Developer and former Orange County Commissioner Scott Boyd is preparing the Johns Lake Urban Village Planned Unit Development, or UVPUD, for consideration by Winter Garden city officials next month, with the project currently in the rezoning stage awaiting approval.
Located near the Lake-Orange county line, the Johns Lake UVPUD is set to contain 613 attached and detached single-family homes on just over 319 acres.
Winter Garden Planning Supervisor Shane Friedman said he is looking to bring the project before the city’s Planning & Zoning Board in May.
McKinnon Corp. — a family company owned and operated by Boyd — has filed plans with the City of Winter Garden to rezone the former citrus groves along Johns Lake into a mixed-use development with housing, parks and a boutique hotel with an event barn and wedding chapel. The property currently has an Urban Village future land use, but is not appropriately zoned.
Boyd and McKinnon Corp. will serve as developers on the project and will retain 3.36 acres of lakefront property where Boyd currently resides.
Preliminary development plans for the Johns Lake UVPUD indicate the community would include a mix of single-family home types across the property and two special districts, one for a potential public school and another for a 31.6-acre resort district.
“We have supported Winter Garden with land purchases and swaps, right-of-way dedications, and advancement of infrastructure,” Boyd wrote about McKinnon Corp. in a statement to GrowthSpotter. “Just west of our project, in Lake County, we were instrumental in advancing a $7 million realignment of Hartwood Marsh Road and a new fire station site for the City of Clermont. With this project, we’ll continue that legacy with Orange County Public Schools and the school site they’ve requested.”
The Johns Lake UVPUD is a proposed community, set along the southern edge of Johns Lake in Winter Garden, planned for 613 homes on just over 319 acres near the Lake-Orange county line. (Provided by AGMCi Planning & Design)
According to Boyd, the rezoning process for the project began “several years ago” after OCPS reached out to discuss acquisition of property in the area. The proposed site would serve as a relief school for Hamlin Elementary School, OCPS Facilities Planning senior specialist Stefani Vitale said earlier this year at a community meeting in January.
Construction would take about three years, should the school district decide to move forward, and there are no current plans to build the school until at least 2036.
Over 30 residents filed letters or emails in opposition to the Johns Lake UVPUD since December last year, with most citing traffic on Marsh Road — the two-lane road bordering the proposed project’s southern edge — and potential impacts from other nearby developments as their main points of concern.
“Despite repeated and specific concerns raised by residents, traffic impacts were not meaningfully addressed,” Winter Garden resident Adam Garcia wrote in an email to Winter Garden city staff. “Marsh Road is already congested and functions as a narrow roadway that is clearly not designed to support the additional traffic generated by more than 600 homes, a school, and commercial uses. No credible explanation was provided demonstrating how Marsh Road can safely or realistically handle this increase in daily and peak-hour traffic.”
Winter Garden resident Tani Nate argued the project would overload Marsh Road and turn commutes into “chaos and gridlock” that could also delay emergency response times.
“The scale of this development puts Johns Lake at long-term risk from stormwater runoff and will negatively impact nearby property values and overall livability,” Nate wrote in an email to Winter Garden staff. “I respectfully ask the City to deny this project and prioritize the safety, infrastructure, and quality of life of existing residents.”
Boyd said the development was designed with interconnectivity and planned with the road network within the nearby Waterside development, including Viscaya Cove Boulevard and Harbor Oak Parkway. Developers are also dedicating land for the extension of Amber Sweet Lane to the Lake County line, which Boyd said will allow for an additional north-south connections should Winter Garden pursue those opportunities with future development.
Nearby roadway projects unrelated to the Johns Lake development — the Central Florida Expressway Authority widening State Road 429, constructing State Road 516, etc. — will “fully mitigate” the traffic impact generated by the project, Boyd said, through constructed roadway improvements and road impact fees.
“While these are not being done for the benefit of this particular project, they will improve traffic in the region and reduce traffic on Hartwood Marsh Road and Avalon Road,” Boyd wrote.
The PUD is designed to accommodate a range of different housing types, from townhomes, cottage homes, village homes and park homes to estate homes and lakefront estate homes.
As part of the Wekiva Study Area, the resort district would meet the open space design standards and maintain a 75-foot continuous buffer between the district boundary and adjacent residential lots, with walking paths, trails, and trail amenities permitted within the buffer.
One of two special districts outlined within the proposed Johns Lake PUD in Winter Garden, plans for this 31.6-acre property include an inn, a restaurant, a wedding chapel, an event barn, a walking trail, a boardwalk with an observation deck and more. (Provided by AGMCi Planning & Design)
The development plan specifies that no more than 40 rooms would be available for overnight guests at the main hotel, bed and breakfast venue, or associated cottages.
Boyd acknowledged he has not been notified of a specific date for the project to move forward to the Winter Garden Planning and Zoning Board, but said he is excited to continue moving through the rezoning process and subsequent design phase should the development receive zoning approval.
“This development continues to implement the long-standing vision of Winter Garden, Orange County, and the state of Florida as this property was originally part of the Horizon West Special Area Plan approved in the mid-1990’s,” he wrote. “Additionally, the design has been thoughtfully and sustainably planned to preserve historic oak trees, embrace the natural character of the land, and enhance the water quality of Johns Lake.”
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