lake County has sufficient vacant land allocations, even at 85% to account for land owners who don't want to develop to accommodate projected
growth through 2050. This aligns with the strong towns analysis from a few years ago, which estimated that existing entitlements would last 45 to 75 years within with no increase in density or land use. The most encouraging part of
the meeting was the broad agreement among the city officials and staff and county commissioners that the rural and transition areas must be protected from urban level density. There was strong support for preserving farms and rural
lands to ensure local sustainable food sources and instead directing that growth to the current urban areas where utilities are already available. Several cities also acknowledged that the ISBAs need to be
substantially revised which is also very refreshing to hear or to be rebuilt entirely to better support the rural protection and also the use of the TDRs. Eyes are going to be on everybody involved each city and the county to see
if the actions support the words and cities will even be watching other cities. So thank you for your time. Um, Chuck Padet. >> Good morning. >> Morning, >> Chuck Padet.
>> I just got two things I would like to clear up. First of all, a few years ago, we were doing the homeless shelter there at Trinity Assembly God. And the reason we stopped doing the homeless shelter was because we was told by the county manager and the county attorney that we
had to have a million-doll liability insurance policy with the county's name on it and our insurance company would not do that. They said the county should take responsibility. Last two weeks I have been getting phone calls at the church asking why I would
not do the homeless shelter. They said it was calls of my homeless shelter ministry. people leaving. That's far from the truth. The reason we quit doing the homeless shelter is because we was told that we had to have a hund a million dollar liability policy
put in the county there. And I felt like as the pastor and my board felt like at Trinity Assembly of God that, you know, we we want to help them, but it's not, you know, the county needs to take responsibility for them being in our facilities. And when we were told that
if somebody fell at the church that we need to take responsibility. So I just want to clear Trinity Assembly God's name up in the commissioners and in the community. That's why we are not using our building as a homeless shelter right now. >> And we appreciate when you were doing
that. It was really helpful. Um I know we have like this this past weekend we had um Hope International in Groveland um that had opened up. Um LifePoint and Eustace has been regularly uh opened up. Um and um I'm assuming the Salvation
Army probably would have >> they had called me and asked me to open up and I told them that if Lake County would take responsibility that we would open up and you know they said we you know they could not. But I think the other I guess I just wanted to get clarification from the county attorney.
Are the other facilities doing the the policy that our underwriter required or how are are we handling that? >> I I think that would be a question for Tommy. I don't believe we have a agreement a written agreement with the other facilities. So they were doing it um without
>> So I guess the choice was yeah either they had to assume the liability using their own policy um or else provide for that liability for us to be named as an insured. >> Right. And and just to clarify the li
liability insurance um we we have facilities that we use for a variety of reasons. Um, the reason the liability insurance is required is because Lake County has no control over the existing condition of the facility. And case in point is we had a particular facility that was being used for supervisor of
elections and an individual tripped on a step and we were sued because we had control of the facility at that point in time. Even though the step issue was an ongoing issue with that facility, it wasn't a county issue. So that's why the liability insurance is required because we can't go in and evaluate and correct
any ADA deficiencies or anything else that might exist on the facility that would be a potential hazard for um somebody to get injured on. >> Tommy, did you want to add more? I mean, I it puts everybody in a bad spot, you know. Um >> I will tell you this here. I live at
1740 Myrtle Lake Avenue, and that's the next thing I want to address. I had neck surgery in se in uh September. I couldn't drive for a month. So, I walked to the church and your sidewalks on Merl Lake Avenue is in worse shape than my church is as far as
a hazard for somebody to fall. There's uneven concrete there. And I would, you know, back two years ago, I'm not arguing, I'm just telling you, back two years ago, I told him, I said, "Come out and inspect my facilities because I want my facilities to be safe for my congregation and people." you know, so
that's the reason why we are not hosting it. We've gotten a bad name because they said that this, but that's the reason why. And I just wanted to let y'all know is, you know, I can't afford >> I wish we could figure out a way to make it work cuz cuz you all are doing good
work and and and you and you did great work when you were um doing the homeless shelter during the cold weather. >> The lady that's taking Mike and Linda's place, we're working with her now. You know, that's still over in Lake County. >> Yeah. So >> Chuck, have you looked at other insurance companies? Possibly.
>> Well, I just feel this is me personally, Commissioner Morris, is u you know, we need to sit down and the county, you know, come look at my facility, take pictures, and then if somebody gets hurt because my facilities is not up to where it should be, I'll take responsibility.
But, you know, I make sure that our facilities is up to code and what they're supposed to be. And that's what they're saying. Somebody trips and fall, I could trip in your park and see you. I could trip on that sidewalk on Myrtle Lake Avenue and sue you. >> I counted 44 we had the other day that
have sued us over. >> But you understand what I'm saying? >> So I am >> Yeah, it's all over the county and I'm not here to argue or bring shame. That's just what why we've done it. >> The second thing is I wanted to share with you is I've been calling for over two years. I live on 1740 Myrtle Lake
Avenue, Futland Park. We just opened up the new elementary school and I was on the plan there with Futland Park and Lake County that whenever we opened the elementary school, we was going to have more traffic on Myrtle Lake Avenue and Urick Street. We've got a subdivision on
Myrtle Lake Avenue that's got probably 200 homes down there. You come out of the S-curve there on 468, it is terrible. I'm surprised they have not been more accidents. I have called Mr. Hulkcom numerous times in the engineering
department to try to get them out there, meet with us, do a traffic survey. Fruitland Park Police Chief just met with him the other day. My question is over on Thomas Avenue. The church is on Urick Street in Thomas in front of the church. We've got a stoplight. We just
put a four-way stop in at Martha Luther in Thomas because they're building a subdivision there with not as many as houses. You go another quarter of a mile, you got a stop sign, four-way stop at Leburg Landings. And then you go down
to Griffin, you've got a four-way stop like there. Myrtle Lake Avenue and 468. All we've got is stop sign on Urick and Myrtle Lake Avenue. It's crazy. Somebody's going to get killed out there. You know, we're asking either
make it a four-way stop or something to slow the people down. We've talked to Fruitland Park. I've called your people. They will not call me back no more. So, I'm just asking if I can get help on that. >> I would imagine Commissioner Morris is going to take that one.
>> Okay. >> Pull by the horns. And >> thank you. >> Get that done. >> Just give me a call. >> Just call me. >> Okay. >> All right. Um Katherine Wright Good morning.
Sorry, it's taking a me a moment. My name is Katherine Wright at 40216 Gator Lake Road, Lady Lake, Florida. I'm here to talk about um the reality of Florida, sinkholes, drought, and aquafers. I just moved here three years
ago, so I'm learning quite a bit. Indiana girl, you know. So, anyway, these sink holes are just getting a little nutty here. Um, one just happened yesterday. Can I use this little this little thing here? Never done this
before, but here we go. So, they seem like they're popping up a little bit more often. Um, due to multiple reasons. This one is at Empire Church Road near Beer Bear Lake Road in Groveland. It is 90 feet wide as
of now. Um, 200 feet long and 50 feet deep. So, I'm thinking I'm hoping to goodness nobody was passing over that while um they were driving cuz this is this is uh probably would have scared me
to death. Anyway, um let's let's face it, they're triggered by human activity pumping out a lot of water due to overdevelopment, a drought or heavy rain such as you know the wonderful world of Brett Road.
Sinkholes are costly not just to infrastructure but also to people. Now, drought.gov states this as of 12726 that 16.2 million Florida residents are in areas of drought. In fact, the
Southwest Water Management District has imple implemented strict watering restrictions due to low aquifer levels and drought conditions. This covers Manatee, Sarasota, Sumpner, and seven other counties. Start date is 28 until
7126. And by St. John's site, our monthly total is less than half the monthly average. So, can we please have smart development? Because I like drinking water. It is so helpful to my this whole
entire being. And honestly, I don't want to fall into one of those. So, thank you so much for your time today. I'm sure I'll be up here again. >> All right. Thank you. Um, Charles Bowen, right? >> M right.
>> Is that >> M. Right. >> Oh, I just want to make sure this is not on a zoning case. >> Is this on a zoning case? >> No, this is on the development of the 2,500 homes on Route 452. for >> that. That's a zoning case.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Call you back up after. >> Okay. Um David Williamson, it just says public comment. Is this regarding the zoning case? >> Good morning, commissioners. My name is
David Williamson. Recently, a dedicated group of local residents and myself were voted in to assume to assume responsibility at the Pine Lakes Community Center. Since taking over, we've already begun making improvements, including new flooring, cabinets, kitchen, shelving, and appliances. Just
yesterday, we received 7,000 pounds of food from Second Harvest Food Bank, which will be distributed tonight from 5 to 7:00 p.m., marking the first food distribution and at center in several months. I am reaching out to ask for guidance and assistance regarding available grants or programs that we may
be eligible to apply for to further revitalize this community center and help it reach its full potential for the citizens it serves. Our goal is to create a thriving dependable resource for the surrounding community and any information or direction would be greatly appreciated. And I can get you
numbers of the president, vice president, all that. Um but if somebody could reach out from the county that if there is any options um just to help out with that. Uh secondly, as a candidate and active community member, I have received a
significant number of calls from residents expressing frustr frustration with their inability to be heard. Many have shared that they have emailed, called and followed proper channels yet continue to re receive no response. One of the most cons one of the most
common concerns raised is current meeting schedules for this board. Meetings held at 9:00 a.m. on a Tuesday are simply not accessible for the everyday working citizen. Most residents can't afford to take off time take time off work and attend and voice their concerns matters that directly affect
their lives and property. These meetings should be held at a more practical time, possibly 600 7 o'clock in the evenings like other municipalities in this county have done when working families, business owners, and citizens have a fair opportunity to participate. Public
service should be accessible to the public. If we are truly if we truly value citizens input, our meeting time should reflect that commitment. Thank you for your time and I look forward to any guidance you guys can provide. And if you could send me an email um regarding the community center, then I
can connect you with Maria. Um we can look at whether there are any CDBG opportunities for I know that building needs a lot of work. Um so if you'll email me, then I'll connect you to her and we'll go from there. >> Perfect. Thank you. Also, wh also David,
uh if you don't mind, the people that are having concerns, have them call me if they can't get through. >> Okay. And if you do you have a list of those people? uh somewhat not I mean it's >> okay well if you don't mind provide that and and contact information I'll be happy to call them and ask them what the issues are
>> I'll do that I'll get an email to you >> thank you >> and David you know that my um my office hours are Tuesdays and Thursdays every Tuesdays and Thursdays my personal phone number is on every card I give out so you just give them my number as well >> we'll do >> and certainly if somebody is emailed and
they're not getting a response forward that email to us >> it's one thing for somebody to tell you nobody's is answering me, but it's another thing for them to actually show that they didn't get a response. >> Right. >> So, all right. Um, let's see. Moving on then
to uh online. Do we have anyone online? Okay. Um, we'll move forward. Um, Mr. Fitzgerald on the annexation report. Oh, excuse. Um, general comments. Okay.
Uh, Patty Kendrick. >> Hi. Yeah, I'm Patty Kendrick from um 36 Lake Griffin Drive, Freeland Park. And um I just wanted to fill you in on when I was here last and I was talking about
the different issues, the um recycling and the quality of the lakes. So um I got all the help from your assistant, which was great. and I got a lot of phone numbers, but I still haven't gotten any answers. Um, as far
as recycling, I went to the office and I was told I I just asked for simple statistics on how much was being recycled and um they didn't know. So, I got phone numbers for the two
places that um our trash goes to, Lake Panacei and Zelwood, but I haven't had a chance to um actually go there yet. But I have it was coincidental that today my neighborhood sent out text email and
they said when they picked up trash yesterday, all the trash that was in the yellow recycle bins went right in the trash truck. And I told the guy that, but he said, "Oh, no, that's not happening." But it did happen. >> We don't have the >> So, I'm really unclear as to what, you
know, what's getting recycled, how much is getting recycled. You know, I just want to know if it's not getting recycled, just, you know, be honest about it. But um so same with the water situation. I just
went to the water um facility and I just wanted to know what the quality of the lakes was. I just wanted to know what it was and no one seems to monitor that. Now, I went to the um water expo the
other day at the Munition Center and I talked to someone there and they said, "Guess what? There's a new girl in the office and she's going to start doing that." And I'm thinking, isn't that iron? I mean, hasn't anybody been doing that? hasn't any
>> I I just want to point out that water sampling and testing happens all over Lake County. The Lake County Water Authority does it. Um they have groups, they have volunteers. I >> I was a volunteer. I know. I've been here. I >> Right. So they're doing they're doing water sampling and the health department
as well because they issue if they find things in the water that they need to let people know about because of fish or you know people that are eating fish out of lakes, they publish those reports as well. So that that's all. >> Yeah, but they don't test for everything because I talked to a guy named Ted at
the expo and he said that they don't test for lead and the National Water Authority and I have a I can give you um the paper that they did said that Lake Griffin has lead
it and it's also considered impaired. So, I know the testing that they do down here and I talked to Ted about it and um Oh my gosh, >> take out my 20 seconds. Um, >> one more little thing I just want to ask you. You know, I get pretty upset about
things and I'm riding around. I'm seeing all these Dan Tetro signs, right? And I went to the zoning the other day and I found out he is on the zoning board and I'm like I'm just a little country girl but I'm thinking isn't that like giving the keys to the fox to the to the henard
lake? Is that possible that a real estate agent who's selling properties everywhere is on the zoning board? >> I mean am I right about that? >> Okay so you're going to answer a question. I just want to point out that on the planning and zoning board, all cities, counties, oftentimes you have
people that are in the real estate ind industry on those boards because they're very familiar with real estate law and real estate issues. They are not allowed to make decisions on something they have a listing on. They're not allowed to. So, there are rules in the state of Florida about when you have to abstain
from voting. >> That's great to know. >> So, that is 100% in place. Um, the other thing that I want to check on, I don't think we have yellow bins. We used to have yellow bins. >> Well, my neighborhood still does. Yeah. The recycle guy told me they were
supposed to replace them with those smaller, you know, brown ones or green ones. >> What What neighborhood is it? >> Um, Lakeside Terrace, but no one seems to concern like I've been there four years and no one's given me recycle bin at all. But um regardless whether it's
the tall skinny one or the yellow bins which we >> right Commissioner Parks can speak to that because it is a little bit complicated. >> Miss Miss Kendrick, I'm going to give you my email address. You come over here and get it. I'll send you cut sheets that have factual data on recycled. >> We do recycle contrary to popular
belief. Um we do recycle. It is a low percentage because a lot of stuff that people put in recycle bins is not recycled. >> I understand. Right. Um, actually the county's has a higher percentage compared to other counties around us, but we'll get you the data. Uh, I have that directly from our director um, from
our manager as well. So, I'll I'll send that to you. This is my email address. I'll >> Right. >> I'll come right. >> Yeah. I want to pass that. >> And we talked about that and when I >> I might be able to get you some water data, too. So, just Well, >> yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But education is the key for like our neighborhood and all around. Abs,
>> I totally agree. And I'd be happy to get that to you and Yeah. Um, she's right over there. >> Thank you. >> All right. Um, okay. Moving along to Mike Fitzgerald, planning and zoning director on the annexation report.
>> Thank you, chairman, commissioners. Good morning. For the record, Mike Fitzgerald. I'm the office of planning and zoning director. Have an annexation report this morning. Uh, two properties, both located in the Claremont area. The first one is
an annexation that's proposed for uh 11.8 acres of land located south of State Road 50 west of Ray Good Game uh Parkway. The intent is to develop the property with an industrial park with 100 foot rideway dedication for Hook Street.
As you can see on this uh display, the property is currently urban low land use, four dwelling units per acre in the county. The municipality is proposing to uh annex that and create an industrial park. Second item for annexation is a proposal
to annex approximately 10.4 acres of property located west of Hardle Road. The intent is to develop the property with a 25 lot residential subdivision. This property is currently urban low and regional office in Lake County. Four dwelling units per one net acre. The
municipality is proposing a low density residential which is uh going to be three dwelling units per acre. >> Oh, this is one that came to us before, right? that I felt like this came to us before. >> It looks like it. >> Uhhuh. >> Because we were looking at the fact that
it had the the industrial on one side and then the low density on the other side, but it looks like what they're doing is they're annexing. >> So, >> yeah, they're annexing >> um and they're going to a lower number >> and that city meeting will be on March
10th if there's any comments. >> I think the industry one is good. We want industry. So, I support that. But this super high density thing, I would support writing a letter telling Claremont not to do that because I think it's terrible. >> What's the high density one? >> It's like four units.
>> That's ours is four units to the acre already. >> They're going to three. >> Yeah. The only people that might not be thrilled or be the people with the large lots on the lake. They may prefer to have a neighborhood versus industrial, but >> this upside down. Sorry. >> Yeah. The the allowable development
program shows that we would allow 41 dwelling units. They're only proposing 25. >> Yeah. >> And the city obviously they want to annex it. They There's no objections, right? This is going When is this hearing in the city being heard in the city?
>> Both of of these items are listed as March 10th for city commission. >> Okay. So, I mean, we've got an urban low going to industrial in the city. That makes sense. and they're going down on their numbers by annexing and going to low
density in the city. >> Yeah. >> All right. So, no so no letters to write. Okay. Um moving ahead then to the public hearings on resonings, conditional use permits, and comprehensive plan
amendments. >> Thank you, chairman. Uh, for the record, once again, Mike Fitzgerald, the office of planning and zoning director. We have we actually have four items on the agenda today. We have a future land use adoption for Lake Yale, a resoning for
Lake Yale, and tab number three is a resoning for the Scoffield PUD, and there's an additional item not on the screen for a developers agreement that is associated with the Lake Yel project. Uh these items have been advertised according to Florida statute.
That said, I will turn the meeting back to the chairman. >> Okay. Um let's go through if you've got any exparte communications um on um this case and the ones associated with this case. Um, Commissioner Sabatini,
>> all the written record and then I got uh one phone call on it um from um Carrie Baker and that's all. >> Okay, finish >> uh as as of last as the same as last time. Um the applicant and then also uh
Allen and Lewis Chin as well. Okay. On the opposition side, >> um for me, Bill Ray, Chuck Hayatt, and Cliff Whitaker. Uh for me it was Bill Ray, Chuck Hayatt, Kluff Whitaker, um Bruce Duncan, and then of course all
the emails for and against same as Kirby, um Bruce and the applicant and also the chins. >> Okay. All right. We'll turn it back over to Mike to present.
This is going to incorrect. Okay. Um, thank you very much, chairman. For the record, Mike Fitzgerald, Office of Planning and Zoning Director. First item is uh a Lake Yale project. As a reminder
to the board, this item was brought before This is a future land use adoption hearing. This item was brought before the board on January 6th and it was continued to today's meeting. The request is to amend the future land use map to change the future land use category in approximately 28 acres from
rural transition future land use to urban low density. This is to accommodate a mixeduse development that will include 1,000 active adult residential units, 450 single family and multif family units, and 50,000 square feet of commercial uses and associated
residential uh uh recreational facilities. The planning and zoning board voted unanimously to recommend approval of this item at their meeting. The location is north of County Road 452, south of Lake Yel.
