Friends,

On Tuesday, October 26, the County Commission will be considering a “settlement agreement” to grant the Boutros Family and Pillar homes the right to build 102 homes on Lakeshore at Suggs Road.

This project was denied in June, but is back after the developer and County staff made an “agreement” during the appeal process. The settlement not only grants 102 houses for the Lake Nellie Crossing project (vs. 20 if no PUD was put forward), but agrees to provide an expedited comprehensive plan amendment within 6 months to develop additional parcels on Lakeshore at an unspecified density. Basically, a blank check!

The settlement claims this agreement is made in the public interest because the community wishes to see the Lakeshore corridor finalized, but this plan could not be further from what was proposed as a compromise. Community members did attempt to negotiate and suggested that if the density from the Lake Nellie project were reduced, and the other parcels that were for sale as part of the 270+ home Saddlebrook proposal also developed at a much lower density, the developer could ultimately build more homes, while the community could be comfortable that Lakeshore was “finished” without any more high-density impacts.

In this scenario everyone would finish in a better position than we are today. Unfortunately, the developers chose to take advantage of this offer, and took the opportunity to demand the FULL density on the initial development while adding a little bonus- a second development utilizing only 1/2 of the Saddlebrook acreage. This will not only create two high-density communities but also leave significant portions of Lakeshore open for future infill. Remember, the excluded parcels were proposed as high-density development just a few months ago, so we can reasonably expect they’ll be back again as soon as this development is approved.

To be clear, There was NO agreement or even discussion with the community regarding this “agreement.” This was a proposal wholly constructed by the developer, possibly with the support of Commissioner Parks. For now, these parcels remain in Parks’ district, but in December new districts will take effect and the entire Lakeshore Corridor will be in District 1 – belonging to Doug Shields. We need your help to demand that Chairman Parks honors his commitment to protect the Lakeshore Corridor. This “agreement” is purely a grab by the developers, with County staff playing along.

We desperately need your help to stop it and protect Lakeshore! Please attend the Commission meeting Tuesday, Oct 26 at 9:00 am in the Tavares round building. You can also attend via Zoom. Also, be sure to email your Commissioners TODAY – especially Commissioner Parks – to remind them this is NOT an acceptable outcome for the community.

We urge you to use your voice TODAY to encourage your elected officials to vote NO by clicking on this link to email your County Commissioners!   If you have trouble getting the link to work, you can send a manual email to:

Commissioner Shields – DShields@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Campione – LCampione@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Parks – SParks@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Smith – KSmith@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Blake – JBlake@lakecountyfl.gov

Thanks to everyone for paying attention and staying engaged!

The team at Keep Clermont Rural
keepclermontrural@gmail.com

The post Keep Clermont Rural – Lakeshore Development Alert appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Most of you are aware that the sand mining industry filed for a comp plan amendment to expand their operations in the Green Swamp.  We have some good news on that issue, but first, we need to ask for your help to stop additional development from suffocating our quality of life.

There are currently TWO large subdivisions planned for the area near 561 and Lakeshore Drive.  Collectively, these would bring 380 homes and thousands of car trips per day to the already dangerously congested Lakeshore corridor.  The first of these projects, named Lake Nellie Crossing is up for a final decision by the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) TOMORROW, Tuesday, June 22.  The project will add 102 houses behind the church near the Vista Grande subdivision.   We need your help explaining to the Commission how the impact from additional subdivisions will impact the quality of life in the area.  Tuesday is especially important because the same law firm and consultants are supporting a separate project for 287 more houses between Little Lake Nellie and 561.   While the second project, named Saddlebrook, has not formally filed its application, they are carefully watching the outcome of Lake Nellie before proceeding.

Please take a moment to use the link below and send an email to the Commission letting them know why you oppose more subdivisions being squeezed into the Lakeshore Corridor.  Please also do your best to attend the commission meeting tomorrow in Tavares or attend via Zoom.  The meeting is at 9:00 am in the round building.

We urge you to use your voice TODAY to encourage your elected officials to vote NO on amending the Comprehensive Plan to relax restrictions on mining in the Green Swamp by clicking on this link to email your County Commissioners!   If you have trouble getting the link to work, you can send a manual email to:
Commissioner Shields – DShields@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Campione – LCampione@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Parks – SParks@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Smith – KSmith@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Blake – JBlake@lakecountyfl.gov

Now for the good news – the sand miners have withdrawn their application!  After seeing broad community outcry, resolutions of opposition from several municipalities in South Lake, and facing outspoken opposition within the Commission itself, the miners have chosen to withdraw for now. Of course, the mining industry is well funded, and will almost certainly return once they have a more favorable Commission landscape.

