'When is it enough?' New plan for old Silver Lake Country Club land
After years of go-and-stop plans developers are now moving to clear the site of the former 104-acre Silver Lake Country Club for than 200 homes.
Records at the Lake County Property Appraisal’s Office indicate that Hartman Golf Management sold the two parcels to City Homes and JB Homes of Orlando for a total of $3.5 million. They can act on the previously approved planned unit development.
Since the club closed in 2007, lush greens have morphed into brushy hideouts for wildlife, including coyotes.
Built in the 1920s, it was the heart and soul of a nice, surrounding neighborhood for decades, including stately homes on Silver Lake Drive, the former entry point for the club. Every development plan has frayed neighbors’ nerves.
“A lot of people have complained,” said Leesburg City Manager Al Minner.
Jim Hartman of California bought the bankrupt club in 2004 and closed it when the economy took a nosedive. The club was smaller than modern courses, but neighbors hoped someone would buy it. Adjoining property owners were given first dibs.
In 2015, Hartman came up with the idea of building 151 houses and 82 townhomes. The city annexed the property and it was zoned for planned unit development, but neighbors didn’t like it.
Among their concerns was that there would be a sudden traffic crunch at the entry point on Morningside Drive, a short, two-lane stretch that runs between Silver Lake Drive and Radio Road. It is still the plan, but with an emergency vehicle exit onto Highland Road.
In 2018, a Seminole County developer changed the plans to 233 single-family homes. Construction was to begin the following year. That didn’t happen, however.
Now that the air is filled with the sound of chainsaws, nerves are being frayed again.
Pam Favre can see the weedy site from the back door of her manicured lawn on Park Lane. A community property warrior, she opposed the old plan calling for townhomes, urging residents to go to meetings, and researching a crime-ridden townhome complex across U.S. 441.
She’s more on board with single-family homes.
“I’m not happy about it, but you can’t fight change,” she said.
“I’m more concerned about the gopher turtles.” But mostly, she is concerned about the massive oak in her back yard because much of the canopy extends over the property line.
If the new owners trim it back on their side it would be “irreparably harmed,” she said of the tree, which is 18 feet in circumference.
She has emailed Jim Bagley, CEO of City Homes, who indicated he has no intention of harming the tree, and that he would get back with her later.
Favre is also concerned about the traffic.
“They say they do traffic studies,” she said, but she worries that the studies are fixed in the present. What happens if all of the proposed developments come to fruition? What will the traffic be like then?
Another complaint: The city of Leesburg is calling the shots. Her home is in the unincorporated county.
“I can’t vote for the people in control of my life.”
Other controversies
It’s not just the development of the former country club site that has rattled neighbors.
In 2020 the community protested the annexation and rezoning of 83 acres for 265 homes east of State Road 44 and north and south of Clark Street.
Signs popped up urging neighbors to show up and protest at public hearings. “Say No To The Robuck/Ostrander PUD,” one sign read. “Say NO to high density housing and traffic on Silver Lake,” another urged.
It was approved with some adjustments, including nixing an emergency exit through a gated community.
Another development that was approved over objections was 226 apartments on 46 acres south of North Silver Lake Road off State Road 44.
“Have mercy on our little neighborhood,” one resident said.
Yet another development has been approved on Jackson Street, within a stone’s throw of Favre’s home, “but it’s significantly smaller,” she said.
Major changes on U.S. 27
Change, apparently, is inevitable. Thousands of homes in various developments have been approved along U.S. 27 and alongside Florida’s Turnpike.
Neighbors living near a planned 1,000-acre, 3,000-home development on U.S. 27, said they felt like they had been “invaded.”
Some have stood up at other meetings to say they bought their homes “for the view,” but there is no guarantee that the view will not change from wilderness to rooftops, city officials say.
Officials sometimes insist on buffers, retention ponds, turn lanes and other accommodations, but note that property owners have rights, too.
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The sheer number of proposed developments have upset some residents.
This week, a van traveling down U.S. 441 had a bumper stick that read: “Leaving Florida? Take a developer with you.”
“When is it enough?” Favre asked. “At some point there’s the issue of quality of life.”
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: What's next for the former Silver Lake Country Club land in Leesburg?