Uh this request is this request if approved is compliant with a comprehensive plan in the fact that they are proposing a traditional neighborhood development in a in an urban land use. The putt is designed as a multimmodal community to be highly
walkable. Golf carts will be allowed on the neighborhood streets. All streets in the community will be publicly owned but maintained through either a CDD, MSTU, MSBU, CDD or MSTU or MSBU. Uh the the development does not propose
industrial manufacturing or office. The request is consistent with an urban low density future land use. If approved, it is located in the proximity of a collector or arterial road and will have a minimum open space of 25%.
The city of Eustace has indicated that central water and sewer services available to the subject property. School concurrency is required and a proportionate share mitigation agreement may be required by the school board. County fire and rescue uh lo uh station
number 72 is located approximately 2 miles from the subject property. The level of service for county road 452 has been evaluated with the traffic study. This will cause the uh the increased traffic on 452 will cause the
level of service to drop to F. There is a require requirement for a developers agreement to be submitted with this project and we will be reviewing that shortly. This item was transmitted to the state for review. The state had no objections except for the fact that it was
inconsistent with the uh transportation element. These are the future land use maps. Currently it is uh rural transition and the proposal if approved will be urban future land use. This is a conceptual plan of what it
will look like. Uh it is a traditional neighborhood with a main street and building out to a an edge type of subdivision. This is an indication of what exists now and what is proposed. Under rural transition, you have options of one
dwelling unit per five acres, one per three, one per one. And that all depends on the open space that is provided. The proposal is for urban load density. That is up to four dwelling units per acre. And the proposal is actually going to be
3.1 9 3.19 units per acre with uh 60% impervious area and 25% open space. With the board's permission, I'll move on to the reszoning application. This is the companion ordinance to the
proposal. This is a request to reszone 456 acres from agriculture, rural residential, and estate residential to planned unit development. Once again, this is to accommodate a thousand active adult residential units, 450 multif family, single family units, and 50,000
square feet of commercial and and recreational facilities. The planning and zoning board voted unanimously to recommend approval of this item. This planned unit development, if approved, is uh compliant as a transitional uh neighborhood with
neighborhood core proper and edge design. It'll have a main street district and waterfront activity center and marina, active recreational facilities, multimodal streets, central utilities, trails, public parks, and civic amenities. As stated, all streets
will be maintained by a CDD, MSTU, or MSBU. Reszoning request and conceptual plan. This is the aerial showing the the extent of the parcels that are included. I'll get to the conceptual plan.
The conceptual plan is consistent with the LDR which states that complimentary and compatible commercial uses are permitted within the PUD when they are designed in a residential community with a an approved uh development plan. The site development standards promote functional compatibility of uses to
promote safe and efficient circulation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic and provide orderly phasing of the development. The comprehensive plan requires that this be a traditional neighborhood design, which it is. It encourages mixed use, compact design, efficient use of
surfaces, and a diversification and integration of the land uses. Some of the highlights of the provisions of this ordinance. It integrates the commercial uses and the recreational opportunities, provides housing choices. It will include dark sky lighting,
Florida friendly and Florida native uh landscaping, street loaded garages that are set back from the front of the house, driveways that are a minimum of 25 ft to accommodate parking, and street trees for uh as an amenity for the development.
The property is located along County Road 452 where the future Lake Yale Loop Trail will be located. The trail location is to be determined later, but that will be kept in mind by staff as they if this is approved and they and they uh review the site plan and the subdivision construction plan. As stated
with the schools, a proportionate share mitigation agreement will be required. Just want to show the uh flood map in this area. the flood. There is minimal flood if if any for this property. It is all confined to the lake area.
This is the wetland map showing that there is little to no wetland. In fact, the survey shows that there's about one and a half acres of wetland on this property. Bear with me one second. I'm going to back up to
the developers agreement. As stated, this project is having a negative effect on the level of service for County Road 452. Therefore, the the project was required to make some concessions for traffic
improvements through a developers agreement. on the screen has highlighted some of the options for the the improvements that have been proposed, including a roundabout uh at County Road 452 and Apiary Road, a roundabout at uh County
Road 452 and Fish Camp, the extension of turn lanes southbound uh 300 ft and southbound approach right turn lane 150 ft at the intersection of County Road 44 and 452. Resurfacing and widening of
approximately 300 line 3,800 linear feet of Apiary Road. Installation of approximately 3,800 linear feet of sidewalk along one side of Apiary Road. Installation of 3,800 linear feet of sidewalk along Fish Camp Road. And signalization of a T
intersection of County Road 44 and Apiary Road. These items have been moved up to be co to coincide with phase one of the development except for the signalization of County Road 44. That proposal is at
phase two. Regarding the roundabout at Fish Camp, there is a provision in the developers agreement that states in the event that county staff determines prior to commencement of construction that the design and construction of the
roundabout is not feasible due to constraints of the rightway that there will be an alternative considered. Sidewalk construction is the same. If there is a consideration by county staff that there is a restriction for right-ofway, then the sidewalks on
Apiary Road and Fish Camp will be re-evaluated. With that said, that concludes staff's portion of the presentation. I believe the applicant is here to make a presentation as well. Madam Chairman, before we move on, I did receive just now receive an email from Mark McManis,
which is our military representative to the planning and zoning board. Um, he was not able to be here today. So, if you will indulge me, I'm going to read his comments into the record for your information. He says, "As this development is outside the Pine Castle Range airspace, the Navy
has no objections. However, we do have a comment. Due to the location, the future homeowners should hear and potentially feel the concussion of live ordinance from the Pine Castle Range impact area. The PUD is just under 15 miles from the impact area, and the noise and vibrations may travel as far as 20
miles. There was a ruling by the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida that we feel applies to this development. Per the Villio versus Ryland Homes decision in 2010, when a seller of a home knows the facts materially affecting the value of the property, which are not readily observable and are not known to the
buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer. The Vgillio ruling specifically references Pine Castle range and the potential for unexloded ordinance, chemical residues, and other potential hazards resulting from the bombing at Pine Castle. A potential homeowner can use Google Earth to see that there is an airport,
racetrack, or stadium near their future home. A homeowner would not likely see the Pine Castle impact area on Google Earth and conclude it's a live ordinance impact area. As a person who is responsible for dealing with noise complaints regarding Pine Castle operations, all we ask is that the
applicant developer acknowledge a duty to disclose the Pine Castle range per the Vgilio ruling to buyers. So, I just wanted to put that if um if this does get approved today, I would request that we add that to the ordinance that they do have to disclose that information.
Commissioner Parks. Um, >> just want to um confirm something. I think it was asked the last time, but and I know you said it, but just to be clear, the when you sent the future land use map amendment um to the state that the letter came back on October 17th,
2024, and they referenced it as an internal consistency, the trans that's the transportation that you're mentioning, correct? >> Yes, sir. >> All right. And then the do the developers agreement is is proposed to to sort of remedy that, right? To make it consistent. >> That is correct, sir.
>> Okay. I just wanted to to make sure that that was clear and on the record. So, >> thank you. >> Um I had a question too. You mentioned the language regarding Fish Camp Road as well as the roundabout. So when you talk about revisiting like for example with
fish camp sidewalk because that was something that was very important to me to make sure that there would be a sidewalk on fish camp available if there's not sufficient rightaway. I just want to make sure that the language would provide that at such time as if the countyy's able to acquire the
rightway that the sidewalk would be constructed by the developer. I'll I'll go ahead and read exactly what's in the developers agreement. It says, "Sidewalk construction preconditions in the event that county staff determines prior to commencement of construction of phase one of
developers project that the apiary road sidewalk and/or fish camp road sidewalk cannot be destructed due to the existing public rightway not being of necessary width. Then the developer's obligation to construct such improvements shall be
deferred to commencement of the next phase of developers project that follows county's acquisition of the necessary public rideway. >> All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> We're done with your presentation.
>> We're staff has concluded its portion. Yes, ma'am. >> Okay. All right. We will hear now from the applicant. Uh, good morning, Madame Chair, vice chair, and commission members. My name is Jonathan Hules with the Louns Law Firm, 215 North Yola Drive, Orlando
3281. Uh, we appreciate the opportunity to appear back before you on on this project. Uh in attendance along with me is the remaining members of our our project team which include Bill Ray who is our project planner, Chuck Hyatt with health engineering who's the project
engineer, Imaniti who's our uh transportation engineer and many members of the Whitaker family. Uh I have a brief presentation just to provide some updates on what we've been doing since we last appeared before you and I'll try to get through that as quickly as
possible. Uh just as a reminder, the overall project is 456 acres in size. Uh it's not located within Emeralda Marsh Rural Protection Area or any other protection areas. It is located within the county's
economic development overlay district that's been adopted in its comp plan. That overlay district was created to attract targeted industries to uh locate, invest, and develop their facilities in the county. Now, obviously, this project would not meet
that standard, but I think it's important to note that that overlay includes the entirety of the project, both what's in urban low future land use today and what's being proposed to be brought into urban low future land use. Uh the the the proposal is to unify that
future land use designation and then allow for this mixeduse traditional neighborhood design project to be developed under PUD zoning. So since we last appeared before you, we've had an opportunity to consider the feedback that was shared both from the
dis and during public comment and we were able to evaluate and implement several changes that Mr. Fitzgerald's already highlighted, but I'll just walk through once again. First and foremost, we have reduced the number of residences in the project from
which was originally proposed of 1,600 down to 1450. And we've also expanded and accelerated the uh transportation improvements that are being proposed prior to the first phase of the project, prior to the first
uh resident moving into a home. That would include both the construction of the roundabouts at on County Road 452 at the intersection of Apiary Road and at Fish Camp Road. And also, as was mentioned, the construction of of of new
uh improvements, the sidewalks along both Fish Camp Road and Ampiary Road that would start at those roundabouts, which are at the southern boundary of the property and extend all the way down one side of those roads down to County Road 44. And the idea being is really to
uh connect this community with the remainder of of the area, provide options for for folks to walk uh into the community. The project remains a mixeduse master plan community. It remains eight phases.
It includes the three neighborhood districts that are required by the comp plan and those are outlined here on the map with neighborhood edge uh being represented by the yellow color that is around the periphery of the project.
Neighborhood transition which is shown in brown which is internal. And then as you work your way towards the core, you have the neighborhood core district shown in light pink. Uh and of course the the project being mixed still contains the the commercial component uh
shown in red both in the main street core which is shown as phase 4B and along the lakefront district which is phase 4 A. And that's where the idea being of where the exponential dining and retail experiences will be available
for the community and in the surrounding area. In terms of where the reduction of the residents taken place, there was a a a concerted effort to concentrate those reductions into the later phases of the
project. Principally, those would be phases five, phases six, and phases eight. And why that was chosen is important because those phases are outlined here on this map and those are the
corresponding areas of uh the the areas of the the overall property that are subject of the comprehensive plan amendment. And what that does is it reduces the density in those that area both phases five, six, seven, and eight
to less than two and a half dwelling units an acre. It's about 2.45 four or five dwelling units an acre. And the thought process behind that is that these areas would be a step down in in
density of development and act as a a transition between the edge of this project and the remaining rural transition future land use that will be adjacent to it. As was mentioned, some of the modifications was an acceleration of
some of the off off-site infrastructure improvements that will be made by the developer of this project. We really uh believe it embraces the in infrastructure first, development later mantra. And I'll quickly just run through all of those on this map. And it
and it really starts with the construction of over three miles of a central sewer utility line for from its current stubout which is actually off this page. It it the the scaling of the map gets a little wonky when you try to show just how long that extension is,
but it's over three miles. Uh it's at a considerable cost and we believe it's a real gamecher that this community will be serviced both by c by central utilities portable water and sewer. uh from its stubout that's shown there. It also will have miles of additional sewer
improvements internal to the community once all of the homes and and buildings are are hooked up to that central water. And we believe there's an opportunity of also oversize that central sewer to provide uh potential for other areas of of this county, this part of the county
to hook up to it. From there, you can move up to uh the the intersection of County Road 452 and County Road 44 where there are turn lane improvements that will be made and those will be completed prior to the first phase of development.
The roundabouts both at Fish Camp Road in 452 and Apiary Road at 452 will both be completed prior to the first phase of the development. The sidewalks along Fish Camp Road and Apiary Road along one
side will be completed prior to the first phase of development and the widening and resurfacing of Apiary Road offsite of this project. The the the section from uh 452 to 44 will be completed prior to the first phase of
development. And then finally the signalization of county road 44 and apiary road will be done after the second phase of of the development. So after the second phase of development all of these improvements will be made. We it was purposefully frontloaded
uh based on discussion with staff feedback from you. We believe this is a a a new way to do it in the county and that you bring put the infrastructure first and then the development later. It's it's more in line with what used to
be back when the DRRi laws were were different of how DRRI developments would be done where it was there was certainty provided at the at the the stage we're at in the development uh process that improvements were going to be made and we weren't going to kick the the can
down the road to deal with it at a later stage. When you go and and and tabulate all of these or attempt to tabulate all of these improvements on one page, it becomes difficult. the it the the the the font gets so small it's hard to read but this table attempts to do that and
it also so there's three columns the improvement the completion threshold which is what we just discussed and then the total estimated cost those are all set forth on this table this table also includes what shouldn't be overlooked but is is a significant
investment is that all of the existing uh public roads that are within in the community and these would be Fish Camp. The portions of Fish Camp, Lakeill Circle, and Apiary Road will be completely rec reconstructed. Most if
not all of those are are substandard today. They're not they're not built to the county standards. They'll be re reconstructed and brought up to the uh uh county's current standards as part of this project. That's at a considerable cost to the developer. And in addition
to that, there will be right-of-way dedications that will be made. uh both to allow for those improvements to take place because many of those rideofways today are are not of of enough sufficient width to allow for that reconstruction to occur, but also to
allow for these roundabouts to be constructed. And there will be additional dedications made along the county road 452 frontage uh to allow for future improvement of those areas. A couple some of the feedback and comments we heard at the last meeting
dealt with the transportation impact analysis that had been prepared for this project and it was prepared to support uh the development agreement that's now been born with all of those transportation improvements. Uh we wanted to just clarify and put on the
record a couple of different things. the TI the TIA is how I'll refer to it was prepared in accordance with the methodology approved by the county. So before the the the the TIA was commenced, there's a methodology that is reviewed and approved of how that's
going to be prepared. It was also prepared in accordance with the Lake County TIA guidelines and the lake center MO protocols and it utilized the most recent available data data that was available at the time of the study's preparation. This included the 2023 Lake
County CMP database and the 2024 Lake County annual counts database. The TIA utilized annual growth rates for road segments sole uh solely based on historic traffic counts not population growth consistent with approved methodology and accepted industry
standards. And it applied a minimum annual growth rate of 2%. This is a conservative approach. So, and if there were road segments that either had a negative growth rate, which there were, or a a growth rate that was less than 2%, then those growth rates were were
utilized at those row segments were were plugged into the model at 2%. And that's to really overestimate the amount of traffic that will be out there um in the future as the as the study looks forward. Um, one other important note is that it
utilized the original proposed development program. It doesn't reflect the reduction in residences that have been made since it's been prepared. And of course, it's been reviewed and accepted by county staff to confirm it was prepared in accordance with that methodology that was approved on the
front end. There have been a couple of mischaracterizations of that TIA that's been put that that's been commented on. One assertion was that all Lake County roads evaluated have a current level of service rating of D today.
uh that's not accurate. The level of service D that's reflected in the TIA in certain tables is the level of service standard adopted by the county. It's important to note that a level of service standard is is reflected through either an A through F rating. It
includes E, but it's not to be thought of the same way as a uh grade on a report card that's issued when you're in school. uh level of service D is still considered to be a safe and efficient standard and that's the one the county
has decided to apply to to to measure when roads are are are operating on a safe and efficient manner. Beyond that, it's considered not to be. Um, the TIA does include tables that that present
the existing level of service for all Stodia Road segments which show that only one segment of County Road 44 44 and this is the segment between County Road 473 and Apiary Road is currently operating below that level of standard D
and all remaining uh segments that were evaluated are actually uh exceeding this standard. Another assertion that's been made is that we should expect Goose Prairie Road to be utilized as a shortcut and inundated during rush hours. Uh the
reality is is that the TIA in fact included the evaluation of Grace G P I'm sorry, Goose Prairie Road in its uh uh scope and showed that project traffic is expected to use it during the day and the PM rush hour. And table eight on
page 30 shows that Grush Perry Road is expected to operate at a level of service C, so above the standard, the county standard at full project buildout in the year 2037 with about 50% of available road capacity. Uh, one other um item to update is that
uh we presented a map similar to this one at at the uh January public hearing. Uh since that time uh there have been additional letters of support or no objection that have been submitted. The the project is outlined in blue in this
map before you and now in total there's been 19 owner record u property owners that own 32 tax parcels that have submitted letters of support or no objection to the project. Many of these as you can see are immediately adjacent to the to the project's boundary or in
the immediate vicinity. This we believe shows that uh there's community buyin at least locally to the project. We believe this shows that they can see that it's it's the unified uh design is of benefit
and it provides certainty of how the area would be developed in the future. And we show this shows that there's been a good deal of community outreach and communication throughout this process. So some of the benefits we that that
that this project provides is that it is master planned and it is designed consistent with the applicable conservation I'm sorry comprehensive plan policies and land development regulations. It's a unified phase project serviced by the master
infrastructure system both central sewer and water and a master storm water system. It avoids a peacemeal approach to future development of the tax parcels that make up the property assemblage. The reduction that have been made in
residences results in a step down in in density adjacent uh step down in density in the later phases of the project adjacent to rural transition areas by accelerating the
off-site infrastructure improvements as now occurred since the last meeting. We really believe it follows the infrastructure now development later mantra with the developer funding central utilities being completed before the first phase and multiple other
off-site transportation improvements. We believe that developer funding of the reconstruction of portions of the existing public roads shouldn't be overlooked and that's at a significant cost. Uh these and new these uh new internal road network is to be maintained through
as Mr. Fitzgerald mentioned private funding either through an MSBU, CDD or MSTU. And so the county won't be responsible for its uh uh maintenance and repair. The significant right ofway dedications are going to be made at no cost to the
county and there's going to be substantial in addition to these substantial public infrastructure improvements, there'll be substantial impact fees also paid by the developer. The development will also uh result in a substantial increase in the advalor tax
revenues that are currently uh being generated by the property. And when you couple this with the traditional neighborhood design, it really results in an efficient delivery of government services. As was just shown on the map, there's been significant neighborhood support
from the people that are in most adjacent most imp potentially impacted by what what's being proposed. And throughout its inception, uh, when when the Whitaker family first
got together with with Chuck Hyatt and Bill Ray, it's been an o owner-driven process. And we talked a little bit about this at the last meeting, but that was intentional. from inception to where we are today. The the family has has uh
led the effort and they did not want to bring along a partner uh a developer that was going to potentially change what they wanted to see this this community look like. It's very much viewed as a legacy project for them.
