HomeMy WebLinkAboutHighlands-1980/1994/1996 Highlands residents vote downi
increases in development fee
By BILE.BURGER On thegeven-member board of directors, FjBIfY
sews sasraise -Land has five representatives, while hom
WESTER SPRINGS —About 200 an residents have two. Florida Land and other developer'
• The Highlands have'reiected a proposed 30 per- hold the majority.of votes in the homeowners', -
cent increase in their annual assessment for mainte. elation. Developers have more than 2,000 vote.—
H ance and staffing at the development. Florida Land has 1,095 of those—while homeown-
As.a result,residents-of the more than 600 homes ers have 612 votes in the association.and condominiums in the development probably Florida Land officials told the crowd that the aaso-
collection next year. elation Is "being squeezed" because the number.of
•wdfi pay for their night garbage new residents entering the community has slowed.
At a Monday night mse the the residents voted
unanimously$297 1 against raising$ .80 increase. The fee, the They ifference between the rapidly c rising cannot
mcoossts of
to $297 to 1981 m a n r, pays for the upkeep of maintaining the development and assessments,
charged to scan homeowner, goys which have been going.up 5 percent a year. .
main grounds and the staffing of the development's According to the development's charter, any as-
The community's and recreational of facilities. sessment increase of more than 5 percent has to be
The community's board of directors, which Pro approved by the homeowners' woe ti Before
posed the increase, told the residents that the cur- the meeting,Andrew sown rs' wet.of the asso
., net amoral assessment could no longer pay for the anon and a vice Florida La of Florida Land,ndtold
*fuse service.' - - homeowners that lorida Land would
that Fior- majority of the residents.
{ 3l Lan Co.,de l per of The charged He said if the residents voted against the increase,
ids Land railroad developer r The assessment. Florida Land board would the
• Is of voting cconttrrol higher
the community's lboard of de, ble 5 percent to $240, but M
sa►tors and the Highlands Homeowners' Assoc'. the residents'
year t ' gaarbageeatea
. .Bon.
Sunday sampler
WHAT'S ON THE MARKET
W1.r. - II H1$ �M
`4 Ur MC 1
E '' GATHERING �'i .I.
ROOM ■
« 13'4'X 18'8" I j MASTER SUITE��
I , i 15'0'X12'0' r'l
I! "as.
rr rcw.l i Iry rw "' L�/
,, Nillignmil � 11 • Ir. t �iA■■■MRX ;/ I��c. ■ r.`8:1
i ii■ or■w � AST I�,r .
ile MI-r• ... liUMW
The MacAlpin model at Highland Lake. Floor 'J ! '.!! iF
a.i DINING On
plan, J-12. :$a i/i'Ii -
WINTER SPRINGS w 4"X1 ' ;�"1
� 11'4'X 11'0' ANr
he Highlands has been attracting new-home `' NMI� �
T buyers since the late 1970s.The latest
ASV Ti
El
y _ GRAND
builder to open a subdivision there is P.E.I. ROOM I
Homes,which has a model center at Highland — � ■��• :w. i 15'0'X 23'0' 1q l
Lake. N• FBI 1 Q■l6
Prices range from$99,990 to$129,990.Living K.wr LIVING
areas range from 1,386 to 2,456 square feet.There : ;;;A la,■„i QAa;
are two models. Four basic floor plans are — I Ni5:-e
SUITE 3
available. 4 Mimi •
11'4"X11'0 �>A■■ ■n
The minimum lot size is 50 by 110 feet. P.E.I --- .r war.ASV, A■ IM .�
plans to build 41 houses in the subdivision. .,., `� �■ ��' Q j�� ���+=s
The MacAlpin model has three bedrooms,21 ii..e.`_�i',r ■■• OM sr
baths and 2,456 square feet.The house has a ,D_„w *■0 LO"�
covered porch,ceramic tile in the kitchen,foyer 2 CAR GARAGE Oe LOGGIA'
and master bath and natural-gas appliances. is'5'X 10'q' o 1';
The base price is$129,990. 10'CLG alN GARDEN
The MacAlpin model is designed with the = 11'0'X i 1 5"
concept of"flex space"in mind,said Richard Q 2
Levine,president.The model has a garden room n W
near the entry,similar to an old-fashioned front ®a OFT.e.I..r�...u..
porch.But that same space also could be built as
another bedroom,an in-law suite with its own bath, Ire{
a third-car garage or it L
( could be eliminated The MacAlpin
Ir, Highland for cost savings.
Lakes The subdivision is Location: Highland Lake, off McGregor
next to the Winter
(�. � h Road, east of Sheoah Boulevard, in the
Springs golf course. Winter Springs community of The High
The Highlands has a lands.
MacGregor 4,000-square-foot
Sheoah Rd. clubhouse,a Square footage: 2,456.
Blvd. Base price: $129,990.
ecommunity pool and Features: Three bedrooms, 21/2 baths, a
E four lighted tennis covered porch, ceramic tile in the kitchen,
WINTER SPRINGS courts. foyer and master bath and natural-gas ap-
To get there from pliances.
Orlando,take Interstate 4 north to State Road 434.
Builder: P.E.I. Homes.
Go east to the city of Winter Springs. Go to Sheoah
Boulevard and turn left. Go to MacGregor Road
and turn right.Go about a half-mile to the entrance g of Highland Lakes. % 170 A /
—JOE KILSHEIMER /
Winter Springs
drops support for .
Workers to tun S.R. 434
Into 1 lane Thursday night
business rezoning WINTER SPRINGS — Con-
struction workers will narrow
State Road 434 to one lane in front
of the post office from 8 p.m.