Please take a moment to thank the commissioners who showed the strength and leadership to stand against this proposal (Commissioners Shields, Parks, and Smith).   As always, please help raise awareness and share this email with your friends, neighbors, and social media contacts.

Thanks to everyone for paying attention and staying engaged!

The team at Keep Clermont Rural
keepclermontrural@gmail.com

The post Protecting The Green Swamp And The Rural Properties In Lake. Let Your Voice Be Heard (Board Of County Commissioners Meeting June 22 ) appeared first on South Lake Tablet.

Friends,

The Green swamp is facing its greatest threat yet and we need your help!

In two days, this Tuesday, February 23, 2021, the Central Florida Sand Mining Association will be back again in front of the County Commission asking to change our Comprehensive Plan in order to allow them to mine every square inch of land they currently own or acquire within the Green Swamp. Currently, they can mine anywhere between 10 to 40% of the land they own (unless grandfathered in before the current Comprehensive Plan was written), but the rest must be maintained in its natural state.  Through a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, they would like to mine 100% of their land as long as they agree to only do it in increments of 10% at a time.  With this change they could conceivably purchase and mine every square inch of the Green Swamp – the source of our drinking water!

Most of you already understand the importance of the Green Swamp – we have provided additional detail below for those that are not familiar with this issue.  Suffice it to say that Mr. Ron Hart Jr., Director of our own Lake County Water Authority, stated that “Potential impacts to the Clermont Chain and their associated watersheds should be clearly identified prior to any major modifications to land use”.

We urge you to use your voice TODAY to encourage your elected officials to vote NO on amending the Comprehensive Plan to relax restrictions on mining in the Green Swamp by clicking on this link to email your County Commissioners!   If you have trouble getting the link to work, you can send a manual email to:
Commissioner Shields – DShields@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Campione – LCampione@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Parks – SParks@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Smith – KSmith@lakecountyfl.gov
Commissioner Blake – JBlake@lakecountyfl.gov

You may also attend the meeting where this will be heard on February 23, 2021 at 9 am:
In person at 315 Main Street, Tavares, Florida (the Round building – free parking garage across the street)
Online by clicking this link
Select the Zoom link if you wish to ask a question or make a statement, or the LakeFrontTV link if you want to observe the full proceedings

Here is the additional background information for those that wish to read further:

This is an incredibly dangerous proposal for the Green Swamp and the sensitive ecosystems it represents.  The Green Swamp has been designated an area of critical state concern because it is the primary recharge area for our aquifer. The sand within the Green Swamp acts as a filter media for our water before it enters the aquifer.  Allowing an industry to remove the entirety of such a precious resource simply because the land is cheap and the source is convenient would be an insult not only to our region but our children and future generations to come.

There are currently 8000 acres of mines in the Green Swamp which pre-date the limitations in the Comprehensive Plan. That means that those 8000 acres can be mined in their entirety under the current regulations. The pending application, if approved by the Commission, will allow them to fully mine the rest of their current holdings – PLUS the entirety of any future lands they purchase.   Or to put it another way, this application makes land in the Green Swamp more valuable for sand mining than it is for people who want to raise a family or build a home – who would still be limited to responsible limits.

The Sand Mining Association will be presenting a parade of experts to portray their plan as responsible and sound.  But are we really ready to believe that industry can care for sensitive ecosystems better than mother nature? We only need to look as far as the Everglades to see what happened there, or more recently to the floods in Houston that were caused by development and drainage systems that were also designed by experts who thought they could do it better than nature.  The reality is that science constantly evolves, but once we realize that a mistake was made there will be no second chance or do-over for the Green Swamp. If we destroy our resources today they are gone forever.

We need your help to demand that our County DENY this application and protect the Green Swamp as the critical resource that it is.  If the Comprehensive Plan is changed to allow broader mining, then any disputes in the future will become legal challenges as the rules will have been written, and the mining interests will have grounds to sue over any future attempts to stop them.  Today, we are talking about a policy document rather than zoning and permitting regulations. That is an important distinction because policy decisions are human decisions. They are the kinds of decisions that are made by the people we put in office to represent us. We need to make sure that they hear us loud and clear – we don’t want the Green Swamp exploited by sand mines.

Thank you!

The team at Keep Clermont Rural
keepclermontrural@gmail.com

P.S. If you haven’t shared the http://keepclermontrural.org website on Facebook, please visit the website and do so as soon as possible!

The post Save The Green Swamp – Let Your Voice Be Heard (Feb 23) appeared first on South Lake Tablet.