They've invested a lot of time, effort, and money to get to this point. And so we would just ask that you uh support this request and happy to answer any questions you might have. >> I have a question about um a a map that we were provided that dated back to the
1991 comp plan adoption, the original Lake County future land use map. Could do you have a copy of that? Can you Yeah. talk about that? >> Sure. Let me grab it. It's not right here at the podium, but I do have >> Okay. There's two.
See, let me know when that appears overhead. Oh, maybe I perhaps I can turn it. Start with the black one. What year's this one? >> So, what's before you today is the 1991 future land use map.
And uh this is this this map shows what this area of of Grand Island was originally designated. Uh it was both urban uh and urban expansion. And at that time
there there was great much greater densities that were permitted to be developed on these properties. And the majority of the project was already owned by the family at that time. And certainly it was
the same. And sorry for reference here. It was even in a later version of that map before the rewrite of the comp plan in 2011, it had much greater densities
that were permitted today than what rural transition would. Up to three dwelling units an acre. I'm going to bring Bill Ray up here to speak to this too as our project planner. >> I um just start sorry to interrupt chair but um to be clear for everybody. I be very um detailed like point to the
colors and what these mean just so that we're all >> Sure. Let me go let me reverse back. Bill, you want to speak to this one first? >> Provide more highlight. >> Yes. Name is uh Bill Ray, project planner for the record. address 2712 Southeast 29th Street, Ocala, Florida.
Um, most of you, you all know me and my, you know, history working in Lake County. 200 and 19 that was originally done. Uh, when that made >> 1991, >> 1991, dyslexia is a fun thing.
>> Um, this area was envisioned to be developed at a higher density. Um, it was developed to assume with the the low density in here, we were assuming up to a uh 3 unit per acre density. And then
we also had the uh other areas that we were in that were looking into uh urban expansion which was up to uh five units per acre. And then it was a higher envision density for for this whole area
of the county. it was that Grand Island was going to become a community and it was planning forward. It was not trying to represent what was exactly out there today. And then moving forward, we have
the 19 uh 2007209 future land use map that came forward. This is the area we're looking at. What was what has become rural transition earlier was up to it was suburban which
was up to three dwelling units per acre with open space and design requirement. That comp plan that occurred prior to the 2011 comp plan. The 2011 comp plan took those property rights away from the land owners and dropped it into the new
creation of the rural transition feature land use which dropped it down to one one or the one three or the one to five. But the land owners in this case had already owned the property, had already bought the property and then the comp
plan of 2011 changed that. It was also inconsistent with some of the adjacent uses that are further to the west that we see of the existing rural transition that are currently mapped rural. But there is inconsistency within the in the
future land use mapping because those properties are already density are already developed at densities exceeding three units per acre but they have a future land use of rural one per five. So there are internal consist inconsistencies
in the future land use mapping. So when we come forward to correct those with the proper use of requesting the urban low to expand, it's not that we're trying to recap trying to generate new. It's recapture what the the development
rights were originally lost and originally envisioned for this area of the county. Do you have a exhibit that shows those densities to the west and around the property?
>> I thought I saw something like that. You got to flip it. >> Right. So the stuff to the west, the development to the west that's been there, >> the development to the west is Lake Yale Estates. It's got a density of approximately four units per acre.
Further to the west, we have the Palms, which has a density of approximately 6.34 units per acre. Then across the road on the other side, we have Cray Quail Ridge, which has a lower, more suburban density of 2.3 units per acre,
but that's on septic tanks as well. That was one of the driving things. The other two d developments that are actually adjacent to the rural transition are served by package plants. >> And what's the density of that one? >> Those are the two that are of a density of four units per acre and approximately
6.34 units per acre. So yeah, I mean this is helpful because when we look at a map and all we see are the colors and we see rural, that's designated on our on our future landings map as rural, but the re the actual development pattern is consistent with urban. It's four units
to the acre. It's urban low. Correct. >> Okay. And Sean, that was the Commissioner Parks, that was the U, you know, we're going back when this map was made and you were originally involved with it and there was those topics. You had raised
them before, but you were overridden on the on the board that was preparing the maps. The intent was to show and reflect those. Quite frankly, it didn't make a pretty map if you showed these underlying inconsistencies. No, it was a huge debate at the time because what
they were doing is they were basically like turning a blind eye to what was actually in existence. And so they didn't they didn't in incorporate that into the map that that was being adopted. >> That is correct. >> And so then it leaves you with you're
just looking at a future land use map, but you don't actually get to see what the real development pattern is. So it creates, you know, we've got a rural transition area that actually is a transition area between two urban lows. >> Correct. >> Which doesn't really make a lot of sense
that you would not >> and one of the point to raise that was going back to the original presentation, but it is one of much topic. The Whiters wanted to make sure from the conception of this project um that in regards to
open space in regards to future phases specifically included in the PUD is that an agriculture is an allowed use with all within all phases of the PUD. It is envisioned that an agricultural component be associated with the open space of which is 113 acres.
And so it it is not an intention to turn a blind eye to the past or the heritage of Lake County, but when we see moving forward, you'll see, you know, you know, neighborhood agriculture, you'll see community gardens, you'll see walkable,
you know, activity associated with these. It is not the intent to abandon that at all and specifically included in the PUB. >> Okay. Any other questions? Um, I I wanted to see if under your presentation
if Mr. Whitaker was willing to talk um to kind of the situation of what just happened over the weekend and and a little history about the family's use of the the property and how long they've been on the property. >> I'm I'm sure you know Cliff is willing
to address it and realize this is a second goound for this family when we realize the unprecedented climate change that has affected their livelihood. the the you know the freezes that first went through this in 83 85 89 and then they
are one of the remaining families that has struggled and continued to hang on tried innovative techniques and once again you're you're not winning an an element against mother >> well we had some information that was submitted it might have been by the chens but it talked about this not being
legacy property and I just from an agricultural standpoint and a family ownership standpoint and I felt like that needed to be addressed by the actual family because I think that was a very unfair statement to put out into the public.
>> Excuse me. Can we make a point? >> You're you've got cards. You got cards. I just wanted you you got you've got you've got cards. So, you get a chance and it's in the record. So, that my point was just that I thought it was if
if if Cliff is able to do it, Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Chen, that's in it's inappropriate. You you've got your your your time and your statements are already in the record and that that's what I wanted to address was the the family ownership, how long it's been the family, how the
families used the property, and then give us some context about where they are now and what they're up against. >> Good morning, commissioners. Um, I'm not a public speaker and I just want to take this opportunity to say that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He was
born of a virgin. He lived a perfect life. He was crucified by evil men for sins that I committed. And he arose three days later and now sits at the right hand of God uh to speak to my family. Um
this weekend has been u something that I hadn't felt in a long long time. I I started working with my family after I graduated University of Florida with an accounting degree and I thought I was going to handle the business but I graduated in 1985 which was the second and most devastating freeze of the 80s
along with 83 and also 89. We lost everything and I now am revisiting those feelings. Uh this past weekend has been devastating. I've lost my entire citrus crop. I've lost it my entire blueberry
crop and um this is my father behind me and he was always there with me from the very beginning. The the first 20 years of my actual career I spent planting orange trees and putting in irrigation systems.
Hard hard manual labor to replant what the prior two generations had uh accumulated and given me the opportunity to do. Believe me, I am blessed. Everything I am and everything that my family has is a blessing from God. And I
give him the glory in good times and bad. And my family's never given up. We are virtually one of the last men standing out there, the last family standing. Uh, this property would have been developed a long time ago if I had not taken the risk to go into the
blueberry business. The blueberry business allowed me to subsidize my citrus business and stay in farming as long as we have. If I was still just solely in the citrus business, we'd have broken this up and had to sell it for whatever we could have got for it to pay our bills. And now we're back at that
same juncture again, starting from scratch, starting with um uh a loss of capital that's really going to cause me to walk away from my citrus business entirely. The citrus business is experiencing um there's only 5% of
the growers left in the state. And this year, I don't know why, but the citrus prices have collapsed. Uh what we were getting $20 a box for last year, we're now getting $5 to 7 a box for. And that is5 to7 a box less than my growing cost.
U there will be niches in agriculture that will survive, but due to federal law and trade trade agreements, I cannot compete with third world countries. We have stuck around as long as we possibly can and been good stewards of the land
and never saw this coming. This is not something that I want to do. I want to stay in farming, but economically until the economics change, we cannot stay in farming. I'll answer any questions, >> Cliff. As far as this weekend and what
the freeze did, how did it affect your blueberries? >> My entire blueberry crop is is gone. Uh my my consultant is here in the the room and he can attest to that. The best consultant in the blueberry business. And uh God has put these people in my
life. The hills and the Atwoods, these are people that I did not have to seek out. God put them in my life and gave me the opportunity. And I am so thankful for that opportunity because it allowed us to farm another 10 years. But after this weekend, everything my life has
changed, my family's life has changed, my employees, and that's the thing that concerns me the most is my employees. Um they have been with me through thick and thin. I've been with them side by side for, you know, my whole career. Nobody's
ever left me because they know the kind of boss I am. And if you want to see me seven days a week, you know where to find me on my farm. This is not a hobby. This is not something that I take lightly. I put my whole heart and soul into this and my family for three generations and I'm the third, but I
can't get a fourth. None of my family wants to take the risk and go through what I go through. the family has gone through to farm another generation. And and I personally I don't want them to because my um
quality of life I I'm not complaining about. I love what I do. I absolutely love what I do. But I wouldn't want someone to else to do what I do that doesn't have the passion for it that I do and what my father had and
my grandfather May had before him. Uh, and we started with in Grand Almond with 5 acres on the corner of Apiary and 452 when Apiary was a dirt road and none of these people were out there and you know I didn't shut the door. I was welcome. I
wanted neighbors, you know, and uh so we started with five acres back in 1950. 1960 was the first piece of property and by the grace of God we were able to accumulate more property everything that we made and if we sold something off the farm we bought something adjacent to our
farm and that's been the case since I've been in the business. Um >> well I I appreciate you. I know it's not easy and it's a difficult time to talk about it. I just felt like it was something that was important to, you
know, to for everyone to hear, for us to hear, for the public to hear, to your Lake County neighbors to hear. >> He's been very blessed, Leslie. And and in good times and bad, I give God the glory. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions?
>> Any other questions? No. >> Thank you. Thanks. >> All right. um for the applicant. Any any other presentation before we move then to public comment? All right. Um let's see. Don Luciano and then Patty
Kendrick. Chair, as they're coming up, I'm going to step out for a minute. I can't hear you though, so I will be listening. I'll just be right back. I'm going to go to the restroom. >> Don't want you to think. >> My name is Don Luciano, 37119 Sandy
Lane, Grand Island. Uh I was here last month and just to follow up with more uh and listening to the planners, developers and whatnot, I just want to say that their TIA
is extremely not based in reality. There's talking from 2023 2024 plus a 2%. Just in the last year alone with bridges out and bridges out now there's another sinkhole and with all the development of
44 down in Leburg everybody's using 452 247 it's much harder to get out of our development now at Sandy Lane especially if you want to make a left. Um, seriously, you should ask for your money
back on that TIA because it's based on the methodology alone is flawed because it doesn't take into consideration current events. It's based in fantasy, not reality. And regardless of that, um,
another question I have is I not sure I got your names down, but I think it was Jonathan Halls or something to that effect stated that the on apiary they're going to be doing 3,800 ft and all, but he did not mention one word about how
they expect to make the width wider. Length is one thing, width is another. um on apiary right at 44. Our development at Wedgewood has a detention pond. How is it going to be affected? What happens if in the construction of
whatever they're doing there uh makes the detention pond a failure? Who's going to pay for that repair? Um, also with the so-called planning, I don't know if common sense everything seems to
be on what you propose and hope for, but you already said in phase two the light for 44 will go up at uh, apiary and 44. At that point on 44, the speed limit is 50. Yet, you're going to put roundabouts
on 452 where the speed limit's 55. Um, I'd like to know how somebody from this putt is able to cross 452 when there's only a roundabout there. Oh, I know the speed limit of roundabouts are 25, but that doesn't mean, you know, people even
know if there's a high fog day or 4 in an hour rain, you're not going to be able to see. Um mostly I want to know as well is when these whatever is developed on 452 traffic will be diverted down Sandy
Lane. Um our water is in PVC pipes under our streets. I'd also like to know if there's damage leak whatever who is going to pay for that due to the increased weight and volume of traffic
that our streets are not made for. All right. Thank you. Um, and Patty Kendrick and then Charles Bowen. Hi. I um I really appreciate you bringing up the family. I think that was a good input. Um, but I'm a little
confused about the timeline because, you know, I've only known about this case a couple months, but the developers I thought this had been a plan from the family from a long long time. Is that right? I thought I heard them
say that the Whitakers had envisioned this uh for a long long time. This was their leg legacy that they wanted to develop this in this way. But now I hear today that they've been farming it up until this weekend when
it's been freezing and now the now they're not going to be able to farm anymore. So I'm a little confused about that. But I I can relate because I was raised born and raised on a farm, a 500 acre farm, and my grandfather that was his life. And um and then when he died, of
course, he rolling over in the grave, but his kids didn't want the farm. So, uh, it was 500 acres and it was a working farm. So, we he they sold it to a developer and they developed they sold it in 5 to 10 acre lots and all the land
that um was farmed turned into trees. And I'm so happy. Everybody's happy because the kids got their money. The developer developed it. He got money. and everybody that lives there, the trees that used to be on the land that used to be farmed are they're up.
They're 50 years old now. So, it's brought back to, you know, it's a everything's really worked out well. So, um the other thing I wanted to say is we're here. I I thought the government was for the people and um you
know I've been to your last meetings, the town hall meetings and everything and I got a copy of the comp plan and all that and it seems overwhelming that people don't um when the one word that describes Lake County today is congestion
a wasteful over uncontrolled growth. the survey. The overall key themes they want natural beauty, preservation, better roads, more protect water quality. Um
I just feel like the developers don't really care. They're going to they can say that same speech in any county, any area in the whole everywhere. They're going to say the same thing that this is beautiful. They could sell a three-legged horse to me. you know, that's the way they talk. They they're
trying to sell the their, you know, product. And um I don't think it's a bad idea for that area. It's rural. It's on a lake. It's next to a marsh. I really think 1,500
more houses with everything that that entails, you know, that's my story. Miss Kendrick, >> do do you live near 452? >> I don't. I live in Fruitland Park. >> Oh, you do? >> But I drive through there.
>> How many years have you lived here? >> In Florida or in >> No, in in Frandland Park in Lake County going on four years. >> Okay. >> It'll be four years in May. >> Previous to that, I played I lived in Citrus County. >> Okay. Thank you,
>> Charles Bowen. And then Ryan Atwood. Good morning. How are we all doing today? I have heard all about kind of the developments and doing this and doing that and putting up this and putting up that. I live on 452 about 150
ft from the road for 14 and a half years. And it's a Daytona Speedway between 5:00 a.m. and 7:30 and the opposite in the afternoon. uh putting it to four lanes isn't going to do a heck of a lot of good is they're
going to do 70 m an hour once they go by park palm shores and they're going to go but everything in the development I have heard nobody has discussed the most important thing what's down there it's called water
this development will use almost a million gallons of water a day Florida uses 7 billion gallons of water a Today, 300,000 people move into Florida every year.
They don't care the water. I mean, the roads aren't going to make a heck of a lot of difference because you're not going to have any water. One of the springs, Blue Springs or Silver Springs used to have an output of 500 million gallons of water a day. It's down to 200 million or
60% drop. A 2018 study revealed a 32% drop in the spring flow between 1950 and 2010. It isn't going to make any difference if you put a road up because you're not
going to have any water underneath the ground because the aquifer is going down and the divers can now go into the caves and take off their masks because there's no water there. I think people should be more concerned about what's down here than traffic circles.
That's all I got to say. Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Atwood and then Scott Randall. >> Good morning. I'm Ryan Atwood, 1701 Road, Mount Dora, Florida. Just want to start by thanking you all for your
service to our county. Uh, I think you all know me. I'm a local blueberry and strawberry grower. Um, here to speak in favor of this project. You know, as a farmer, it's a tough lifestyle as you heard from close testimony. Obviously had a tough weekend this weekend. And
maybe Michael will talk a little bit about that from our standpoint. But, um, you know, as someone who lives in the community, I I just want to see us do the best job we can in developing our community and having nice projects. And I think this project they've put
together is well thought out and and they've put a lot of time and resources into it. You know, I think sometimes we get in this we're in the urban rural interface and nobody wants growth, right? But we're becoming a a community for Orlando. That's just where we're at
and we're going to have to deal with that because change is like the only constant that we have. And you know, I I lock a lot on social media about these folks in our community that just, you know, not in our backyard. They want, you know, us to farm until we're dead.
And after we're dead, they want us to continue to farm, you know, but that's just not reality. And our assets are our land. That's our business. So, it'd be like me telling you, you can't sell your law practice or you can't sell your other type of business. At some point, you got to be able to retire. You got to
be able to move on with your life. Cliff's 64 years old. This is his family's retirement and they don't have someone to to continue with the legacy. So to them, people ask me, "What can you do for us after this freeze?" I would say you could vote for this project. That'll help at least one farmer in our
community out. Um and the rest of us will continue on and do the best that we can. But that's what I wanted to say. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um Mr. Randall and then Mr. Williamson. name is Scott Randall. Uh, fourth
generation farmer, beekeeper to be specific, here in Lake County. My family's been tied to all these farms most of their lives for four generations. And this is a bad year. We have bad years in farming. It happens. You know, citrus shouldn't be planted
this far up. We've seen the the freezes in the 80s, the 90s, 1880s. They freeze out all the time. So using that as an excuse for this is kind of, you know, bad deer. If we didn't have the freezes or we'd still be pushing the same issue,
you know, but uh the main thing, what are we going to do about the land right next to this property that's proposed? Are we going to annex, you know, allow them to change the urban low too? He shows 30 plus, you know, homeowners or
land owners. What he's not showing you is three of those are all owned by the same person. So now your 30 is now less than that. How many of these properties are after this is done are going to be wanting to do the same thing. Are we going to let them do the same thing? Are
we going to let them change from rural transition to urban low because they've changed to urban low? They've already dropped the houses on the plans down some. Why can't we just follow what is designed for? You can design around the
transition zone. You can drop the the houses down. If you want to sell and get out of farming, you can get out of farming. That's fine. That's, you know, I'm sorry that you had a freeze. And >> please, please address the council and not the audience. >> He can speak.
