Quick takes: Yarborough development; Joel Greenberg sentencing

Yarborough development update 

The Seminole County Planning and Zoning Commission will consider the proposed 300-home Yarborough Ranch subdivision on 1,300 acres of rural land off of Snow Hill Road, which was formerly part of the 6,000-acre Yarborough Ranch property, on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 6 p.m.

According to county documents, in 2008, Seminole County issued a development order on three tracts of land, called Creek Side Acres, totaling 6,400. The 5,000 acres that make up Tract 1 and Tract 2 were sold by the Yarborough family to the St. Johns River Water Management District and are currently being utilized as an open space park.

The county’s development order allowed Tract 3 to be developed as a subdivision with a maximum of 300 units per one acre lots, with an additional 40 acres of open space/conservation on Tract 3. The proposed subdivision surpassed that requirement with 233 acres of open/space conservation on Tract 3.

The developer, Pulte Homes, had a request to build a water treatment plant in the proposed subdivision, a deviation from the county’s comprehensive plan rule against centralized water in that area, which is part of the rural boundary. Pulte pulled that request ahead of a previously scheduled meeting. The current proposal follows the comprehensive plan’s requirement for developments in the rural boundary to have individual wells for each home.

Joel Greenberg sentencing update

UPDATE: Greenberg was sentenced Thursday morning to 11 years in prison, plus 10 years of probation. Read the story >

Former Seminole County Tax Collector Joel Greenberg, who pled guilty to six felonies, including sex trafficking of a child, stalking, wire fraud, identity theft and conspiracy to bribe a public official, will be sentenced today at a 9:30 a.m. hearing.

Greenberg was elected as the county tax collector in 2016 and was arrested in June 2020, charged with 33 federal crimes, 27 of which were dropped in exchange for Greenberg’s guilty plea and his cooperation in investigations of more than 20 people.

According to an Orlando Sentinel report, federal mandates call for a 9.25 to 11-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell said during a Wednesday hearing that sentence may be too lenient considering the former politician’s charges.

According to the report, Greenberg used $70,000 in taxpayer money to pay for commercial sex with women, and also created positions within the tax collector’s office for his friends and associates, opened a bank account in his name and funneled public money into it and used tens of thousands of dollars in public money to buy cryptocurrency.

Greenberg’s cooperation with investigators has led to several indictments. In a separate Sentinel report, Greenberg’s attorney, Fritz Scheller, said he anticipated that two more people would be indicted next month, but did not name the individuals.

Scheller asked the court last week that Greenberg be sentenced to no more than two years in prison because of mental illness, including ADHD and depression, according to the report. He also noted that Greenberg agreed to pay the county back $1.3 million in restitution, adding that all but $110,000 has been paid. He said the money came from the sale of Greenberg’s Heathrow home.