D The former city manager Highlands residents oppose any Thursday until 2 am:Friday.
more commercial and industrial crews will stop and direct
had offered to back property, fearing it will infringe Flag
traffic in both directions.
development, but on their community. Cr ews are worldnc
on utility lines
Highlands residents Buddy Balagia, the county's along road,which is being wd-
principal planner, said that from ened 0® lanes More
persuaded commissioners his home in the Highlands he can t `-' pie mod than 4,to oppose it. hear noise from a nearby car deal- "t tt '
ership on U.S.Highway 17-92. s
By Will Wellona ''We don't need any more Car&Ohn .-" .*test
y noise."he said. motorists dike Sawa
OF THE SENTINEL STAFF Winter Springs, though, has no He also recommended drivers
real control over the proposed de- take another route Thursday
velopment. The county planning
WINTER SPRINGS — The city night. Police will have-extra of-
has dropped its support of a corn- and zoning board is expected to eery monitoring traffic.
mereizl development proposed consider the project June 3. Coun-
along County Road 419 after doz- ty commissioners could discuss it
ens of residents in the nearby July 23.
Highlands community pressured Winter Springs commissioners
city commissioners. asked the developer to consider
Duke Properties is seeking per- allowing the city to annex the
mission from Seminole County to property.
rezone about 13 acres north of Ed- "It needs to be in the city,so we
gemon Avenue on the city's edge can control it," Mayor John Bush
from agricultural to commercial said.
and industrial. Bush cited similarities to the
Former city manager John Go-
planned mall in Oviedo in which
voruhk agreed to support the Winter Springs had to sit back
county rezoning if the owners while the county and Oviedo de-
would agreed to annex the land cided how Oviedo Crossing would
into the city. Govoruhk also be developed,
agreed that the city would provide City manger Ron McLemore
water and sewer services, said he is willing to work with
However, the agreement was residents and developers to find
never approved by city commis- solutions that everyone can ac-
sioners. cept.
Facing a packed City Hall cham- "This is going to be a difficult
ber Monday night, commissioners piece of property to develop," he
dumped the former manager's said.
deal. Commissioners voted unani- A representative of Duke Prop-
mously to oppose the develop- erties said the company wants to
ment without taking comments be a good neighbor, but was not
from the residents. ready to make any commitments.
"I feel like it is totally incom- Jim Lup.an agent for the devel-
patible, Commissioner John Feu oper, said the company would
ring said of the project. have to review its options.
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Winter Springs Council meeting :
Highlands residents win a round
By LINDA HUMPHREY
Round two went to The Highlands homeowners July 24 when suit that in name was brought by the Tuscawilla Homeowners Asso-
the Seminole County Planning and Zoning Board unanimously ciation,but apparently was being funded in part by a developer of a
opposed Duke Properties Development request to rezone 13 acres rival mall site.
near the residential community. It was believed that the City lost out on an agreement that had
The first victory was realized after the Winter Springs City been reached with the developer ofthcO'icdo project which resulted
Commission voted to not provide water and sewer to Duke in a loss of almost one million dollars to 'Amer Springs.
who wants to bring light commercial and possibly warehouses to Weinberg told the commission the' were some serious ethical
the area which is home to about 1200 people. issues concerning the conduct of the rival developer and law firm,
Behind the controversy is a 1995 agreement with Duke signed however,if there are criminal issues,they are not the responsibility of
by former City Manager John Govonthk to provide water and the City or the commission. It would be a matter for the U.S.Attorney
sewer for the property. City Attorney Frank Kruppenbacher told or the State Attorney's office.
the commission at the July 22 meeting that although Govornhk Weinberg said the bottom line is whether or not the City has a
acted without the commission's approval his intent was for the cause of action and,if so,is it worth pursuing."Is there a justifiable,
good of the City."Your former city manager believed he was imple- economic reason to bring a lawsuit?"Weinberg asked.
menting your desire to expand the city limits...the issue now is did He concluded by stating that while there is absolutely a cause of
he or did he not have authority," action that exists for interfering with a business relationship,he does
Kruppenbacher said. He went on to say that now, based not recommend the City bring suit.He said,"Even if you were suc-
upon objectives from homeowners to a proposed project the corn- cessful in establishing the elements of interfering..you would have
mission has come in and said they don't want to provide water serious question regarding damages."
and sewer hoping to kill the zoning. "If they were going to put
million dollar homes in there,T don't think the issue of providing
potable water and sewer wood be rolling around in here," he
added.
Highlands resident Holly Heath said Monday she is very
excited about the County's decision.She and many others within
the subdivision have worked diligently to stop Duke's efforts to
bring commercial industry into that area.Heath,who put together
a detailed presentation for the planning and zoning board, said
before moving into The Highlands one year ago, she had saved
for 10 years to be able to own in the unique community. The
Highlands have been here since 1973.We're one of Winter Springs
first and finest still today,"said Heath.To back her claim,Heath
refers to the 1992 publication titled The 99 Best Residential and
Recreational Communities in America for Vacation,Retirement,
and Investment Planning. by Giese. Thornton and Kinnaman.
The Highlands is listed in the book as one of the 99 ideal loca-
tions.
Heath and other residents are prepared to go before the
county commissioners and plead their rase."I used to live a couple
of miles from here before we moved.I would ode my bike through
the trails. It was a goal of mine to live here.It's incredible and we
want to keep it that way,"she added.
The issue will go before the Seminole County Commission-
d
ers August 13.
In other business at the July 22 meeting, the commission
heard a report by Tampa attorney Sandy Weinberg. Weinberg
was paid$10,000 by the City about two months ago to evaluate
and make recommendations regarding civil and/or criminal issues
stemming from the Oviedo mall project.
Questions arose last year regarding an Orlando law firm
that allegedly arranged for the secret funding of a law suit which
was represented as being harmful to the City of Winter Springs.A