>> I'm addressing everyone. >> He could speak rhetorically. It's fine. People do it all the time. >> If you want out of farming, you can get out of farming. I'll farm until I'm dead. And you know what? If no one wants to take it over after I'm done, that's fine. But I'm a I'm a farmer. I've been farming. My family's been farming four
generations here and four generations in Indiana where we still have five 600 acres. You know, it's it's farming. It's hard. But that's no excuse to get out and then ask try to pack as many houses as possible on your land. If you want out, sell it. Put the houses that are
allowed. It's zoned for a certain reason. You know, when you bought agriculture land, it was agriculture or rural transition. You you know what you have. You know, I wouldn't be trying to turn a a farm into a city. That's just how it is, you know. And if you want
out, it's fine. Get out, you know. But that's pretty much all I got to say. And the developments you guys are showing, four houses per acre, that whole spiel, those are mobile home parks. All of them. You guys are pointing out mobile home parks that you guys approved back in the day. That was a big discussion
topic. You know, four per acre, this and that. Most of those are mobile home parks and you guys approved them back in the day. So trying to justify those that you had a big discussion with back in the day for this development is totally different, is it not? It was big controversy then. It's still a
controversy. It's still the same problem, you know, but that's about all I got to say. Appreciate it. >> All right, Mr. uh Williamson and then Justin Ser. >> Good morning again, commissioners. My
name is David Williamson and I am a candidate for Lake County Commissioner District 4 this year, 2026. Just one month ago, we were here discussing this very same agenda item. At that meeting, 15 to 20 citizens came out to speak in opposition to this development with only a couple speaking
in favor of it. When no clear decision could be made, the applicant, not a commissioner, requested that this item be tabled after realizing a two- two vote was going to leave them at a loss. During that meeting, our very own chairwoman referred to the citizens who
spoke in opposition as possibly engaging or acting as mob rule. I want to clear something up about that. The definition of mob rule is control of political situation by those outside the lawful practice, often involving violence or
intimidation. None of that occurred here. Not one speaker acted violently or attempted intimidation. Let me offer a more accurate definition of what we saw that day. Concerned citizens. people who take an active interest in their community, who show up, who speak
respectfully, who advocate for what they believe is right, and who care about the public welfare beyond their own private lives. That is not mob rule. That is a civic engagement by the concerned citizens of this county. While we're on definitions, how about one more?
Authoritarianism or tyranny, the exercise of power without constraint, often violating human rights or freedoms. When I delivered my three-minut speech last month, a crowd or the citizens present clapped, applauded because they heard from a
concerned citizen that had beliefs and views as their own, only to be told you by you, Miss Chair, that there was no clapping in these meetings. But yet, two weeks later, there was an abundance of clapping for employee of the quarter and just weeks before that clapping for the
for the end of the year celebration at the last meeting of the year. Is it simply because your campaign opponent outplayed you and you were envy over the celebration? I'll leave that for you to think about. So, here we are again, one month later, voicing the same concerns.
Concerns that continue to go unheard. Unfortunately, in this county, if you are not a large developer, a major campaign donor, or someone with political pool, your phone calls go unanswered, your emails are ignored, and your voice is minimized. Time and time
again, this board has clearly stated its position and opposition of reszoning across Lake County. My question is simple. What makes this property any different? Friendship, campaign donation, deals behind closed doors, upstairs right here in this very
building. Why is this one being pushed so hard? The citizens deserve an answer and more importantly, they deserve to be heard. And with my little bit of time left to kind of piggyback off what Scott Randall said, you know, if this development was going for, I believe it's already zoned for 1,200 homes, we
wouldn't even be here today. Nobody' have an opposition. You wouldn't be able to because it's already zoned for that. They've already dropped 150 from the last meeting. Why not drop it down to the 1200, 1200 and then nobody can argue.
>> All right, Mr. S and then Joe Famazi. Good morning, commissioner. Good morning, everybody. My name is Justin S and I come before you today to express my support for this zoning change.
Before I get into the details of why I support this change, I'd like to provide you with a little background of myself. I've lived in Grand Island area for most of my life. My parents lived just past Wedgewood and have since 1995. My last house was off apiary and we
moved to our new home in July of last year. Our new home sits directly next to one of the proposed phases. To say we weren't bummed when the zoning posters went up would be an understatement. I grew up playing in those exact orange groves, riding four-wheelers down the
dirt road, and playing in the clay pits. To me, this is home. For many, it's hard to understand that growth is inevitable, especially when you have four major metropolitan areas within a two-hour drive and two oceans. I understand that traffic is one of the
biggest concerns for all of the residents in Lake County, and I would agree with them. We need to make adjustments to our current traffic and road situations. We also need adjustments to the roadways before construction projects are started. This project is offering that not only for
County Road 452 and Fish Camp, but for County Road 44 in Aperry as well. If you live off either of these roads, then you already know that traffic is an issue and has been for years. Now, we have to ask oursel about the growth and what best suits the
community, how it's currently zoned or how they want to have it reszoned. As residents, it's a very hard question to ask yourself. How do I ensure that the change is beneficial to the area and how many more units will it be adding? The way it's currently zoned, they can put
roughly 1,200 homes, which will require very little from the traffic control standpoint. No real added value to the area, just rooftops. This project brings something new and creative to our area with a small
downtown-like feel, green spaces to enjoy the beautiful sunrises and the wildlife. Or you can have the alternative, which is a thousand houses by who knows how many different builders. For the 20-ish actual residents who live in the zoning change area, we must do what's right for
our property. Below, I've got a series of questions I'd like everyone to just think about. Is there a current traffic issue? And is it this project's fault? Does a project offer any relief to a pre-existing issue like traffic?
Does a zoning change add value to the area? And what type of future would you like to see for that area? Is it rooftops and walls you never enter or a waterfront area that you have yet to visit? If you owned this land and it was no
longer profitable, what would you do? In closing, I leave you with this. If you've spent the last 50 years working, wouldn't you like to retire? This project is more than just rooftops and money. It's about leaving behind something for the people to still enjoy
and honor the very people who have blessed all of us with these beautiful views for all this time. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Famasi. Joe Famasi 26 93 jumping jackway. I'm here to uh address the developer
agreement on this deal. Uh this project uh the fiscal impacts listed on today's agenda raise major red flags for all of Lake County taxpayers. We're looking at a 3,70,648 credit being issued against the North Central Transportation Benefit District.
As someone who's closely monitored and how these credits are utilized, I have three specific concerns for the board. Why was the developer agreement involving over $3 million in impact fee credits offsets added as an addendum rather than being part of the regular
agenda for full public scrutiny? This agreement allows developers to spend roughly 1.6 6 million while receiving nearly double that 3 million back in credits. We must ensure that the credits are just a way for the Dell developer to bypass cash payments to the
county defining needed wide infrastructure demands. Cons we are seeing a pattern where large-scale projects like this are essentially paying themselves back for infrastructure that should be a cost of
doing business. We urge the board to provide more transparency on how this developer expenditure numbers are verified before we hand out millions of credits. We cannot afford the subsidized private developers at the expense of existing residents or tax base. Thank
you. Also, my thoughts and prayers to the farmers that and things they're going through right now. >> And I just want to address your question about impact fee credits just real quick. Um, and staff can help me if I get it wrong, but because they are required under proportionate share under Florida law to do off-site improvements
because of the level of service, they're allowed to use the impact fees that they would pay. They get a credit back for it for paying for the off-site improvements. Is that how it works? So, we're not handing them out money. It's just that that impact fee money has to go they're allowed to use that towards
their off-site improvements. Correct. And that's like we're we're not allowed to change that that we're bound by Florida law on that issue. >> Well, I understand that, but also I know that Commissioner Parks wrote new rules down there for those particular things where they also include uh soft cost,
which is normally not in uh put into those kind of agreements, right? >> I don't think we have any I mean, I don't think any there's any kind of issue with soft cost on what we're talking about today. And the fact that it was an addendum was just because they had offered to make changes. They added additional infrastructure improvements
and that agreement was put on as addendum the way I understand it because >> actually it was on the agenda when it originally um came last month. The developers agreement was part of the agenda when it got carried forward and when it was tabled and carried forward to the month. It was inadvertently left
off at first publishing. >> However, it was part of the original agenda last month. >> Yeah. So >> nothing changed. Nothing changed other than they made additional concessions that went into they gave more than that original development agreement.
>> Yeah. >> Okay. >> And what's and what's typically what we're what we've been looking at especially over the last couple years is above and be above and beyond what they're getting credit for >> the impact fees. >> One of the ones on Lakeshore Drive for instance, it was it was above actually
what was required from an impact fee standpoint. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Um CJ plan set and then Ricky Harbor. >> No, CJ Blancet, unincorporated Leburg. and I
quote in part, "There are a lot of grassroots anti-growth campaigns on Facebook pages. They rarely give practical legal ways to effectively control growth, and the methods being pushed on these pages won't hold up in court." That was Leslie Campion. I now
state I am the state director for the constitution party and the chairman of the Lake County chapter and our diligence is rooted in the constitution ensuring that our representatives are morally grounded and constitutionally
sound. For the record, the rural area and agricultural area is a traditional community as well, and those that choose to live there do not wish to have that disturbed for thousands of outsiders and revenue for developers. This morning, we've heard every
explanation as to why the people in rural agricultural areas have no recourse to defending their way of life as redesigned in the 135 acres. And we should believe that this development should be grandfathered in even though the area was changed to what it is
today. For the record, I do live two miles from this development. Please note, this family collectively holds 69 plus properties that I'm sure they will all be designated as their legacies. The
truth is they are trading farming for real estate and that is their prerogative. We are asking that they make money while allowing us to maintain our simple way of life. None of that matters though when the law has been broken. Florida Sunshine Law exists for
one reason. Article 1, section 24 of the Florida Constitution guarantees the public's right to access government decisionmaking. That constitutional mandate is implemented through Florida Statute 286.011, 011, which requires
that all meetings of any board or commission at which official acts are to be taken or public business is discussed must be open to the public, properly noticed, and conducted in the sunshine. The Florida Supreme Court has made this
unmistakably clear. In City of Miami Beach versus Burns, the court held that the Sunshine Law must be liberally construed in favor of openness and applies to any discussions that could foreseeably come before a public body for action. And in town of Palm Beach
versus Gratison, the court ruled that even indirect or informal discussions outside the public eye violate the Sunshine Law when they influence decision-making. When the Sunshine Law is violated, the damage is immediate. citizens are denied their constitutional
right to observe the deliberative process, equal access is destroyed and public trust is compromised. This is precisely why violations of the sunshine law are grounds for recusal. Any commissioner who engages in private meetings or accepts funds from donors or developers tied to a direct project is
has the created the appearance of a coordinated outcome outside of a properly noticed public meeting. Florida courts recognize that appearance of fairness is just as important as fairness itself. And in Zor versus City of Vero Beach, the court made clear that public officials must avoid the
appearance of bias or improprieties in quasi judicial decisionmakings. >> Miss Miss Planset, >> the law is clear. >> Miss Planet, >> the law has been broken in God for freedom. And I I am going to ask at this point if the county attorney could weigh in on
the issue of because it was raised at the last meeting and it seems to be an attempt to be made again here. Um with regard to Sunshine Law, could you explain um where that ties into an allegation that a campaign donation
is a is a violation of um our our right to participate in in a hearing. And second, what the sunshine law, separate issue, how it applies to a meeting like this. >> Right? So the sunshine law is the idea
that the same members of an elected body cannot speak to each other without there being minutes um being held in an area that's publicly accessible um or being properly advertised. So what that means is that Commissioner Campio and Commissioner Smith could not talk about something coming before this board
without meeting those three requirements. The sunshine law does not prohibit any member of this board from meeting with residents or opposition about issues that may come to this board. Um there's also the concept of um exparte communications which is allowed under state law which does allow members
of this board to meet individually with applicants or opposition on quasi judicial cases. As far as the campaign contributions, there is some very clear case law out there that says a campaign contribution does not disqualify an elected official from performing their
duties, such as sitting on this board and making decisions on quasi judicial matters. >> All right. Thank you. Um, an allegation of someone alleging that someone breaks the law is a serious allegation and I just wanted it to be on
the record very clear that those types of allegations are um trying to think of the right word here because I certainly don't want to escalate the situation. And I just want it to be clear that none of us take that
lightly and we take our jobs very seriously and um and I think it was at the last meeting that Miss Blancet was very loud and as she walked out of the room she was making hand motions. So the
idea that decorum was kept at the last meeting it wasn't but at least by Miss Blancet. Um, okay. Next speaker, Cindy Newton. And one more thing, when it comes to clapping, we always clap for our
employees when they're receiving recognition. We clap for school children that come in to win poster contests. What we don't do is we don't clap at public zoning hearings because it is an issue of decorum and we have rules that
we follow and we we try to be very consistent. It doesn't matter what the zoning cases, what the issue is in zoning cases, we we just don't allow clapping because we don't want it to create a circus-like environment. So that's that's why we do it that way.
After Miss Newton is Cornelius Caldwell. >> Good morning again. Cindy Newton, District 4. I'm asking an unanswered question from the last meeting of what the developer's plan will be if the city of Eustus lacks either the capacity provide water,
sewer, and wastewater services or if serving this development would reduce the level of service for the existing users. These properties can be developed in accordance with the existing land use and zoning. It doesn't mean they have to
stay in farming. I was in farming myself in two different states and when it was unavailable for us to continue on the property, we leased it out and after several years of that, they ended up
buying the property and continuing. But these, excuse me, the properties are only partially within Eustace' joint planning area and the remaining
lie outside any JPA or ISBA. In the 1980s, when Eustace' JPA was being negotiated for adoption in 1987, this area was designated to remain rural
by both parties. You can see it on this map. It was designated R1, which is one dwelling unit per acre. And directly under that was one to five either one dwelling acre, one dwelling
unit per acre up to five dwelling units per acre. And then on the 2010 which was the map negotiated between the city of Eustace and Lake County uh for the new comp plan. This was designated
as 2.5 dwelling units per acre between the county and city. Uh what was negotiated later and put into the future land use for Lake County
did not include the Eustace uh designation. Areas like this that are outside any JPA or ISBA are rare. Most of our ISBAs meet
and having this rural land gives the cities a better chance of saying no to annexations and saying no to service for those areas. And finally, the next agenda item
today proposes reszoning property to add it to an existing PUD. I don't see any provision within this Lake Yale PUD that would prevent the same approach from being applied to adjacent properties recently purchased either by these land
owners or by the supporters of the PUD. I also see no clear safeguard preventing this PUD from serving as a precedent for changing future land use and zoning on adjacent properties within the rural transition
area that would erode this rural area even further. So, thank you for your time. Um, Cornelius Caldwell and then Brian
uh, Wisepaw. Miss Newton, could you leave those with >> Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Cobwell. >> Good morning, commissioners. Um, I come today to speak for the Whitaker family
and al also for all the citrus growers, farmers, blueberry farmers in uh, Florida in our Lake County area. Um, apparently some of you people here on the commission have never met me. Um, I
am a sixth generation native black uh, indigenous citrus grower in Florida or in Lake County. I own property um in three different counties. I actually grow citrus is what my main uh income is for my family and
generational family. So I can speak highly today because my roots are very rooted in Florida and I can speak highly because I'm a native. This family is um like um
some people don't know this family but he was right about what he's saying and farming is u difficult to grow. It's not it's not a good industry and it's not a good practice to do in Florida. We are today pushed to almost to where we have
to develop our property. There is no other way out because the markets are against us, labor against us, we have opposition from people here against us, neighbors here against us. This is something that's a farmer, a grower has
it's a diffic it's a difficult situation for us that we never asked for. And I can highly speak for this family and for this development because there is no other way out of this burden and this nightmare because I'm living it myself.
I actually own 700 acres of of of land property. Not all uh if it's in agriculture, but I do have 500 acres of citrus here in Lake County. and I can speak highly and the last few nights um
has been something that a lot of people don't understand um has made a lot of decisions obviously not for the Whitaker family for all the other citrus growers in Lake County but also for my family I have to make decisions that are best for
us because at the end of the day I don't see anyone coming out trying to help us you volunteer to come out and help us during freezes, hurricanes. I always hear a lot of opposition about but nobody wants to be in our shoes and I don't think it's
fair that someone can tell this family or me what I could do actually when I get ready to retire what I should do with my property and I should have all the blood, sweat and tears and the agony that this family
and also that I have I think is fair that you know we have the option to develop our property propert and do what we um choose with our property because we've earned that. We've done it. We've done it for generations, blood, sweat,
tears. And I think it's not fair that someone could tell us what we can do and can't we can't do with our property. But I think though that the commission can hear me telling you that this family and this development would be something that
would be good for the community. Um because this family has done their due diligence. They've done everything. They've showed this county. They've showed the the you know country. They've done their due diligence to do what they could do and they are out of options and
every all the options are against us. So, I just highly speak today for myself and also for this project and for this family that you approve this project because it's something that's really good for the community, good for the ex
employees that are there and it's also something good that I'm going to have to face sometime in the future myself also. Thank you, >> Brian. Um, wise >> Wisenbot. Good morning.
>> 123 Oak Street. Um I just want to talk a little bit. Been coming to Florida for about 35 years on and off. Um used to go to the Claremont area. Claremont's not what it was 35 years ago. Now I live uh
right on Lake Yale in a manufactured community. Um it's nice and quiet on Lake Yale. It's a beautiful area. Um, I just hate 452 is already horrible for traffic. Drive down there any
afternoon around 3:00 to 5:00 near 44 and the traffic's horrible. Um, I know there's going to have to be improvements and if on a Saturday or Sunday, if you get time, stop by some of the subdivisions or the parks and see what
their thoughts are about uh selling and building 2,000 properties nearby. I think you'll get a different answer than the 30 or so that say that they're for the the area being built and developed.
I just believe it's going to ruin the area. People that live there now, I'm going to say there's less than 2,000 residents on that lake and it's just going to overpop populate the lake. That's all I have to say. Any questions?
Thank you, >> Diane Whitaker. And then Katherine Wright. Good morning. I I would like to Well, I don't know. Do I need to give my address first? and we have it on the card.
>> I'm Diane Whitaker and I am speaking on behalf of my husband John who's a second generation farmer and business owner for over 65 years in Lake County.
I am an artist with a master's degree in art therapy and I guess I look at things through a different lens. What I see here is a win winin for Lake County. This is a project that would
manage the growth, not cookie cutter houses. This would be high inventory and tax dollars for Lake County. Our federal government has promised the American people cheap food prices. Well,
we want that, too. Unfortunately, we can no longer compete. The diseases, the greening, and now freezes. Our Valencia are completely frozen as
you've heard, and the blueberries are completely frozen. We have to sell our farm. and we have tried diligently to make this project appealing to our neighbors.
The lakefront has many century old oak trees and groves of bamboo that have been preserved. Also, the beautiful Whitaker family southern home, which we all love, will
be included in the sale of this property. The Whitaker family has already spent millions of dollars on the infrastructure and would like to see some of that investment returned. And why is this
important? We want and need to provide pensions and housing for longtime employees. Okay. The issue of traffic problems
we all know and they are being addressed. But another idea is that traffic could be alleviated by having all 18wheelers travel on the interstates as they do now
but not deliver in municipalities during daylight hours. This is being done in other countries and is working. In conclusion, we ask that you all would support this
wellplanned community. It would be a premier community that Lake County could be proud of benefiting citizens for many years to come. And I pray I pray that you will hear our voice. Thank you.
