Local

Residents, commissioners split on development on Lake, Orange County lines

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A campaign has been launched against the planned McKinnon Groves development in a rural area on the Lake County/Orange County line.

Signs have been set up, and so have dedicated social media pages, including posts that target specific commissioners.

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County commissioners listened and suggested changes to the plans that developer and vice president of McKinnon Groves Scott Boyd already said was already a good project for the area.

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“It’s a very unique community, obviously, because of 357 acres, but 40% of it is open space, a lot of that open space is going to be reforested,” he said.

Boyd said the development would contain 48 acres of non-residential area focused on agribusiness and community center recreational facilities along with a 200-foot buffer of trees, and five miles of interconnected community trails for walking, hiking biking and horseback riding.

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In the end, commissioners agreed, saying many of the plans are actually better than what zoning rules would require without the change and voted in favor of it.

It’s disappointing for neighbors like Jim Grace.

“I’m not anti-development because you can’t be, but I don’t think this was the time or place for that,” he said.

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Jeff Deal

Jeff Deal, WFTV.com

I joined the Eyewitness News team as a reporter in 2006.

Adam Poulisse, WFTV.com

Adam Poulisse joined WFTV in November 2019.