A show of unity on horseback: County-line residents ride for pastures and hobby farms

Editor's note: To clarify, the Town of Lady Lake has not received any applications for annexation of this land or potential development on it. Any such applications would be publicly noticed and discussed at public hearings. Also, this article has been revised to correct a reference to a newly passed Lady Lake ordinance. The ordinance allows site plan proposals to move forward if they meet requirements of the town's land development regulations.

The project came up at a Lady Lake planning and zoning meeting last fall.

In winter, three models of manufactured homes popped up on the Grand Oaks property near the Lake-Marion county line.

The manufactured homes are on display at Grand Oaks as of this writing, not approved for development by Lake County. Lady Lake would have to annex the property, once home to the area's most popular equestrian mecca, for the project to move forward.

New Vision, the development group in charge of the project, would have been within its rights to have the models displayed on truck beds, but neighbors noticed that the homes were put on foundations. The developers were denied electricity by the Lake County fire chief because of code enforcement regulations. As of this writing, the models are still on display with no electricity, neighbors say.

The Lake County Future Land Use Map designates that the required housing density in the Grand Oaks area of Lake County to be no less than one house per 5 acres.

“We need our commissioners to understand that this is moving too fast and that these infrastructures need to be put in place before these developments are even considered,” said Jorlyn Johnson, a lifelong Grand Oaks neighbor and spokesperson of Stop Grand Oaks.

“We don’t have the resources available for our own community and the people that already live here, let alone potentially bringing thousands and thousands more.”

'They were already advertising it'

Stop Grand Oaks representatives have been attending and speaking at Lady Lake commission meetings since last fall.

"Lady Lake's director of growth management, Thad Carroll, who's at every planning and zoning meeting and every commission meeting, assured us that we were months and months and months away from this, and we had nothing to worry about," Johnson told the Daily Commercial about six months ago.

"We came to find out a week later that Grand Oaks has had a website up and has been advertising this housing for a year," Johnson said of proposed manufactured homes at a historic, verdant property off Griffin Avenue.

"They were already advertising it," Johnson added. "They held a meeting at Grand Oaks. The developers and the owner pretty much said this is happening."

Growing up, Johnson and her friends used to ride their horses up and down Marion County Road. "We'd come home from school and hop on a horse and we would ride down to Grand Oaks, and Gloria Austin, who owned it, she would allow us to ride on her property. She'd hold moonlight rides. I mean, there was, there's a lot of memories there."

But this is more than nostalgia, Johnson emphasized, adding that the project, according to her research, is a serious problem for wildlife.

"This is a serious problem for the medical care too," she said. " I don't know if you've ever had to go to The Villages Regional for any kind of emergency care, but I've spent 17 hours in the ER with my grandmother there."

Johnson, who has six kids, expressed even more frustration about her younger children riding on school buses with high school kids and said she was doubtful the school board could afford to accommodate an influx of families to the area.

"It's a very rural, agricultural-based area," Johnson said. "The smallest property on either side of Grand Oaks is a minimum two-and-a-half acres. And there's only two of those. So, most of these properties are at minimum, five acres or more.

What are developers proposing?

A conceptual draft proposal presented to the Town of Lady Lake by Greg Beliveau — a former assistant city manager of Leesburg, founder and CEO of LPG Urban & Regional Planners Inc. and principal of the Blount Development Group — for the Grand Oaks property owner's developer lays out plans to subdivide Grand Oaks into a manufactured home park with 797 new manufactured homes.

In September, The Villages News reported on a Lady Lake planning meeting, when "Beliveau unveiled a proposal to create 795 manufactured home lots, primarily aimed at creating sorely needed family or 'workforce' housing, driven by the explosive growth of The Villages."

According to the proposed plan, the details of which were paraphrased in the meeting minutes, the manufactured homes would cost about $165,000 and buyers would pay rent on their lots.