Katherine Wright and then Alan Chen. Um, Katherine Wright, 40216 Gator Lake Road, Lady Lake, Florida. The rural greetings. Um, this is regarding tab one and two.
um Lake Yale. This is I just think it could be a better build. Uh on January 6, Jonathan Hu re um the rep for the Whitaker family say that this land was owned for generations. This is true for some of the parcels,
but many were bought throughout decades from the 80s to 221 to 2021. I do apologize as shown here. I have it upside down. I do apologize. So we have some that are 1983 and then
we have some at 2021. So the 2021 or phase one as we know Mr. Hall also stated that Mr. Whitaker and some of their family members have been working on this most of this decade. So it sounds like something that they've
been wanting to do for quite a while. Um the Whitaker family, you know, I feel for their their loss. It is really hard farm. This is off this paperwork. though it is what it is. My heart does go out to them, but this build is not really
great for this area for multiple reasons that you're hearing today. They have businesses all over Newila, Leburg, Taris, and of course, Grand Island. It is not a crime, of course, that own that many type of parcels, but this transition
could be just a little bit better. Does this force, and this is important, does this force the other local residents to hook up to the sewer and such? And it sounds like it will, this is the wonderful part of this though. Really, not really. How will they get the money
to do that? Who's going to pay for it? This is tens and thousands of dollars. What about the multi-generational families with businesses like the honey farmer? I didn't know he was going to be here today, but there you go. The building is okay, but you do not have to
say yes from rural transition to urban low density. And the properties bought in in 2024, those will probably be added into this development in a long run. Why not? You know, why not? It will make sense to
add them later. This legacy will do more harm than good at this time. I do believe. I know it's not my legacy and what would I do, but it is not the right fit yet. the taxpayers will suffer. The trickle effect will be horrendous. And as you said from the last farmer that
spoke, multi-generation man, I feel for him, too. But this county is going to grow like you are not going to believe if you approve this. Um, it's got to go back on the taxpayers and I hope people could afford hooking up to the sewer.
Thank you so much, >> Alan Chen. and then Louise Chen. >> Good morning, Alan Chen, 8010 Treasure Island Road. Um so when when you go through the
traffic study is 282 pages of gibberish. Uh but I wanted to point out that the growth is tabulated uh in appendix E which contains two sections related to growth. There's historical 2019 to 2024 and future from 23 to 2028 with
estimated growth rates. If we take a look at the historical data, u there's 174 project related road segments showing year-by-year growth rate changes in the average annual daily
traffic. So I summed all of these up. There's a little bit of duplication because of course traffic goes from say one segment to another. But if you sum it all up and take a look at the growth, it's actually showing a negative.8% per year decrease.
However, the population in this section from 2019 to 2024 is showing a very constant 4% per year growth rate. So, if I take a look at a plot of them, you can see that the traffic is actually decreasing year-over-year, but the
population is increasing. This negative correlation to population does not make any sense at all. The traffic study is flawed. And I know the the um developer said that yeah we're following everything according to these numbers is still
flawed. Now the future section 23 to 28 is 348 row segments listed with growth rates and this map I showed at the last meeting. Um in particular this section of CR44
I'm I transferred or converted from housing to trips. We're looking at about 19,000 trips and I use the developers 8,600 dwelling units for 15,000 non senior trips as the conversion factor.
So if I take a look specifically at that section from US 441 to CR473 is telling me I have 11 a half thousand trips per day as average, but I'm going to add 19,000 to it which is an increase
of 180%. That means the annual growth rate is 22% per year, not the the one or 2% that's actually shown here on the study. So again, and I know the the developer said, "Yeah, we're going to use a
conservative number of two. That's not 22." Again, a flawed study which is reckless and underestimates the impacts to rows and residents. So for any simulation whether it's traffic or hydraology garbage in equals garbage out
is the reason why this is garbage no traffic growth in 5 years it shows negative correlation to population growth and it uses 2028 growth rates that are very unrealistic and those five small traffic improvements are essentially meaningless. You need a
valid traffic study and it should be demanded before making any intelligent decision of this magnitude. So, Lake County taxpayers, the ones who ultimately pay the price for any questionable decisions being made here, please deny these requests. Thank you,
>> Louise Chen. And then Paul Coulterman. >> Good morning. My name is Louise Chen. I live at 810 Treasure Island Road, Leburg, Florida. And it's the most wonderful place in the world. I love where we live. I love Emerald so much
and that's why I fight so fiercely for this area. the lake um the PUD u PZ 2023- 2025 and the other one represents only stage one or this might be that's what
I'm fearful of is only the stage one of the development of the rural transition at fu future land use and urban low at future land use situated between Lake and county road 452 excuse me have dry mouth syndrome anyway I'm afraid that
we're going to have stage two because let's pull up this next slide because the Whiters in 2024 bought 48 acres that adjoins directly to this development proposed development,
excuse me. Um that was on June 20th, 2024. Um, so will this become will this new 48 acres become the new stage two in a future point when the Whiters are representatives in initiate the process
to incorporate the four acres of 40 acres they acquired on June 20th 2024 for $1.25 million located within the rural transition future land use.
Is there a possibility for stage three when the okay when the um it's the Allison family that owns this company I'm not even going to pronounce this SE v O RG they own a number of acreage all over all
over everywhere when they decide to develop their land holdings of over 100 acres adjacent to the Lake Yale project that and this is also and their property also lies within the rural transition area at Florida and with the rural
future land use. So the future the rural transition future land use and the rural future of land use needs to be safeguarded from development creep by rejecting
this um PZ2023-235. I'm not saying anything about the other one. I'm not opposed to them developing within the urban low FU. And I also wanted to make one more comment if I have Oh, here
sorry is that the the um they have the narrative that the most of the land is in the um urban area. It's 247 acres versus 208. That's a difference of 39 acres. If they add this 48 acres then
that will actually tip the favor that will tip it. So there will be eight acres more almost nine acres more in the rural transition. So and as a last note I wanted to say I know what legacy farming is. My grandfather was on the
farm that we my sister and I still own 200 acres of it. 1928 two years we will have been there for a hundred years. That's the legacy farming. We rent it out to a farmer who collects hay for it, pays the taxes, and that's about
onethird of it, the rest of Zelden trees. So, thank you Paul Cultureman and then Steve Shalluda. >> Good morning. My name is Paul. My name is Paul
Coulterman. I live at 12300 Pitch Drive, Grand Island, Florida, which is a farm on the south side of 452 on the next to Wedgewood. I got hay, cattle. I wish you're all there helping
me break ice yesterday morning and the morning before on them stock tanks so the cows could get a drink and breaking the ice on the buckets for my wife's goats. But I put up hay and I rent ground up uh on Lake Yale for hay. Uh
I'd like to say the Whiters are a very honorable family. I've had uh met them when I first moved here. Third generation farmers. If you didn't recognize that they're Christian, I think you missed something.
Uh they put a plan together as an exit strategy, as many farmers do. If you look in the Midwest today, farmers are going broke left and right and they're having a lot of farm sales of their equipment. They put a plan in place in
phases. Uh I I heard today uh 2037 I believe is supposed to be the end of the phase if this is uh approved. That's 12 years. And I think the roads will be safer.
Uh if you don't think I haven't seen people die in my hayfield on 452 as you come around the curve there by Chuck Allison's ground, you're crazy. Uh what they're doing is putting stuff in place that will actually make Lake County Road
452 safer and uh it'll create jobs. It'll help with taxes and it's done over time. I think we need to be levelheaded about growth and have a plan in place.
And I would like to thank the Whitaker family for putting a PL plan in place that makes sense and was well thought out and not just haphazardly as a lot of things have been done in the
past before there was good zoning and and the laws and such. That's all I have to say. Thank you, >> Steve Shaluta. And then Michael Hill. >> Yes. Uh my name is Steve Shaluta and uh
I live right beside where this development will be going in and my main concern is traffic. Uh in particular they put very little emphasis on Goose Prairie Road which is one of the most dangerous places to pull out much more
dangerous than apiary or or fish camp. I do have concerns that there's really no plan for that road at all, which is right on the edge of the development. So, uh, I would like to state my concerns for that, and any, uh, effects
it may have on Emeralda or Saulrass, which are my favorite places to go to, you know, any environmental potential that could, uh, future environmental problems that could be had. I I'm very concerned about that. But, uh, for the
most part, I am concerned about the the traffic issues, uh, because I live there and I travel all those roads every day and, um, I know how bad it can be. So, uh, I just wanted to put my two cents in. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Um, Michael Hill, and I've got to check to see, do we have anybody online? Okay. All right. >> Is there people online? >> Uh, we do have. How many do you have? >> One. Okay, >> morning. Uh, name is Michael Hill. Live
here in Lake County, Eustace area. Sorry, I've got a cough. Um, I always like to just talk about I I like to give education. I don't like to talk about politics too much or this, that, and the other. I mean, if you were to ask my opinion, I think smart growth is
important because you you it's somewhere in the you have to find a middle ground. There's you can't just say no. You can't say yes to everything. I think you have to find a middle ground. I think they've done that with this project. But really talk here to talk about farming and agriculture. That's what I do at 100% of
my income comes from farming. I'm a far fourth generation farmer here in Florida. Um I'm in the blueberry business now. Uh we have a packing house on Jones Avenue. um H&A Farms where we pack a large percentage of the the
state's crop and it's my job to make sure it's sold for the highest price. I travel all over the world to see what our competition is, to know what we're up against, and I try to be open and honest with everybody I work with. You know, projects like this actually hurt
me more than anybody, believe it or not, because it's less blueberries that I have to pack. But the truth is is that I tell our growers, you know, I don't know how long this will last because of other competition we have from other
countries. Our our costs continue to climb. Um our labor rates are 10x 15x our competition. And when that's 35% of your cost of goods sold, any business plan, any any any investor would tell
you we're that doesn't make sense. Um, and Cliff is a phenomenal grower, okay? He's put as much time into this project and doing things right as he does his farm. Um, this past weekend was yesterday or Sunday was probably the
worst day of my life if I'm being honest. Um, and that's I I've I've watched five grown men cry. I'm talking cowboy type men that callous hands, callous hearts because when you put this much work into something and it's all
gone overnight, it's it's unlike any other feeling. The problem is the plants are so broke up, you got to replant. Takes three to five years to replant. Last they don't have anybody left in their family to replant. They'd be 70 years old, the the youngest one in the
family to to just start to see something. and then you're going to go up against Mexico. Who who knows what that's going to look like? That this is just the reality. I'm just trying to explain to you guys where we're at as as a state when it comes to farming. And and it's not just Florida.
Florida and California are dealing with this because we produce winter crops. Okay? Other other parts of the country produce crops that are the summertime. I'm talking about fruits and vegetables. Well, the winter time is when we compete with Mexico. the summertime that we
compete with ourselves. So, it's a level playing field when it comes to your cost of goods sold. The winter time is when we have to compete with Central America because we're on the same latitude. So, anyways, I just wanted to try I always try to explain everybody the real
challenges that we have. I'm the last of the breed. I don't know anybody younger than me doing this and you know, that's where we're at right now. Appreciate it. Uh, we've got somebody online and then Linda O'Donnell. We'll do online.
>> Yes. Barbara Morris, you should be able to unmute your line. Please state your name and then give your comments to the board. >> Barbara Morris, District 4. Uh, let me state that I live nowhere near this and I have not researched this projects the
way that I normally would for projects that I speak on. But I'm speaking today to try to get through to all five of you. The public is trying to tell you we have a problem in our county. The growth
is out of control. Taxpayers are subsidizing these developments. And it's not, as I've listened to all these people, they're not saying that this farmer shouldn't be able to go in there and build his 1,200 homes. Not at all.
But they shouldn't be able to go in there and increase that density by what a third. Your constituents keep telling you, they beg you for moratorum and rightfully so. You tell them we can't put a moratorum
because it's legally we can't. And it's deflected to the cities and to the state and to every excuse in the world as to why you cannot help slow down this growth. But here we are. You can help
slow down this growth. You can help today. And you can help on every one of these projects that come in front of you by not allowing the density be increased. the what's the purpose of a comp plan when all a developer has to do
is come in front of you and change it and when you address the quai judicial situation. I watched the previous one where a citizen asked why no one would call her back and commissioner
explained that she had not called her back because it was a quai judicial. Well, what you guys are doing is you're meeting with these developers in quai judicial situations. You've already made up your mind before you even get behind that desk.
So, it puts the citizens in a situation where not only are they fighting the overdevelopment, they're fighting you. And I hope I really do that you start listening to the citizens.
Thank you. Linda O'Donnell. Good morning, commissioners. My name is Linda O'Donnell, and for those of you that uh didn't get my introduction the last two or three meetings, I'm going to go through that real quick. My name I am
a retired professional that used to develop plan unit developments like this, consult for them, manage them. my management company, we managed over 23,000 homes. Um, in addition that when I got Michael, he's absolutely right on the um his cost
to sales being the ratios that they are uh throughout my career, I've owned three banks and I never would have underwritten a loan to him uh or a mortgage for that matter. Um anyhow, in the property management uh business,
we when we build communities, not build but design communities like the one the Whitaker family has um outlined, they have checked every box. They have done a first class job. I looked at
those plans and usually I can find something that somebody missed. Not in this one. It's perfect, flawless. I've known the Whitaker family. I purchased my land on Fish Camp Road, right next to uh my property is right next to John Whitaker's and um or now Cliff Cliffs.
And so I'm probably going to be the most impacted by this uh development. And I'm actually looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to having great neighbors. I'm looking forward to having a little town center. And I'm looking forward to build my lakehouse. Um,
I can't say enough about good things about this project and I sincerely hope that you approve it. Thank you so much. All right. Do anyone else online? Okay. All right. We'll bring it back to the board and we'll have the rebuttal if the
applicant has rebuttal. >> Just some short rebuttal comments. Thank you. Uh, Madam Chair, uh, just to be clear, the the the visioning exercise for what's come before you now started a few years ago, started earlier this
decade. It takes time to put together a plan of this nature. There was a tremendous amount of concerted thought and that was years before an formal application was made. And of course it went through a process where it was reviewed by your staff, comments were provided, changes were made and that all
happened well before this came before the first public hearing before the planning commission and you all for the adoption phase. So this project has taken a long time to get to this point. It's been un you know completely con
directed by the family and what they want to see as a vision and also to respond to comments and feedback that they've heard. It's different than what they had originally proposed. Uh a couple of things in terms of the off-site infrastructure improvements.
What the what the development agreement does reflect is that it is requiring the the developer of this project to build estimated in today's dollars $4.9 million of infrastructure improvements for which they'll receive back $3
million in impact fees. That's less than the total amount of impact fees that this project would pay otherwise. But the the there's real tangible improvements being made instead of just a check written to the the county for a project that the county would build in
the future. That includes the roundabouts on on County Road 452. We just heard from several people that that provided comments of what that current condition is and it's not safe and we believe that these roundabouts will make
a tangible difference in the safety of that road and those roundabouts are going to be constructed and completed before the first resident moves into this community. Um in addition, the developer is going to privately fund the the extension of
the central sewer line. There was some question, well, what happens if that central sewer can't be uh either completed or there isn't additional capacity? It's a simple answer. Then the project doesn't move forward. There's a requirement in the PUD ordinance. It's
actually under section 1L that mandates that this project be uh serviced by central sewer and water. To back that up, your comp plan says a project of this size uh this many homes would need to be serviced by central sewer and
water. Once again, a tangible benefit development in a unified manner in this process instead of a peacemail basis where you might be faced otherwise where that that threshold and trigger isn't mandated. Then you're looking at on-site
septic and that's not a good outcome for the the the aquifer. not a good outcome for Lake Yale. It's a tangible benefit to have this project serviced by Central Sewer and Water. There was also comments made about maybe this being a chess game, so to speak,
and that there's going to be future phases. I've consulted with the family. I can definitively state on this record here today on the record that there is no intention of having future phases or additions to the project that's before
you today. There's no intention to seek some future land use amendment in the future to bring additional property into the urban low designation. The the the the family did acquire several parcels in 2024 that are immediately adjacent to this the boundaries of this project.
It's in rural transition today. It's going to remain in rural transition. The difference between that property and the parcels that are included in this project that are are the subject of the comp plan amendment is that they have owned all of those parcels since at
least 2007. They own those parcels when it was subject to the comp plan maps that were shown earlier during this hearing that at that time did allow for additional density of up to three dwelling units an acre. the project the
the the PUD now has those areas at a density of less than two and a half dwelling units an acre. It would have met those standards. So really it's it's it's part of rectifying what we think was wrong to divide the future land use of the parcels that the the Whiters
owned when the 2011 comp plan was adopted. So, having said that, we we believe that this process has worked, that there's been a tremendous amount of time and effort put into the plan that's before you, and we think it has real tangible benefits for the community, and
we'd be happy to answer any uh questions you might have. >> Okay, any questions? question. >> So, uh, the question I have is when they're running their water and sewer, are is the city of Houston just planning on running any purple pipe for the
possibility of reuse? >> Good question, Commissioner. Let me just look back at my team just to the answer to that question is no, sir. >> Okay. Thanks. >> Any other questions? >> All right. Um, thank you. We'll bring it
back to the board. Um, >> if I could, thank you because I missed the last meeting. Um, as you guys know, I was gone for a month through National Guard orders in Virginia, so it's good to be back. As you know, I've consistently voted no on all new large comprehensive plan amendments. Uh, we
have a great comprehensive plan. It could be better, but uh, this would make it worse. I plan on voting no on this today because Lake County doesn't need another city. We have 14 cities already. Marian County has three for comparison. We don't need a 15th city. This project
goes through, it will have twice the population of Howy in the hills. I don't know a single person in Lake County that wants another city larger than Howing the Hills planted on the lake shore in the northern part of this county. No one. Zero. No one. Absolutely no one
wants it. Okay. As a percentage. I'm sure there's a couple that do, but I would say it's far less than 1%. Um, comprehensive plan should not just be dictated by the fact that a parcel that's parcels that are worth millions
and millions of dollars could be you worth multi-millions of dollars. I didn't come from a rich family, so that argument doesn't work on me. These are very expensive parcels. These are these are parcels that are going to remain high value. They're we're being asked to
make them extremely high value and we're not going to do it. and the state of Florida and this county have done a piss poor job planning for growth and planning for the future. And my kids are going to grow up here. My grandkids are going to grow up here. And I'm not going to let Lake County get turned into a
hole and be a concrete jungle like Ultimont Springs because we lack the courage to stand up and plan a future for this county. It's wrong. It's fundamentally wrong and we should not do it. I want my grandkids to have a Lake
County that I grew up in and it's wrong. So, I plan on voting no. I encourage all you have the the courage to do thing and do the right thing and vote no on this. >> No, no clapping, but whatever. We We have a rule. We try
not to do this. So, um, I'm District 4 Commissioner and I'm going to talk about what's fundamentally wrong. It's fundamentally wrong to ignore the rule of law. It's fundamentally wrong to ignore planning
documents. It's fundamentally wrong to ignore the fact that this family has put their blood, sweat, and tears into this property. and decades back they participated in land use planning. They have land uses
on the map already. So we had a speaker today talk about tyranny and authoritarianism. Tyranny and authoritarianism is when you literally take rights away from people.
