Twin Rivers Golf Club to receive protections; Stormwater project updates

Twin Rivers Golf Club, which is bounded by the Econ River and Little Econ River, may be receiving major conservation protections from the City of Oviedo.

Following a Jan. 5 request by Oviedo Mayor Megan Sladek to consider placing a conservation easement over the entire course, the city created a “declaration of restrictive covenants,” a proposed city law limiting how land can be used by property owners. Staff presented the proposal for discussion at the March 2 City Council meeting.

The golf course already has easements on multiple areas — one near the clubhouse and one on the course near holes 11, 12 and 13 — but the new declaration would cover the entire course property.

The declaration, which is still in draft form and not yet finalized, lays out permitted and prohibited uses for the course. In its current state, it allows the property to be used for a golf course and conservation and stormwater management. The prohibitions would include residential and transient residential additions, such as hotels and motels, and industrial and commercial uses not typically part of a golf course.

The declaration would be bound to the land, which would make it apply to any potential future owners of the property, and would only be able to be modified or terminated by the City Council unanimously approving a referendum, which would need to be passed by a majority of voters.

“What we have built into this draft … is kind of the screws turned up to 11 on what it will take to remove this covenant from the property,” Oviedo City Attorney Wade Vose said.

“This is a real estate document as much as a governmental document,” Vose said. “On the government side, that it is actually a fairly typical thing you will find around the state, where you have certain properties that are particularly special to a city or county, where disposition — getting rid of or radically changing the use of that particular property — would be subject to a referendum vote.”

Future property upgrades, such as an updated clubhouse and pro shop, as well as adding restrooms on the course itself and other potential changes, would still be allowed.

UCF currently has a lease agreement with the city to use Twin Rivers as its golf team’s practice facility, which runs through at least 2057 at $1 per year.

The declaration would not prevent the moving, expanding or upgrading of the practice facilities in the future. UCF, however, would not be able to add an area for visiting teams or others to stay overnight on the property if the declaration’s language remains in its current form.

“I’m not particularly excited about the idea of additional impervious surface being added for anything related to UCF,” Sladek said. “We bought this to stay open.”

Sladek, who has pushed for the golf course to be a conservation easement since the city bought it in 2017, said she anticipates the declaration’s language to be finalized in April.

The course’s operating management company, Down To Earth/SSS Twin Rivers Opco LLC, is in the initial phase of a city-funded audit amid allegations of mismanagement of personnel and operating expenses.

“I think we’ve got to do what we can to make this golf course successful now and into the future,” Councilmember Keith Britton said.

Stormwater project updates

During the March 3 meeting, city officials gave updates on completed and still-in-the-works stormwater projects throughout Oviedo since utility rates were increased in February 2025, leading to millions of dollars in bonds for the improvements.