Planned amenities "would complement the existing clubhouse and pool area, chapel, and several acres will remain designated equestrian areas and open space," according to Beliveau's proposal presented at the September meeting.

"Other amenities may include an outdoor theatre, outdoor performing arts area, and office/workspaces. Services within the development will include doggie daycare, child daycare, educational/tutoring services, and transportation services. The proposal is for an all-ages community."

Dale Twardokus of New Vision, told the commission that he wants "to create the best working age family community in the country by uplifting families lives."

Lady Lake Commissioner Treva Roberts accepted an invitation to visit the Grand Oaks property. She met with Beliveau, representing LPG Urban and Regional Planners, and Jeff Wagner of New Vision, who showed her the presentation of the project that was given to the previous commission earlier this year.

They discussed "in depth" their ideas regarding developing the property. At a Dec. 11 commission meeting, Roberts said the development ideas have already been modified to address the concerns of the neighbors.

But "their idea of working with the residents was constructing fences that blocked the view for residents that were near that property line — who did not wanna have to look out over a sea of mobile homes," Johnson said about comments made to Roberts and area locals during a private meeting hosted by New Vision last December.

Who owns the property under consideration? Tom Golisano, 82, founder of Paychex, whose net worth is around $5.6 billion. Johnson said a supporter of the Stop Grand Oaks cause, whom she requested be unnamed, owns "large real estate properties" in the area and offered to purchase the property to keep the land from being developed. The offer was rejected.

Is more always better?

Manufactured home industry representatives have launched public relations campaigns, representing mobile homes as hipper, more contemporary and stylish affordable alternative for Gen Z and Millennials who can't afford to buy real estate.

In some states, research organizations focus on government, developers and special interests. The Municipal Research and Services Center (MRSC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the success of local governments in Washington state and provides information resources for citizens.

“Successful annexations require successful public engagement and information campaigns,” the organization said. “Cities should educate their residents and impacted landowners about the potential benefits and burdens associated with a decision to annex. Cities will often maintain webpages or prepare information pamphlets to inform interested parties about potential annexations”

Making it easier for real estate investors to shoehorn their projects in more rural communities, The Tallahassee Democrat reported that efforts are underway to erase some community regulations, and enact policies favoring business and development interests.

For investors, more is better, of course. Florida made the "10 Most Business Friendly States to Invest in Commercial Real Estate" by Private Capital Investors." According to the report, "The extremely low labor costs and the availability of the infrastructure and construction materials at low rates make the state one of the cheapest for investment in a commercial real estate."

A 2013 court case, Koontz v. Saint Johns River Water Management District, essentially requires municipalities to follow the constitutional rule of law and reins in some aggressive requirements made on behalf of property owners.

"Most of our residential zoning districts have a 25% open space requirement as part of the platting requirement, and we encourage the preservation of historic trees within these communities as well," Lady Lake Growth Management Director Carroll told the Daily Commercial.

"Of course, not all trees can be saved. However, we do feel that in many cases developers have been able to alter their subdivision layout to preserve historic trees and the existing canopy on the property," he added

In Lady Lake, an ordinance approved earlier this year allows site plan proposals to move forward if they meet requirements of the town's land development regulations.

'A ride for unity'

This Saturday, April 6, at 10:30 a.m., Johnson and friends will lead a horseback "ride for unity" to get the word out about protecting the property.

Equestrians and hobby farm enthusiasts and people who live in the area are coming together on horseback to bring awareness to rural living and the RPA (rural protected area), which commissioners keep pushing farther and farther into its development.

The riders will deck out in red, white and blue — "mostly, red, the color of Stop Grand Oaks," Johnson said — to express their patriotism and love of an all-American rural patch of land. The horseback procession, accompanied by walkers, golf carts and others, will begin at 10:30 a.m., departing from Cottom's A-1 Sod to a property adjacent to Grand Oaks. For more information, visit stopgrandoaks.com.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: A call for unity on horseback: Ride decries development of rural Lake