So, we have an applicant who came in with a proposal and it had a lot more lots on it. It didn't have as many concessions and they made a lot of compromises. They did that in response to comments that were made by our board, comments that were made by
residents. Um, they made compromises, but what strikes me is that the compromises have only happened on their side and everybody else is just say no. Just say no. Well, let me tell you what happens when you just say no. They excuse me.
They have the right to,200 units on this property. They can bust this property up into small parcels and they can bring those small parcels in as plats. If they need to reszoning any of them and we say
no, they can sue us. We just got sued three months ago for a reasonzoning we denied an urban low when we wouldn't grant the density that was being requested. So that's what they could do. So you're going to get development out there. You're going to get development on the
Whitaker property. I mean that it that's just reality. And so when I talk about grassroots Facebook pages and social media peddling this whole idea that you can just say no and get away with it, you can't. We will all get sued. We as a
county, we will have to pay. And that's all of us. That's not like county government just pulls the money out from somewhere. That's us, the taxpayers. So, we have to be prudent. We have to be responsible. And we have to look at what the what the rule of law is. Okay. So,
now the next question. Well, if the urban low is there, right, and they're asking for RT, rural transition to be changed to urban low so they can do a master plan. Should we just ignore that request and allow it then to come in as
peace meal? You may think that's smart, but you're going to end up with just a bunch of hodgepodge uh subdivisions with no master plan. You're not going to have a please don't talk. Please I mean
so you're going to end up with a whole bunch of development but it's not going to be master planned and you're not going to get the roundabouts that are going to address the speeding that happens on 452. Um my family has lived in this area my
basically my entire life. So I know about the speeding trucks. I know about the speeding cars. I know about the flipped cars that end up in my parents' front yard. So, we have a problem with speeding out there. There is no question we do. The idea that we could actually
have this developer by asking for 250 units more than what the comp plan allows them right now and that we would give up the opportunity to have those two roundabouts built on 452. To me, that's nonsensical. I mean, I get the passion to respond to all the populism
out there about let's just stop it. Let's just say no to everything. But the reality is is that we're doing a disservice to everybody that lives in that area if we don't take this opportunity to get those roundabouts and slow down the traffic out there. We're doing a disservice to the community if
we end up with a bunch of peacemeal broken up little subdivisions and we don't get the nice things that they have been willing to offer as part of this process. So I know you know obviously some of us feel differently. Obviously,
the group that came in to oppose this and residents that are against it in the area feel differently. But then we have a lot of residents in the area that that welcome it. They think they would rather see it be master planned. They would rather see something very nicely done um
and have these nice improvements. Um I know a lot of people that write me and call me and they want a sidewalk on Fish Camp Road. There's a um Dairy Queen that the city of Eustace has just approved over by the 7-Eleven
on 44. It would be nice for the people that live on Fish Camp Road to be able to use a sidewalk to go to the Dairy Queen or to use the sidewalk to come over to this um to this area and walk on the on on the roads and so forth. Um so
it we've we're getting two sidewalks, apiary and fish camp. Those are much needed improvements. Um, so I I just can't overlook the fact that what you get in return for the 250 extra units by
doing the uh change to the RT is that you get these improvements that have a huge um huge benefit and will probably save lives in the future. Um there's something really important about the fact that the property used to have
a higher density on it and that got taken away after the initial one was 1991 then 2005 and then 2011 it gets taken away and because we gave it a new land use but then it was less density. To me that matters because it it shows
that um when the when they had the property and they bought the property it was it already designated that those rights were there. So this is actually an opportunity to write that wrong and that was a wrong in my opinion that was done. Um the other thing that is strikes
me is the rural transition. I'm all about protecting the rural boundaries um in in our rural land uses and I think rural trans transition serves a really important purpose because it's that in between when you go from something that's more urban and then you have
rural transition a little bit um lower density and then you have your rural one to five. The problem with this rural transition is it really doesn't make any sense because of the fact that from the urban low you have rural transition and then you
actually have that high density and it doesn't really matter that that was built whenever those um the mobile home parks and the uh manufactured home communities are built. It doesn't matter that they were um that their mobile homes or whatever whatever the comment
was about the fact well they're there. We don't have to pay attention to that. Well, actually in good planning, you are supposed to pay attention to development patterns, even if they're from 50, 60 years ago. So, you have urban low, you have a rural transition, and then you have urban low again. That's not what rural transition is supposed to do.
Rural transition is supposed to be the step before you get to rural. And the only thing that's rural is that designation on the map because in reality, it looks like this. That's what it looks like. That's not rural. that's
not rural, but we're but we're going to hold them up and say you can't change your rural transition to urban low even though you've got all of these homes right over to the west of you. So, I think, you know, when I hear words like tyranny and authoritarianism, they
really strike me as it it just really affects me because I I I think what's what's tyrannical is when you don't play by the rules and you aren't fair. And it's and it's and it's fair to look at what's happened to this
property and and what this family has put into this property and and what they expect in return is that we will be fair and that we won't be arbitrary. Arbitrary is pretending that that land next to the RT is rural. It's not. It's
four units, six units to the acre, I think. So, I would just ask that everybody take a deep breath and think about this. We're going to get 1,200 units without the roundabout, without the nice improvements, without the sidewalks, without the things that are being
offered up. We're going to get that 250 units more. We get the improvements, we get the infrastructure, the growth will happen here. It's just a question of whether it's going to be high quality or not. And we have an opportunity for it to be high quality. So that that's my
rationale. It's it's about it's about fairness. It's about rule of law. It's it's about honoring um this family and the commitment that they made to our community. It's about recognizing the difficulty that they've had with the
farming on this property and the fact that they've had those land uses for so so many years and that actually the county took those rights away and they're just asking for something consistent with what's been there since 1991 on that land use map.
Next, commissioner, whichever you want to we want to start on Mr. Morse is in or on your end on your side. >> All right. Uh, first of all, I appreciate everybody coming again today and being a part of uh your local government. Um, certainly appreciate all
the the uh the passionate concerns about growth. Um, and I I absolutely share the same concerns um that have been expressed by all of you and even on this board now. Um, and I do appreciate um the landowner coming out with family as
well. And certainly um first and foremost, I want to express um sort of aside from all this, my um my sympathies to you for what you're doing with the freeze the freezes that um we literally haven't uh this is like going back to
the 80s essentially and uh many of the many of the land owners um that are in a right now experiencing some of the same difficulties. I heard the interview this morning with um Mr. Hill out at Southern Farms as well and what they're dealing
with and total loss of crops and um and I I can only I can't imagine I can only imagine I should say I'm not out there one of those doing the work with uh not just you but any of that's anybody that's in agriculture. So, um, prayers to you and, um, as an aside before I get
into a few points, um, you know what you can do, and I'll make this clear as many times as I can, is all of us can buy Florida fresh and ask our grocerers to go with locally grown Florida fresh produce. It's going to be hard now because of what happened, but it means
we pay more, but it's going to be worth it. Um, that's a little bit of something that you can do. So I just separate to this case I' I'd really want to always take the opportunity to get the message out about that as well. Um so in regards to this case um is a very very difficult
um situation. Again I understand um both both sides of this. Um I'm from what I've heard I do believe the a question I had since last time the phasing plan is that's good. I'm glad you explained that a little bit better. Um it does contemplate a transition. Um and so that
you know indicates that you understood some of the concerns about um what happens on the properties around that uh 20 years from now. Um the transportation improvements up front um is a big deal. I know um I I know when you're concerned
about this and being very opposed to a lot of growth right now as I am too. Um that's that is a big deal. Um to have those to have the that done first up front um is not typical and it should have been that way a long time
ago but and we've been asking for it. Um there's a rec there's some evidence of that in a recent zoning case where we approved something that was that had the improvements being done first as well as the questions come up above and beyond what the impact fee is. there's a net
difference of over a million and a half dollars I believe of what would have been collected just by the applicant the landowner building um providing just a straight up impact fee and then having those improvements done first there is a incredible time value uh to dollar
savings for the county quite frankly trying to take care of the the traffic on those roads is um if it and this is to my next point if this was done in a peacemail fashion none of that would have occurred and I coming from southwest quake. I can tell you the mistakes of peacemail growth that's all
over the place in Claremont Minnola Grove area mascot of peace meal fashion where you can't get this um these improvements up front like this and or they were never asked for at least uh and then you end up resulting um that is
a true case of where all of us end up paying for for that in the future. Um, so if for it to be done now as opposed to later, huge time value dollars and savings, uh, I can numerous projects around South Lake that I know that I wish that this had been done in the past
by a by a city and I'm not going to, uh, throw out any any city names right now, but I do believe that also there this is not speculative. I said this before. Um, they're not, as as far as I understand, you're not you're not a like a publicly
traded home builder. I'm not going to name any names. Um, that's still correct, right? It's just you that's been doing this, which in my experience is very different than what we see around. We do see a lot of the speculative um
uh developers and and homeowners coming in, which honestly um and I'll be careful how I say this, would would definitely um would definitely be weigh a lot harder on me if uh if that were the case. I'm going to be I'm I'm going to uh scrutinize this
intently like I should and they deserve that. Everybody deserves that. But but I have especially um have become very skeptical of out of town builders and what they come in and do speculative growth for and I asked a lot of questions about that and really looked
into this and I wanted to confirm that that's not the case here. So I think that's important to point out as well. um the developments around there. Um I commissioner held up a map here, the chair. Um just to be clear, those were not approved by anybody on the board. So
there's not none of that no no development that was like a long time ago. Um so I just wanted to point that out. Uh that goes back to the peace meal growth that we're we're definitely trying to avoid. Um growth is out of control. I heard that.
Um, I couldn't agree with more more with you on that, but this is this is it's it's a really it's a tough situation and there's a lot of there's great truth to what is happening at the state where home rule is being eroded as well as there's just we're just the popular
state. It is really you can't tell somebody not to move to Florida. Uh, how we do this while we're trying to respect property rights is very um it's very tough. And um I'm not complaining. I love being in this situation. Um it's a
service and it's an honor to be able to do this. Um even if you're going to disagree with me one way or the other on this um to put to put my heart into this and try to evaluate it. Um but we have to try to get the best out of it. And that goes back to some of the points here and I where I
think this case is a little bit different and I am um you know supportive of moving forward but um it's a it's a little bit different in this case because I think that's a a very good point to put on the record the 250 unit difference. So your 250 units they
came down 200 units or more. Yeah. Since the last time 200 units. Um so that is sort of the difference here when it comes down to it. Um what they're proposing in TND development along with u some other very
compelling evidence of this being in a and I'll hold up the map the uh the economic um this is map exhibit 20 economic development overlay district. um basically requiring according to our plan uh
intensive public investment um from the project uh as well as a traditional neighborhood design. Um so I think that that's consistent. The internal rate of capture wanted to get this on record. That's a fancy number for a way of saying um how many will the development
um produce a lot of extra trips because we're a very autodependent nation and nothing wrong with that. Not trying to take away people's cars or anything but um this internal rate of capture on this is probably around anywhere from 20 to
30% because it's a TND development. So you're getting that out of that additional 250 that they're talking about as it being planned. So there is a benefit to what is being proposed and they will will be required because uh you're going to have that internal rate
of capture. Those are trips that'll stay in there internal to the development. That's how they get the term and and that's compelling because that's the kind of those are those are the big questions that we need to be asking when a development is approved is how are you going to reduce trips on the road? Everybody's be taking 10 to 12 trips a
day. If you're 20 to 30% off of that because you've got um you're staying internal, somebody's taking a golf cart, they're walking, um that's a benefit whether or not going out on the road that uh again with 250 units more um is
a I believe a uh benefit that outweighs the cost. And then finally, I do think um after all that being very torn and still quite honestly on the edge um the probably one of the most compelling arguments is the uh 91 and the 2007
future land use maps that were presented and this was not present at the last hearing but um very compelling argument that they had a a previous entitlement expectation. Um they were uh and I and I remember some of this now um being involved with
this through the years of that being a concern and Mr. Whitaker um could have kept quiet and gotten all the way to this point but even back then now it it it I sort of understand um and the personality of wanting to be upfront and
wanted to try to get the best out of this um making people aware of that issue even back then. So, I think uh I I just wanted to put that on the record that I think that's u perhaps probably some of the most compelling evidence um of that is those uh future land use maps
and the changes to those. So, >> that's it for now. >> Commissioner Morris, >> it's probably one of the most difficult ones that we've had. Um 250 homes
are going to get us roads that are going to be redone. They're going to get us infrastructure. And I agree with uh Commissioner Parks. I just I just think that the benefits outweigh the 250 homes.
>> Commissioner Smith. So, so we know that if this project wasn't approved that the that 1,200 homes could be built. We also known we also know that uh if
those 1,200 homes were built under the current zoning that there would be no central sewer and water. There'd be no sidewalk or pedestrian improvements. There'd be no road impact or traffic calming
solutions on this road. Um, I understand that this map was um redone in 2011. It was a different zoning in 1991 to 2011. Um, if if he was if he was grown
grandfathered in on that map, it would be a completely dis different story for me. it. I have an ethical obligation to um stand by the uh transition zones that are established by staff and I'm going
to stick to that. >> I just want to obviously clear the record here. You guys keep saying they're entitled to,200 homes. That's idealistically possible. that's the max they could try to get. But with the open space requirements, all in all all like
all due respect, the way they're going to plat it, the way they're going to submit it, it's not going to allow that many homes. So, if you really believe that, let them come up with some alternative plats, bring them to the county, show them what they're going to see, and then we'll know the real estimate of homes. But to say that's just 250 homes is incorrect. You don't
have actual evidence that they're going to be able to get 1,200 homes in there. So, I would say let them show us what they would do alternatively and then we can take a look and have a real side by side, have an informed discussion. But right now to say, "Oh, 1,200 homes just popping in." No, it's not going to work
out that way. It never does because when they submit their plats, they have other requirements that they have to meet and it just doesn't get to that number. So, we're talking about more than just 250 more homes. So, I I would just wait and and let them alternatively show us what
what it is they want to do there under the current comprehensive plan. Let me just point out though that under the LDRs, if you bring in a plat that is 50 units or less, it doesn't have to be a PUD, which means that the open space requirements fall to the minimum required in the LDR.
>> Well, we know for a fact they're not bringing anything with less than 50 units. >> No, what they do and and I can show you places all over Lake County where this has been done, >> of course, but not this isn't this is too big of a project. These parcels are >> No, no. What they do if they need what
Look, this is done. >> I hear you, but I would let them I would let them submit it so we can have a real side byside and inform discussion. You guys are going off speculation and that's fine. But it's getting to the point where there literally is no evidence that they're going to get the,200 homes. So, I would allow them to
take some steps to show that and then we can have a more informed discussion. There's no downside to that unless you're in a rush. I'm not in a rush to develop Lake County. If we're in a rush to do it, don't do it. But if you're not in a rush, let them submit some alternative plats under the comprehensive plan as it exists.
>> Yeah. Um, so, you know, just just again to point out that if you have 50 units or less, it's not a PUD, it's a straight zoning. And with straight zonings, you don't have the same requirements that you have for PEDs. You don't have the open space requirements. You don't have all of the other types of requirements.
So, it's just I'm literally just trying to be practical here. What do you get if you do nothing and you say no versus what do you get if you actually work with the land owner and you get positive um improvements and you get a positive end
product. Um and yeah, it's not a good place to be considering that everybody's so mad about congestion and growth, but you got to you got to like step back and be objective and say what are we leaving in the future if what we're going to get is peace meal and it will be peace meal
because that's that's what happens. Um, and we and it's all over. We can see it. And as Commissioner Park said, you can go around South Lake County in particular and see what happened there. Um, and and and that's, you know, that that's that's the problem is we're
dealing with the reality of what will happen versus having the opportunity to have something nicer. and um and it and it's you know >> but just to just to be clear just to be clear under under that rule where they would get expanded use of the land they
would have to put in 24 projects because that would be at least 24 projects because that would be 50 per per piece um per submitt. So that would be 24 projects independent projects that they would have to do that we could individually scrutinize. >> They wouldn't do them though. They just
sell them off to Dr. Horton and Miranda Holmes and every other production builder out there. That's that's what they don't they don't do them themselves. They just start selling parcels off that >> and Yeah. Well, this definitely pops the balloon that oh well, there's no money
to be made here unless we do this. I mean, come on. We're talking about 24 parcels go to national builders at a minimum. But no, I think that I think that we could effectively with the values this board has shown in the past uh scrutinize those submitts from those
developers over a very long period of time to ease down and turn and calm down the engine of growth which is quite literally destroying the fabric of the county and scrutinize them and get a lower house count. It's just it's too it's not it's not a 250 uh house. Well,
we're we're going to call the question, but before we do that, I just want to point out those would also be on septic tanks because they wouldn't be bringing central sewer to those projects. And that's what you have out there. You have septic tanks all over the place right now. So, that that's you know that
that's the difference. >> Well, Sean's favorite company would probably be involved with that, right? What's I'm saying you'd at least have the good septic tanks, right? Don't we >> you'd have the alternative of the high performance or you would have on >> which of course is a I mean those are I'm I'm a believer in the company. I think that's a good healthy way to go
forward but whatever. >> I just want to confirm something too tanks. >> So the 50year units or less that's a that that doesn't come in front of us right? >> So you have a provision in your code that for any subdivision if they're
going to do 50 units or more they must reszone to a PUB. Um, keep in mind that these parcels are agg which is one to five. So they would still have to reszone to get a land you or a reszoning that would give you the one to one that's allowed under the future land use
and that's in let's pause then. >> Okay, just let's can we just like RT is where the A is. They've got R1 and they've got some they've got some partials that already have that have more than R2. >> Yes.
>> Yeah. So it wouldn't it's not that it's all zoned out. >> At least I apologize. Just one final question. Can we at least just get a roughly percent? >> You're in such a rush to develop the county. You literally don't even want the answer of what percentage of the land is a versus non-ag. How would you
not want that information? I already know that information. >> It's it's in the packet. It's right here in front of you. He doesn't have to ask for somebody to provide the information. It's literally >> here in my folder. >> It's right here. pictures, but I don't actually
>> I mean, I get it. You You want to I It's just that we're going to call the question and and if anybody's going to make a motion, just make sure that the the buffer along 452 for the the um can I ask Mike real quick? Mike Fitzgerald
real quick, what would what's the buffer on 452? because we had this discussion the other day about LDR changes in the future where we're going to enhance those buffers off of um roadways. Is this one of those that are is already a larger >> the the minimum the minimum buffer would
be 10 10 ft in width? There are options we could propose to have larger buffers. We could propose walls in the subdivision. Um, I don't think those specifics are >> I think that we were all so focused on all of these other things that that's
the one detail that we didn't where's we didn't we didn't look at the actual buffer along 452 which I think is really important. Um, so I I I need an idea from Mike if if whoever is interested in that as an issue. Um,
>> so you >> and maybe we need the applicant to to to let us know what their thoughts are on that because it is an it is an important issue or detail. Mhm. >> Uh we we'd be just talking with Mr.
