FERNDALE, Fla. – An ongoing effort to protect a rural Lake County community from large-scale development is getting closer to the solution residents and advocates have been pushing for.
Home to just over 600 people, Ferndale is a beautiful, scenic, and virtually untouched haven of rolling pastureland and native wildlife that sits on the western shore of Lake Apopka.
The rural community only allows residential development at a maximum density of one home per every five acres, a zoning ordinance that’s protected by an Interlocal Service Boundary Agreement (ISBA) that was signed in 2010. Montverde, Minneola, Clermont, and Lake County all signed the agreement that prevents Ferndale from annexation and higher-density development until 2030.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Between rapid growth in nearby Minneola that’s beginning to encroach on properties in Ferndale and a landowner who’s potentially looking to develop their 287-acre property when the ISBA expires in 6 years, people who want to protect the community have been pushing to extend the agreement early.
“The growth is happening so fast it’s spinning everybody’s heads,” Lynn Riffle said. “We see Minneola coming in with four to six homes per acre and zero lot lines. That’s not what this area was ever intended for and we want to keep it that way.”
Lake County Commissioner Sean Parks, who represents Ferndale, told News 6 last week the city of Minneola was dragging its feet on extending the agreement.
“I’m going to be very frank and direct,” he said. “I don’t understand why anybody wouldn’t support extending the agreement for another 13 years because this has always been planned to be rural.”
Minneola Mayor Pat Kelley initially delayed showing his support for renewing the ISBA, which he signed in 2010 because he had a different idea on how to preserve Ferndale — an idea he called a permanent fix.
News 6 reported Monday that instead of extending the agreement, Kelley wanted the city to purchase the 287 acres being eyed for development, wait for the agreement to expire in 2030, annex the property into Minneola, and turn it into a preserve – a place protected by development for good. You can watch that story below.
“We want this locked down so future generations can’t go back and reverse what my council’s about to do,” Kelley said. “We’re about to invest a lot of money to do this for the residents and for the surrounding communities to be a good neighbor.”
When asked by anchor Justin Warmoth what the property would cost the city of Minneola, Kelley responded, “I’m kind of scared to ask. We’ve heard numbers but I don’t know. To be good stewards of the money, we will have to pay a fair and equitable price for this.”
Turns out the asking price was out of Minneola’s price range despite the mayor’s initial confidence in being able to afford the large plot of land. Kelley anticipated paying somewhere between $5-$10 million but News 6 learned the landowner is now asking for $20 million for the 287-acre property.
Unfortunately for the mayor, he jumped the gun and put the preserve idea on Tuesday night’s council agenda before figuring out whether the city could afford the land.
After a discussion between council members and the city attorney at the beginning of the meeting, the item was pulled from the agenda. It now appears Minneola will support the effort to extend the ISBA for another 13 years.
“We were a blocker until we tried to figure something out,” Kelley said at Tuesday’s meeting. “We’re no longer a blocker.”
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: