Big Lake Spivey Proposed Development
aka: "Preservation Pointe project"

March 2, 2006
Backers of luxury RV resort not giving up - Even though the developer trimmed the number of units from 810 to 499, the county said it was simply too big to go next to Big Lake Spivey. Attorney John Eden IV said he is considering legal action against the county in the wake of county commissioners’ unanimous vote against a proposed 499-unit RV park on his family’s property. - by Catherine E. Shoichet, St. Petersburg Times

March 1, 2006
Citrus votes down luxury RV resort on lake - County commissioners reject the plan, 5-0. One commissioner says it is too big and incompatible for the residential area. - by Catherine E. Shoichet, St. Petersburg Times

February 28, 2006 -- 10:00p.m.
The Board of County Commissioners unaminously (5-0) denied the proposed amendments to the Citrus County Comprehensive Plan and the Land Development Code Atlas for subject property CPA/AA-06-07 -Redesignation from CL, Low Intensity Coastal and Lakes District to RVP, Recreational Vehicle Park District, on both the LDC Atlas and GFLUM on a portion of Parcel 10000, in Section 15, Township 19S, Range 20E, Citrus County. Citing that it is inconsistent with the overall intent, policies and integrity of the Comprehensive Plan. Its low intensity coastal and lakes area land use is not compatible for this type of high density commercial development.

Land Use Compatibility Training - presentation that explains the comprehensive plan process and explores land use compatibility issues.

NEXT STEP: Department of Community Affairs (DCA) will review the comprehensive plan amendments for compliance with the Growth Management Act.   Other review agencies, including the regional planning councils, water management districts, the Departments of State, Transportation, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission also review comprehensive plans and amendments and issue recommended objections to DCA. The DCA will first issues an Objections, Recommendations and Comments (ORC) report that identifies areas of the proposed plan or proposed amendment that are inconsistent with the provisions of Chapter 163, Part II, F.S.

Comprehensive Plan Amendment Process Flow Chart

February 28, 2006

Board of County Commissioners meeting - Agenda for February 28, 2006

5:01 p.m. PUBLIC HEARING (Transmittal Hearing)
To consider amendments to the Citrus County Comprehensive Plan (Ordinance No. 89-04 as amended) and the Land Development Code Atlas (Ordinance No. 90-14) at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N. Apopka Avenue, Room 100, Inverness, FL 34450:

CPA/AA-06-07 (Kimley-Horn for Eden)
Redesignation from CL, Low Intensity Coastal and Lakes District to RVP, Recreational Vehicle Park District, on both the LDC Atlas and GFLUM on a portion of Parcel 10000, in Section 15, Township 19S, Range 20E, Citrus County. The subject property is intended to be developed as Recreational Vehicle Park. The total acreage for this application is approximately 207 acres. Applicant is Kelley Klepper, AICP of Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc. for John Eden and New Horizon Funding Inc. et.al. c/o Century Realty Funds, Inc.

Your support is needed, please participate in the process by either:

• sending an email,
• or call (352) 341-6560
• or attend the hearing on Feb 28, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. at the Citrus County Courthouse, 110 N. Apopka Avenue, Room 100, Inverness, FL 34450

(when calling or emailing, be sure to ask that your comments be made part of the record for all the commissioners to see)

Community Development Comprehensive Plan for Citrus County, Florida - The Community Development Division oversees the maintenance of the County Comprehensive Plan and Land Development Regulations. The staff includes nine professionals who provide support to the various County boards including the Board of County Commissioners, the Planning and Development Review Board (PDRB), and the Aviation Advisory Board.

Land Development Code for Citrus County, Florida.

Evaluation and Appraisal Reports (EAR)
"...each local government shall adopt an evaluation and appraisal report (EAR) once every seven years assessing the progress in implementing the local government’s comprehensive plan." The report evaluates how successfully a community has been in addressing major community land use planning issues through implementation of its comprehensive plan. Based on this evaluation, the report suggests how the plan should be revised to better address community objectives, changing conditions and trends affecting the community, and to changes in state requirements regarding growth management.

Flow Chart - summarizing the major steps in preparing and adopting the EAR.

Citrus County’s "Letter of Understanding"
Each local government prepares a list of major issues and ask the Department to concur that these are the issues on which the EAR report should focus. Entering into such a "Letter of Understanding" between the Florida Department of Community Affairs Division of Community Planning and the local government will help avoid misunderstandings during the review of the adopted report.

January 25, 2006
RV park backers pitch plan to county - INVERNESS - Developers of a proposed luxury RV resort made their first pitch to the County Commission on Tuesday. The 499-unit, age-restricted recreational vehicle park, dubbed Preservation Pointe, would be located on 207 acres about 3 miles east of Inverness off State Road 44 E. But both supporters and critics of the project said Tuesday that the most important issue was its close proximity to Big Lake Spivey. - by Catherine E. Shoichet, St. Petersburg Times

January 23, 2006
Motor home park would be a boon to county - "Preservation Pointe", will be built to 2006 standards. There will be complete protection of the wetlands. We will only utilize some of the uplands for our project. - Written by guest columnist, Neil Combee, vice president of development for CRF Communities in Lakeland. (CRF Communities is the development company proposing the RV park in close proximity to Big Lake Spivey.), St. Petersburg Times

January 17, 2006
Comprehensive plan should be able to stop RV park - Next week, the County Commission will discuss plans for a 499-unit RV park on Big Lake Spivey in Inverness. Even though the county’s staff has recommended approval, the county’s Planning and Development Review Board has voted against the proposal. - Editorial, St. Petersburg Times

December 18, 2005
Proposed Big Lake Spivey RV park raises red flag - Consider that county rules for the property would allow for only one site-built house per 20 acres and you begin to understand how incompatible this proposal is with the county’s goal of lessening developmental impacts on our fragile waterways. ...It is for that reason that the developers need to have the county rezone the property, which would mean changing the county’s comprehensive plan and the Land Development Code. Doing so would set a troubling precedent for the county. County commissioners should follow the lead of the planning board and send this proposal cruising down the road. - Editorial, St. Petersburg Times

December 16, 2005
Rezoning for RV park rejected - The Planning and Development Review Board on Thursday voted against a zoning change that would allow a developer to build a 499-pad RV park. The 5-2 vote came after nearly two hours of presentations and public comment about the project, which has drawn criticism in recent weeks from homeowners associations and the TOO FAR environmental group. ...TOO FAR president Marco Wilson said the group was concerned about the scale of the project and its impact on wetlands. ...Board member Marion Knudsen said approving the development would be "destruction of our environment to benefit a gigantic, moneymaking big business."- by Catherine E. Shoichet, St. Petersburg Times

October 21, 2005
$2,250,000 offered for water, sewer (Citrus County) - An attorney for the company planning to build an upscale RV resort east of Inverness said his client is willing to pay $2,250,000 of the cost of supplying water and sewer to the project... The proposed resort, which would be developed on the shores of Big Lake Spivey, has yet to receive a recommendation of approval from the Planning and Development Review Board or formal approval by the Citrus County Commission. ...The plan is to develop more than 800 RV units on 150 acres of land. - by Terry Witt