Fitzgerald very comfortable with uh adding a condition to the PUD ordinance that would require a minimum buffer along County Road 452 of 25 ft. And does that when we go from the 10 to the 25 and under our like a b c d does
that enhance the plant material the vegetative material >> that's native native plants >> Florida native throughout PUD ordinance requires >> I believe the native plants were were in the >> or they're in the ordinance but for the buffer itself um but that would enhance
like the tree material it wouldn't just be you add 10 feet or whatever you but you actually have more plant material okay cuz that's I That's an LDR change that the county that we've been talking about doing, but it's not coming before us until, you know, we haven't made the
change yet, but we talked about the fact that it needs to be changed. So, okay, >> we can add that condition. >> Okay. All right. I think that's an important addition. All right. So, we'll call the question. Do we have a motion? >> Chair chair doesn't make motions. I'll
I'll make a motion for approval with the um buffer condition that was just discussed. >> Second. >> All right. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? >> I. >> Okay. Moving on then to tab number
three. Um this is in >> might be some confusion that >> Oh, okay. And and that did that include the all of the cases that went with Excuse me. >> Right. All right. So, we need to clarify. It's the future land use
resoning and transportation agreement. >> That was Yes, that was my motion. >> All right. >> Second agrees >> about the developer. >> Tab three. >> Yes. Included that. >> And now we're moving to tab three, which
is in Anthony Sabatini's district in Commissioner Sabatini's district. This is uh tab number three. Should I give it a minute, chairman? >> Like one minute, half 30 seconds.
All right, let's go ahead. >> Thank you, chairman, commissioners. For the record, Mike Fitzgerald. I'm the uh director of the office of planning and zoning. The item before you is the Scoffield Road PUD amendment. The requested action is to reszone approximately 47 acres from agriculture
to planned unit development to facilitate a residential subdivision. This is an amendment and a restatement of ordinance 2023-74. The planning and zoning board recommended approval of this item on the regular agenda. The location is south of
Scoffield Road and west of Cook Road in the Claremont area. Reszoning request seeks to amend the current master plan uh of the approved PUD ordinance 2023-74 to add a parcel to the already approved
uh PUD subject parcel is a neighborhood future land use category uh pursuant to the 2030 comprehensive plan and it is located within the wellness way boundary area. Uh, the applicant is also requesting to
add a new front-loaded lot style. I'll skip ahead to that. Sorry. That is a 50x 70 uh foot width.
Additionally, the applicant is proposing that uh the wildlife corridor provision that is in the original ordinance be re-evaluated. so that they can plat subdivisions
that are in the wellness way area. I'm sorry, I'm kind of thumbming through this very quickly. This is this is the aerial map of the property that is proposed to be added to the planned unit development. This is the current land use showing
that it is it is already a neighborhood land use designation in the Wellness Way area that is 3.6 six dwelling units per acre. This is the current zoning and proposed zoning. They're looking to add this parcel to the already existing Scoffield
planned unit development. This is the conceptual plan showing the uh property in reference to what the planned unit development is that is already approved. Most of the property is proposed to be green space and storm
water pond with some development inside that area. This map shows the scale of the project. Uh this is on the left side is Wellness Way. On the right side is all the the land use inside Wellness Way. And you can see on the left hand side the gray
area is the site. And it it kind of gives you the idea of the scale comparatively to what the wellness wave vision is. This is relatively small to what the wellness way vision is as a whole. This is a conceptual plan that shows
wellness way what it potentially could become. You can see the new uh 516 highway running through it. And just north of that is the Scoffield planned unit development. Just south of that uh 516 highway is the wildlife corridor
that is part of the proposal to be uh dedicated to Lake County. The original, as stated, the the original PUD required that the wildlife corridor be dedicated to Lake County prior to any plat.
The applicant is requesting some relief on that and asking that the wildlife corridor be dedicated still to Lake County, but they should be allowed to plat phase one of Lake Haven estates, which is approximately 253 lots, and
phase one of Dell Webb Lake Haven, which is 212 lots. And I have a comparison here of the existing PUD, the pro proposed PUD. They are
not proposing a maximum number of unit increase. The original PUD had 1488 dwelling units. They are still maintaining that limit of 1488 dwelling units. What the increase in the 47 acres
does is provide them the opportunity to increase their total base density units to,233. They also will be getting an 87 dwelling unit bonus based on right-of-way infrastructure improvements, but they
are still capping their maximum density at 1488 units pursuant to what was approved in 2023. This is a summary of what is being proposed. adding the units to the pud, the addition of the new lot type, the addition of the new acreage brings up
the non-residential square footage in the planned unit development, and the final plat will be approved uh or may be approved if this is approved. The final plat for Lake Haven and Dell Web can be final platted. Just to give some idea of the scale of
the plat circled in red are the plats that would be approved prior to the wildlife corridor. The wildlife corridor is circled on the bottom of the screen. Uh with that said, oh >> can you go back to that picture where you had the little circles?
>> I believe I went into a different Sorry about that. That is the That's the previous Yeah, we can close that one out. Sorry for this delay. >> It's the SC Scoffield. Nope. One up there.
>> There we go. That Okay, I will just apologize for this. So once again, this is the Scoffield PUD uh highle conceptual plan view. The area that's circled to the north are the two
subdivisions that are being requested to proceed to final platting prior to the conveyance of the wildlife corridor to Lake County. >> Is that normal? This is a this was a specific provision
in the 2023 ordinance that we would receive the Lake County would receive a wildlife corridor conveyance of property uh as part of the original approval.
The review of that conveyance of the property is still under review by county staff and has caused a delay in this developer from moving forward with approved development rights.
>> How long will it take us to review it? >> I'll uh defer to the county attorney. >> So for the wildlife property, um we're getting a survey in environmental. We expect to have it soon. I don't suspect there's going to be any issues with that. So, my office would recommend that you make this change and allow them to
at least file their first plat. They won't be able to file any additional plat until we actually take title to that property. >> And and the wildlife corridors, we don't want those, right? We want somebody else to have a FWC or you
>> um we're in discussions about who should probably take ownership of those after the conveyance has been made um and and the long-term maintenance of the properties as well. Perfect. We I don't want any more county staff having to go. >> Fish and wildlife or the park service is
going to take that. Good. Yeah, because park and probably maybe the park service even because they're right across from 27. >> Great. >> Um Mike, just want to um share if we're going to do questions um because
especially after a long zoning hearing already this morning. Just to be clear on this, there's this this is moving density around, right? It's not a overall cap of wellness way. >> This is this is not an overall cap of wellness way. >> I mean, it doesn't affect the overall
cap, I guess, is what I'm saying. Th >> this is just a small piece of Wellness Way as shown on the previous map. What they are doing is they are voluntarily capping their own maximum capacity. uh the the property that is being added
to the PUD originally was designated as uh 65 units >> uh development rights. That's what they're adding into their base density, but they're not >> they're not they're not adding on to any kind of bonus density that they could
potentially get with any type of improvement. They're still limiting themselves. >> Right. Okay. >> I thought that would was important to be clear so there's no confusion over that. Yeah. Yes, sir. >> Can you back up to the lot size?
>> Uh, no. The diagram of the >> what is it from the rightway to the front door? The setbacks will be uh bear with me one second. The setbacks in this particular
I think isif it's 15 feet to the house and then it's going to be a 25 ft set back to the garage. >> So the driveway 25 ft to the garage. >> Okay.
>> But no more units, right? I mean it's just the change of the con configuration of these lots. >> Yeah. And if I'm not mistaken, I thought they were going to go with 65 ft lots. >> In discussions with the developer in the
new section that is being added. In that new section, you can see some of the development encroaches on that new that new area. They have said that they will look at the idea of doing 65 foot w 65 foot wide
lots in that area. >> Right. In the area that we're approving today. Is that is that not written down? >> That's not in the ordinance to to restrict that. No, sir. >> That's fine.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And and wellness way be is is somewhat complicated, but it's more about the form and the design than it is necessarily about being locked in on just one, you know, um what's the road frontage,
per se. You know, there's there's a lot more that goes into it than that. >> So, it's more like a form based code. Uh uh Wellness Way is um and to to the shrin of one of the cities um that says there's no form-based code, Wellness Way is very form-based code. Yeah.
>> Well, you know why the importance of the um driveway is, right? >> Mhm. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Sawrass for example, where we have no place to put all the cars that people can't park in their own driveways. >> My neighborhood >> and
other neighborhoods. Yeah, that's not a good thing. Um, okay. But we're pulling out that the wildlife. Wait, we're pulling it out of the or we're >> no the w >> if this is they are still required to
convey the wildlife corridor to Lake County. What if approved today, they may move forward with two of the final plats for two of the of the subdivisions. Okay. Got it. >> All right.
>> Yeah. And again, the the the conveyance is really there. You just we haven't formal finalized the acceptance because we're doing a little bit of due diligence left that's broken out. That is correct, sir. >> Right. >> But no additional lots, >> right? >> Okay. All right. Are we
>> additional additional base density, not additional maximum capacity? >> Okay. All right. Anybody online? We have Do we have a car? We have Joe Famasi, but I think he left. >> All right. Um, so bring it back to the
board. >> Oh, we have the applicant. Would the applicant like to present? >> Yeah, I was going to ask about the 65 foot lot lines >> and and we do have I need to disclose that I met with them. >> Okay. Any other any other disclosures?
>> Not on this one. I've met with them not on this one though. Yeah. Good afternoon. Elisa Sell with Shuts and Bowen, 300 South Orange Avenue, Orlando, Florida 32801. Uh, pleasure to speak with you all this afternoon. We appreciate the time. We
also want to thank county staff and the county attorney's office and team with working with us on this project. Um, with respect to So, I did have a little bit of a PowerPoint presentation. I know you've had quite a long morning. So, if you would like, I'm happy to run through
it really quickly. Otherwise, I'm happy to just answer some of your questions. >> If if it's quick PowerPoint, I'm happy with that. >> It's very quick. Okay. So, what is being requested today is a resoning of a parcel. Um, and by doing that resoning,
we are requesting that it be added into the Scoffield beauty. The Scoffield Put and this parcel are located within Wellness Way. So, just to provide a little bit of background, Wellness Way was a county-led initiative and um it establishes a long-term master
plan strategy that enables smart growth with non-residential and residential development in South Lake County to prevent those peace meal projects from moving forward. Wellness Way area plan was adopted in 2016
and was um implemented into the comprehensive plan. And then in May of 2022, after a lot of work, the county adopted the wellness way area plan comprehensive plan amendments along with the development standards which are now codified in the land development code.
The comp plan has seven uh future land use districts with respect to wellness way. And I'm just going to focus on three. You have your neighborhood district, your US 27 district, and the multi-use L district. The neighborhood district is
intended for the lower density neighborhoods to support the commercial and employment centers that are provided in the US 27 district and in the multi-use district. This project and the Scoffield PUD are
both neighborhood districts. Um, that is their future land use designation. You have the US 27 district is adjacent to the Scoffield PUB on the west and then you have the multi-use district which is intended for primarily non-residential
development is adjacent to the Scoffield project, the Scoffield beauty, excuse me, and this property on your east. So the neighborhood district, the future land use district. This is where the residential growth was contemplated um because it supports those economic
drivers that are contemplated for the US 27 district and the multi-use district. And I know I'm speaking to you all. You all already know all of this. Um one other item that I would like to note is the comp plan requires PUB zoning for
all development within Wellness Way. So very quickly, this project is shown in red and is outlined. It's approximately 47 acres. It's located in Wellness Way. The future land use is neighborhood district. We are proposing
that it be reszoned um to be included into the Scoffield Pud and we are maintaining the original cap of 1488 max units. So there's no change from what was originally approved back in 2023.
The property being included into the Scoffield PUD, it meets the comprehensive plan requirements. It's compliant with and it implements the wellness way area plan and the reasoning this property to a PUD is the path for development based on the comprehensive
plans requirements. But I do think that the integration of this property into the existing PUD furthers the goal of the wellness way area plan by ensuring there's connectivity and uniformity and avoiding
those peace meal separate neighborhoods. So one item that I did want to touch base on, we had discussed um looking at with respect to this parcel specifically looking at including 60 foot lots was what we had discussed. Um, and based on
this being integrated into an existing site, we can agree to 65 foot lots. Any lots that are fully within the parcel would be 60 foot lots. So, because the site plan doesn't completely follow a
property boundary, we can say any lot that is entirely within this property boundary would would be a 60-oot lot. Um, and that would also allow us to maintain and stay consistent with the land development code for wellness way, which contemplates this diversity of
housing options and it specifically contemplates the small lot, single families and the bungalows and the town homes, etc., which this project provides. But for this parcel specifically, any lot that is entirely within this property, we would agree could be 60 feet and we would agree to
that as a condition of this PUD. Now, I would like to clarify on the wildlife corridor. Um, we have this came before the the commission um two weeks ago. Um, and it
was approved that the uh county manager would be authorized to move forward um once we have your due diligence is is completed. Um so based on the PUD requirements for the wildlife corridor,
the developer um would argue that we have satisfied those. We've worked on title. We've pro provided a title commitment. We've provided a a special warranty deed. We're we're willing to move forward the county and taking a look. They want to make sure that they have a survey and an environmental which we completely understand and are willing
to work with them, but would like to be able to move forward with the project as well. So this is a nice compromise um with respect to the wildlife corridor. Um with that said, I'm here to answer any questions that you have.
>> Um just one quick question share. Uh so understanding um obviously that when the new landscape code gets passed that you're you'll adhere to that, right? Okay. >> Yes, that is in the PUD. >> Okay. Thanks. Any other questions?
>> When are we expecting the landscape code to come? >> I think it's the next meeting. >> Next meeting. Okay. >> I have no questions. Just a reconfiguration. Thank you. >> All right. Do we have a motion? >> Move to approve. >> Second. >> All in favor say I. >> I. Any oppose? That passes 5.
>> Thank you. Um, moving ahead then to regular agenda. Yes, regular agenda. Um tab two on regular agenda. This is a request um to post no trucks over 10 tons local delivery only on Thrill Hill Road
between County Road 44A and 44. Advanced warning signs would be placed on 44A and State Road 44 to notify drivers of the restriction. Um trucks were restricted on North Thrill Hill by the county commission back in 2019 via resolution
2019-66. Um, I received um this request from a property owner that lives down at near the bottom of the hill. It's crazy road to drive on and it's especially narrow and has non-existent shoulders that
thankfully public works was out there. I believe it was last week road ops and they were actually patching the the sides of the road as much as possible and and trying to shore it up as much as we can because we have very limited rideway on that road. So, I'm just
asking for everyone's support um in putting this restriction in place. >> Move approval. >> Second. I couldn't agree more because this is not a collector road. >> It is not. It should not be used as a collector and um yeah, this road is a
very special road. Um it would be nice to have more rideway and it would be nice to put traffic calming in place and all of those things, but at the very least, in light of the rideway that the limited rightway that we have, this is at least something we can do. All right. Um, so we had a motion and we second.
All in favor say I. I. >> I. >> That passes 5. Um, moving on to reports. County attorney, county manager. >> Nothing. >> Um, could you um point out could could you let us know about the sidewalk issue
that Chuck Padet brought up? Um, I just think that we need to get that on the record and and reach out to Chuck and let him know that those aren't our sidewalks. So the county attorney actually contacted public works while the discussion was happening and it is not Myrtle Lake Avenue. I think that he
was addressing I think he misspoke and it was York Street which is across County Road 468. York Street does have some sidewalks which are damaged and can be uh dangerous for the pedestrian. However, those are within the city of
city limits of Futland Park. Those are not county sidewalks. >> Okay. But we're reaching out to them. reach it. I I believe the county attorney has already reached out to the city attorney to notify them and I will reach out to the city manager as well. >> Thank you so much for getting right on that. >> Yes. >> All right. Uh Commissioner Sabatini,
>> uh just uh we're at week three of the legislative session. I'm sure you're all watching the legislative session because we're three weeks in and obviously we have all these legislative priorities. But, um, I will tell you, I think it's more important now than ever before that every county commissioner and every city
commissioner get very vocal about some of the bills that are moving. Um, there's some really, really bad bills uh, in terms of one-sided, you know, obviously reasonable solutions coming out of Tallahassee for balancing property
rights and local rule and, you know, development and preservation. These bills are obviously not passed yet. They're just sitting in committee. Most of them on their second committee stops, but they are completely and totally one-sided bills. One of the bills that's up right now is
the A Enclave bill from last year. So that's a bill that says basically if you adjacent to a property or a property is um adjacent to two other properties that are suburban, they're automatically entitled to the same density if they're a land, which of course is will create a domino effect literally from the bottom
of Florida to the top or vice versa. Doubling the size of sprawl. So please be vocal, please be active. That's the only thing that people want. Uh that's the only thing that works. Being loud, letting people know you're watching. You know, I think the governor would
actually veto some of these because they're so bad, but they're happening and they're all coming from a state senator who's a who's a nice guy, Stan Mlan, really good guy, uh but but clearly is very adamant about passing
bills or laws in Tallahassee that enable rampid development. So, please be loud, please be clear, and please speak up. We're at week three, so we'll know what happens with a lot of these bills in the next two weeks. And then of course in last session they could be put on as amendments to other pending bills which I've seen online people talking about
that. So so that's all I would request. Thanks. Take care. >> Commissioner Parks. >> Uh yeah just a couple of things. Um so the one that I was wondering if you could put that map back up that was just real quick. I I brought this up at a previous comment. The map about the
wellness wave concept plan. >> Yeah. Kathleen. Yeah. Mike. Now, >> which on your presentation? >> It was on the presentation. The overall >> Yeah, we we've got a exit. You're making us flashback. There you go. Keep going.
>> Uh, that one. Yes. So, I just want to confirm. Um, I I brought this up a couple weeks ago. um about the the website. So you all should be aware of the website the for wellness way correct is up and running to get actual information about it as it was running
all over the place. This is this is the concept plan, correct? That's on the website, >> but this is what's been worked on with the consultant that's been working on Wellness Way for us for years. Um, putting together factual data about a
site plan of what it's going to look because there was a lot of questions about, oh, it's all just houses and it's blah blah blah and there's no, you know, commercial to it. Um, there's the roads aren't contemplated. you'll actually see in this concept plan based off of what
has been approved and what is going to happen by requirement. This will give you a good idea. So, I wanted to just let you know if you get questions from con constituents about it. this this or some version of it will be available soon on the website so that you'll be able to see in fact you'll be able to
see it's actually quite a large percentage of it is open space and natural protected areas even to the south where the wildlife corridors but it's the open space to the north which is conserved too which will not be developed as well um so I just wanted to point that out and you'll see that the
center that planned it as the 516 is under construction now um and I think I told you this earlier that all that now has been released for construction through approval of uh u contractors and and uh for construction. So um this will
give you some idea. So I just wanted to put that out there that you can use this if you get questions. So secondly um the aggro an a update if you will to what's happened with the the freezes which I don't think I'm exaggerating where this
was like the worst since the 80s but um you I appreciate the email that you sent. I just thought it was good to point that out publicly that you have UFIS and staff are trying to assess uh what and reach out to all the growers
uh big and small to try to figure out what the damage is and it's going to take a few months. I don't know if you want to add to that. >> I I was just going to say they're still in the um actually quote unquote combat stage because we still have freezes happening. Um we anticipate that we could reach have another freeze Thursday
evening. So, they're still in the fighting stage of, you know, of the process. Um, then they will begin assessing what their true damages are. It may take many months to really understand what the damage is because sometimes you won't know until they
start growing back. >> So, >> okay. And and Wilton Simp Commissioner Wilton Simpson did he's I just kudos to him. I think he's being pretty pretty proactive is really trying to work with USDA to get federal assistance with all this. So, which will benefit us in Lake
County. But I appreciate that. I think it's good. It's one of those things like kind of what it's been a crazy couple years for Lake County, right, with all the closings and then the hurricanes and then the 20-inch event, the storm event and everything. Um, so the communication on it is very important to constituents.
