Lake Hayes development heads to Seminole County Commission

A 91-home proposed development at the end of Lake Hayes Road in unincorporated Seminole County will head to the Seminole Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 13 after gaining approval from the county planning and zoning commission last month.

The applicant, DLC Paddock Way, is seeking to rezone 35 acres, located just east of Alafaya Trail and south of Chapman Road, from agriculture to planned development.

About 20 residents from the Lake Hayes area turned out to oppose the project at the Nov. 2 planning and zoning meeting. They listed concerns such as school and road capacity, flooding and impacts to the environment and wildlife.

“I understand we have growth. I understand that people want to come to Seminole County, but you have to stop at some point,” said Erin Rue, who lives on a five-acre lot along Paddock Way off of Lake Hayes Road. She said developers have sought to buy her property but she said she refuses to sell.

“This does not make sense. If you travel down Lake Hayes Road, all of the homes, before some of these random lots were sold, are all on large lots with no HOA.”

Resident Daniel Barrett said the residents plan to attend the Seminole County Commission meeting to voice concern over the project as well.

“We don’t know why it was approved. The county had recommended denial of the project,” he said.

The county’s staff recommended denial because there was not enough land in some areas of the project to create an adequate buffer for maintenance and safety. Chad Moorhead of Madden, Moorhead and Stokes Civil Engineers – the applicant’s engineering firm – said he would find a remedy, including working with adjacent landowners to acquire access or making do with a smaller buffer, something he said he’s done with other projects.

“We’ve been at this since May,” he said, adding that if this project does not come to fruition, another developer could come in, seeking denser development.

The land is currently zoned as agricultural (A-1), which allows a maximum of one dwelling unit per acre. But, it has a future land use designation (FLUD) of low-density residential, which allows a maximum of four dwelling units per acre. A FLUD provides a property’s potential density that the county agreed upon in its comprehensive plan.

In this case, the developer is seeking the rezone this A-1 property to planned development. A planned development zoning is a negotiated zoning that falls within the FLUD. In this case, the developer is seeking a density of 2.6 dwelling units per acre, which falls within the FLUD.