So, um, keep that up. I appreciate that. That's very good to let everybody know. And then lastly, I could not agree more with um Commissioner Sabatini concerns about what the legislature may what may happen in our legislature about um growth manage in particular. So I think
we should all be involved. Um I'll uh actually wrote an editorial recently on that. The blue ribbon one I think was that's really crazy. >> Um I just want to also point out that was up in Tallahassee last week or the week before. for Association of Counties
do have an action plan that's available to you. I'll give you copies if you want. Um that does uh express concern over some of those very issues. The taxing issue, the issue with property tax, I'm wondering if at some point
we're going to look through potential scenarios of factually what would happen, emotions aside, whether for or against, but what would what's the reality for the um for the county? Are we going to look at that? >> Yeah, we will. Once we have a better idea of what's going to make it through
committee then because there's eight proposals. I think at this point four have been filed. Nothing from the Senate side. So you really want to be able to do a sideby-side comparison of what the proposals actually mean. Um so we're we're given a little bit more time to
see what's actually going to make it through. >> I appreciate that. And then finally, um I'm sure I'll be accused of of bragging. I don't mean to do it that way, but if you look at the legislative action plan, there's four items on there that are officially adopted by fact that I
brought forward um myself. Um I think Commissioner Sabatini supported me at a couple of the meetings for those. So, I appreciate that. Um and uh um let me tell you, it it zoning hearings are tough. It's tough to get cross-examined and questioned by other commissioners
from around Florida. So, it was a good learning experience for me and it's a it's a good demonstration that FACK actually does have a good policym process that's in place and and over a period of time and some of these ones that are in the I'll just give them to
you and you can read for yourself but I think um we were we were represented well and uh it it's an encouragement to all of you all of us that if for next year if we want to get the policies in here uh um we can do it and um more than what's just on our legislative agenda
for a delegation. Um and every every uh senator and state representative and uh you know committees and yeah staffing and they all get a copy of this. So there you go. >> All right. >> And that's all I have for now. >> Yeah. >> Commissioner Smith.
>> Yeah. I I would like to first say I I want to thank uh County Manager Jennifer Barker for going to Tallahassee with me uh last week. It was um extremely cold, but it was uh quite productive. We
talked about our legislative priorities. Uh we did talk about the property taxes and uh I think the I think we need to let it morph down into a what they're trying to look at before we move forward
with anything on the on the county side. Uh we I talked about a couple of bill issues that that are coming up. All of that was very wellreceived. Uh we'll see how it goes. Of course, as you know, our legislators are
going to do what they're going to do, but at least they know that uh Lake County is paying attention and that we're actively going up there and making our voices heard. Um, so with uh Commissioner Parks going um and I went I
think you went too, didn't you? >> No, I was reading to elementary school reading. >> It was literacy week. >> That's right. But I thought I thought you had a meeting with them. Anyway, um so
um I know that Lake County um is being well represented in that in that fashion. I'd also like to say uh thank you to each of the 14
cities that are um showing up for our um quarterly discussions. Uh they they all seem to show up. they're they all participate and if they don't participate at least they at least they're listening and they're and they're hearing the discussion back and forth between the county and the other
cities and maybe de coming up with a game plan of their own. So that was u quite important to me. And then um the last thing I have uh Mike um I have a
map I want to show that I would like to put on a future agenda. Do we have that map? >> Is it right here? >> It's up on the screen. >> Is it this one on the screen? >> Yeah, that's up on the screen. So this is this is a map of a conceptual plan.
You'll see Orange County on the bottom and then you'll see Lake County at the top. >> Oh yes. Good. I'm glad you brought this to >> meeting. >> So, I would like to start pushing a 65
foot wide uh lot line across the board U for Lake County. I don't think except, you know, we we have our rural conservation areas. There going to be some tweaks that we'd have to do. That's why I want to agendaize it. uh not discuss it here because I know I just
threw this up on you, but maybe put it on a future agenda, get some get some game game plans going. Uh we did this for the city of Javaries and it did nothing to do to discourage development. It actually enhanced some of the looks
of the neighborhoods. Uh, so I just wanted to bring how Orange County has a has a dens or a lot size requirement. Right, Mike? >> I'm not certain of a lot size requirement, but I am certain that in
the Orange County area, their density is lower than what Lake counties is across the line. >> So, you can see this is a huge disparency for the same neighborhood. So it brings it to light what what I'm
trying to do is at least get the density out there and at least in Lake County. Uh if you want to be in an urban setting in in smaller lots then by all means go to city of Taras or go to cityium outdoor or or
Claremont where you can get those lesser you can get those tight densities. But if you're wanting to develop in Lake County, let's give them people some room that want to have the room. So, I would like permission from the uh commission to at least start
using staff to agendaize something. So, you're just talking about like across the board having 65 foot wide be the smallest width that you could have unless you were in some of these designated areas like conservation.
>> Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. >> Um, >> we can beat it up when it comes out on the agenda. >> No, I I I like the idea of wider lots. Um, I think we'd have to evaluate it from Bert Harris. I don't know whether it would matter or not, whether it would
create a >> I'm very openminded to it. I mean, that's a strong concern, too. I just, you know, obviously I'd like to see what we can do to move forward with a thought process here, a proposal, maybe. >> I'm open to discussion. I But I I think that, you know, you can't make it
blanket. Of course, there's going to be some TND traditional neighborhood development >> or you can't. That's why >> Yeah. Yeah. I know. I'm just >> But yeah, I mean, certainly, let's talk about it. Okay, that's all I have until the until I get my little ending.
>> So, I'll work in conjunction with um the planning office to bring some scenarios back to you. But speaking of legislation um and not necessarily great legislation, I sent you all an email on Friday, but just as a reminder, there is a bill called the Florida Starter Home
Act. Um, if this passes, we would be prohibited from imposing any type of regulation that would require a minimum lot size greater than 1,200 square feet. Um, so that would do away with your 65 foot lot line ordinance if it's a starter home community.
>> Right. Um, >> yes. So, this bill also um we couldn't require there could be zero setbacks from side, 10 feet from rear, 20 feet from front. Um, so anyway, so I sent you a summary of that. So we'll be monitoring that bill as it moves through and if if it moves through and see what
impacts it might have. >> But that shouldn't have any effect on us moving forward with planning and trying to come up with something because we can make wide lots and shorter. If they're starter homes, then they're probably going to be one or two bedrooms. They don't have to be a four bedroomedroom, three bath house for a starter home,
right? >> They don't have to be, but um, so yes. So, we're going to run them in tandem, but I just wanted to make you all aware in case you hadn't seen the email. >> All right. Good, good discussion. Um, Commissioner, >> sure. U pick up on what Kirby said. 14
14 municipalities, getting them together was really nice. Uh, what I got out of that is I know we've worked on the JPA, which each city, you've got 14 different JPAs.
The ISB talk was pretty interesting to me to take what their boundary is and then negotiate what they shouldn't or should develop. I think it's going to be easier, you know, and I know Sean, you spent a lot of time on
the on the JPA, but I I we've got a lot of time and effort invested in them. We don't have a a huge return yet, and I think it's going to be easier to uh negotiate in the ISBAs. That's my opinion. Uh appreciate I missed Commissioner Sabatini there. I
appreciate your service >> for us. Um the uh issues with the um the freeze of the crops. My understanding is talking to some farmers is the state needs to issue a state of emergency which they
have not done yet. They do have crop insurance and there is federal help. And if we're the last man standing, I don't know where we're going to get the money to help anybody because I don't know where the money would come from. Uh and lastly, uh my um appointee for the
water authority had re basically requested that he not get paid. He didn't think he needed to get paid. I think we need to go to each one of the water authority um members and ask them if they would like to not get paid. uh maybe donate their salary to the storm
water. Uh I think that's about all they could do uh if they wanted to donate it back. So um that ends my report. >> Yeah, they can always donate back. >> Can I can I address one thing? Uh it's off subject, but it's continued from the last meeting. As you guys remember, I I
had an item on the last agenda and I got continued again because I did both phases of my military course on uh the u fighting against the property appraisers uh budget. If you guys recall, just very quickly, I'm not looking for like any big action here. I just if the board's okay with it, I I would like to see a
public presentation from our lobbyist on his efforts. You know, he doesn't have to disclose everything if he's doing some stuff behind the scenes, but I'd like some public presentation about the efforts that were made, substantial efforts that were made to try to attempt the um cabinet uh to correct this uh mistake because I don't think it should
have happened. Uh I I tried to speak out to Lita Kelly who's one of the staffers for the state administration committee which is all four cabinets and she works I think directly for Dance. Uh I have not heard anything back yet but I'd like to see the lobby lobbyist report because I think if he gives a report this board
will be informed to make a further decision which is if we should hire a supplemental lobbyist which of course would cost about $50,000 that being l literally 5% of the money we would get back if we successfully challenged the property appraisers website. That's a million bucks back to the county. All of
it spent on a road. So that's a million dollars for roads. Obviously, I would support that. But right now, it looks like we're not going to get it if they don't take it up. There were rumors that they were going to take it up in December. It's now February. We haven't heard anything certain yet. So, I'd like to see what the lobbyist has to say. And if this board feels good with it, maybe
consider getting supplemental secondary lobbying efforts enlisted to get this in front of the board. I think it's a super winner. I just think that they're slammed and maybe they're not hearing enough from the the council or the lobbyist about this issue. Uh and I think other lobbyists would teach us a little bit about what's really going on
behind the scenes. So, I don't know what your guys thoughts are on that, but I would strongly support, you know, requesting from the board to Gray Robinson to give us an update next week, even if it's via Zoom because obviously they're in session. Um and then and then assess whether we think we should go in a stronger stronger route with a second
lobbyist, which by the way is extremely normal up there. I mean, it's very normal for large entities, large projects to have two, three, four, five lobbyists. So, um, thoughts? >> I don't mind hearing from the lobbyist, um, about hiring another lobbyist. My understanding is they haven't heard anything, anybody. There's been other
there's been other counties that have challenged this and they're just not hearing them. So, I don't know what hiring somebody else to to beat the same drum is going to do. I'm sure the other counties have their lobbyists working on it also. So >> yeah, I think there's four of us county
statewide that are doing these appeals and yeah, I mean obviously I could be exactly in your camp and say it's not a waste it's a waste of time after we hear publicly from the lobbyist. So I'd like to see him address this and then we can to go to step two possibly. >> Good idea. >> Chair just go ahead.
>> She's got any >> he's good. >> I was just going to say uh I don't question or comment but um so that regarding the JPA so I I would take exception. And I think there has been progress with JPAs. There's a couple of cities that actually have JPA with us now. Um the point of what I think
yesterday ISBAs are were the only way that the only reason an ISBA came legislation was so that cities could annex parcels that were non-ontiguous was basically like no other reason. >> No, there were >> I mean other than to provide the >> No, it had to do with the utilities the >> provision of services, >> right? because they had their chapter
180 districts, but >> you could if you're not there to serve, then the other chapter 180 can jump over. >> But yeah, no, I get I understand that. But >> that was a huge part of it. >> Yeah. But but I mean the the it's it the consequences of that are very different
than what uh like if you do JPA >> JPA are like land use planning. ISBAs are more it's service driven and that's why they wanted to be able to annex >> is if they >> to me to me speaking with the the
managers I've talked to they feel like the county is possibly encroaching in their ability to make the decisions on what they want to do and in land >> JPA can be is is customized but it's a a joint planning agreement so like they
wouldn't agree to do it if we didn't agree to do it so >> I don't disagree at that. But we have Groveland which hasn't been >> finalized. Groven has been >> finalized. It has been finalized. Well, transportation section of it hasn't been done. Well, I mean, >> well, that's the biggest issue is the
transportation >> some, but I mean others it's >> so and I'm not and I'm not faulting what I'm what I'm doing is there's got to be an approach that we're spending a tremendous amount of time and effort and staff time to get these done and we don't have a lot of them done.
>> Well, the ISBA language, a lot of that could be in a JPA. That's the thing. So, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. That's what that was what I was trying to say yesterday. Plus, >> so how do we get all these to the finish line? JPA is an actual statutory tool that you can use to prevent urban sprawl. So that's why
>> Well, I think that I mean that Al offered to just blow it up, right? >> Did what now? >> He offered to just let's just blow up the ISBA. And I mean, >> yes, >> we made monumental progress, right? and and it might feel slow and we kind of feel like we're spinning our wheels
because it's like okay are we doing ISBAs or JPAs or but I think that there's a way to approach this now in light of the feedback that we received and I think the feedback was that they were willing to look at our rural designated areas and that they would
potentially honor that land use designation and create a boundary around them >> or an urban boundary, right? urban or rural boundary, whichever one you want to call it. >> Boundary. >> Yeah. I mean, just that if we if we could accomplish that huge and and we could we could rely on our staff to
present a much simplified version of a which document would it be? Would it be a JPA or an ISBA? >> Okay. Call it whatever you like. >> Exactly. You can call it whatever you like. I prefer to call it a JPA because
that's in statute. But >> well, so is an ISB. >> I know, but I mean for the grow for the urban sprawl stuff. But anyway, we can get >> I do agree with you. We're on uh we have been >> Well, I think that the way to like the way to like move it forward now because
we really we we made this huge like gain yesterday. >> That was I think that was a very positive event yesterday. >> Yes. So what we need to do is actually present to them the concept, right? like so that we actually have the concept that we present and um and and leave it
to to Melanie to figure out to decide do you leave the ones that are intact that have a lot of meat in them you leave those alone but you do this countywide JPA okay and we all agree about these boundaries and and maybe that's like for
the Groveland one that's an addendum on that Groveland one or is it one that we've all signed All 14 cities in the county, we signed one document. >> But you you got >> everybody has skin in the game. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And maybe we just we just use a Could you not have a joint planning
agreement that just addresses the urban rural boundary and then >> it could be that simple. Yeah. >> Yeah. And so that you're just addressing that and then put the meat of the other things that each city is willing to do and agree to or not agree to. You address it city by city, but you do one
that just addresses the rural boundary. And then in that you could also say that the cities would consider the possibility of a TDR system and that the county we can still do a TDR system but as long as they agree that they would be
willing if we presented a framework in the future da da da da we at least have that kind of started. >> Yep. Exactly. >> And then we've like actually made a huge amount of progress. >> No it's about good meeting. Yeah, it
was. >> Okay. All right. Real quick, anymore? Last week, I had the pleasure of reading to students at Sarrento Elementary School and at um Seminal Springs. And at Seminal Springs, we also had a Liberty Tree ceremony that the um historical
society organized and it was awesome. It was really great. And the principal out there, Terry Seuss, um she did this amazing job. and we all read the same book to students that was based upon patriotism and 250 years of our, you know, our country's founding. And so it
was it was well done. They had music. This the the um elementary students, they had a choir. They sang patriotic song. Um >> I prefer that over going to Tallahassee. Come on. >> It was just fun. It was all feelgood. It was great. Yeah. I can't say that about
going to Tallahassee. Um, so and then back to the issue of um the um legislation, I feel like we should make an official stand and send a letter to each of our um >> delegation and we we hit all of the home
rule, anything that's degrading home rule and anything that's taking away land use rights or land use um decision-m >> and and then we ask them to please keep a close eye for any bills that maybe die, but stuff gets
pulled out of them and put into other bills. So, we actually shift the burden to them, letting them know this is what we're worried about, and we ask them to have their staff keep an eye on. We will be keeping an eye on it, too. But we we ask them to specifically do that.
>> In favor of that idea. >> Yeah, it sounds good. Definitely. >> Are you guys in favor of it? >> Yeah. >> A letter on campaign. >> I mean, all it is is just letting them know. It's not like public lobby. We have >> It's an official position of our county
commission that we don't want our our local >> decision-m ability taken away from us. >> Yeah, >> we're at a critical mass. I mean, I really see I remember these bills would come down. I f I voted in favor of some, but these ones are so much bigger. Sean
brought up the blue ribbons project. They could literally go into a rural part of the state and just build basically a county. I'm talking 50 60,000 homes. No local >> like a real city, huh? >> Yeah. straight up city, >> county, city or county. I mean, huge swaths. And of course, they're
disguising it as, you know, it's it's about jobs, economic this and that, but uh these are really these bills never existed when I was there. So, it's pretty big stuff and I hope everybody takes a public stance, but that's I mean, I think there's maybe a consensus here. So, I would totally be in favor of sending that letter as soon as possible
since we're on week three. >> Week four. >> Yeah. >> Okay. And thank you for going up. Thank you everybody that's had those one-on-one meetings. Super important. Appreciate Jennifer making the trip. Um and again, you know, as we said before, our hearts go out to our farmers. I am
really hopeful that the state will uh the governor will declare a state of emergency so that they can get the assistance that that they need to get through and to hopefully be able to >> Can we can we request staff to send a letter from the board on that one too to the governor? >> Yeah, I mean we could. We have a lot of
farmers farmers. They're farmers and uh >> you would think that they would >> Oh, they're all over it. They're all over it right now. >> It's hard to believe. Maybe they just Farm Bureau. Everybody's >> No, the the >> egg center I >> Okay, we'll just reinforce whatever is doing.
>> Sounds good. >> Okay. >> All right. All right. And do you have a >> I do and it's >> I don't know what to call these things. What are these things? What day is it? >> What day is it? Well, everybody knows it's Tuesday, >> right? What day is it? And then >> so today, and it's actually a little
history lesson for some of our younger viewers. I hope we have younger viewers. Um, today is National The Day the Music Died. >> That's very sad. >> So, that's today. And if people don't
know, that's when Buddy Holly Richie Valley and the Big Bopper and the pilot were killed in an airplane. The airplane's name was American Pie. And that's where the song bye bye American Pie. Drove my Chevy to the Levy.
>> Sing it. >> Yeah, I would. But you know, I would have too many requests in the future and then this we would just be overrun. We could not handle. Do you have one to Do you have one to offset that? Do you have like a happy day that we can like
>> only time you >> Today is National Carrot Cake Day. >> All right, there you go. When you're playing the song, eat some carrot cake. >> No calories in carrot cake. >> All right, we standed turned.
>> All right. Yep. See you.