Mount Dora Business and Real Estate

PROPOSED MOUNT DORA DEVELOPMENT SET FOR DEC. 3 PUBLIC HEARING

12/2/2019

UPDATE 12/17/2019: The development passed at its final public hearing on December 17 with a 5-2 vote by Mount Dora City Council.
UPDATE 12/3/2019: Mount Dora City Council passed the rezoning application at the December 3 public hearing with the inclusion of the caveats added by the city's Planning and Zoning Board. A required second public meeting will be held at an upcoming city council meeting.

It’s the only tract of land of its kind within Mount Dora’s city limits. On Tuesday evening, December 3 (see updates above), Mount Dora City Council will hold a public hearing for rezoning of a proposed new development titled “Cottages on 11th," which would have a maximum of 27 luxury, single-family homes.

The hilltop 10.9-acre property with a view of Lake Dora is between 11th Avenue and Old U.S. Highway 441 near Helen Street, just west of downtown. The land can be identified by its old orange groves perched on the hill a short distance past the van Gogh House.

The application seeks approval to allow for narrower lots, but remain within the 2.5 acre density currently allowed. The applicant for the Planned Unit Development (PUD) rezoning is Florida Realty and Development, Inc.

The developer’s stated vision includes:

Prices ranging from $650,000 to over $1 million.
Two points of access on 11th Avenue. (One will be full access, while the other will only be an entrance)
Smaller lots for ease of maintenance.
Homes designed in the character and appeal of historic Mount Dora.
Varied lot sizes to provide a varied streetscape.
A park and recreational amenities for its residents.

Emphasis on landscaping
The area just north of Old Highway 441 will be used as open space and retention.
The 1.05-acre lakefront “parcel” located to the south of Old Highway 441 will be donated to the CIty and remain natural vegetation and serve as open space for the community.
A staggered contribution to the City’s Public Arts Fund totaling $54,000 once the development is completed and all lots are sold.

The development and its rezoning is not without public opposition. Several neighbors have voiced their concerns at public meetings throughout the rezoning application process.

The public hearing will be during the Mount Dora City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 3 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. Comments from the public are allowed.

ABOVE: Cottages on 11th site plan submitted by developer in August.

10 Comments

Tom

12/3/2019 10:11:06 am

A sad move. Cramming in expensive houses in order to get more money from property taxes. What made MD attractive was it's small town artsy flavor which is disappearing as more of it's charm is being taken away. Gentrification is destroying many places and making them livable by only the wealthy. Investors buy up property and raise rents so that artist and small businesses cannot afford to be there and MD will no longer be the quaint little village.

judith white

12/3/2019 02:04:20 pm

I do agree with Tom.

12/3/2019 12:39:00 pm

At those price points it is doubtful that these homes will be purchased by investors to rent. Bringing affluent homeowners to shop in the local stores and art galleries is a good thing.

Tom Duncan

12/9/2019 12:59:48 pm

In too many small quaint towns the people in government to often think in terms of "how can we change our town" instead of "what we have is wonderful how do we keep it this way.

hairypalms@protonmail.com

12/12/2019 02:47:04 pm

Considering the state of Florida is in a rather horrifying ecological free fall, deciding to destroy more of the natural environment to build homes for wealthy boomers seems a tad inappropriate. Just a little bit...

Further, the city council does not represent the people of Mount Dora, by their continued actions they have shown they represent wealthy profiteers who only have their own self interest in mind. Hey, everything else is corrupt in FL, why not join the club right?

And instead of building more homes for the wealthy why don't they just make use the exorbitant amount of empty spaces already sitting empty in the city for years - Oh wait, I forgot those are for Ken Mazik's Main Street Leasing and other real estate parasites on the community to use as investment properties, not for humans to use for something useful. How silly of me.

Mount Dora is under rule of the shyster class, the rich have identified a place artists and artisans made nice and the rich come to buy everything up. Now the type of people who made the place nice to begin with decades ago can't even afford to live here.

Let's call it a mini retirement version of San Francisco.

Dennis Pelaez

12/21/2019 09:18:19 am

More parks and common areas would be nice

Donna

1/2/2020 09:21:39 am

Ms Burnett & Ms Stile will get my vote in the future. Are they the only council members with a true sense of what our community is asking for? Keep this vote in mind at our next election.

Jackie

1/2/2020 09:54:37 am

Issues began with the Planning and Zoning Committee approved initial variances without really looking into the issues and studies regarding traffic, etc. So sad that our P&Z group is opposed to maintaining Mount Dora's charm and uniqueness and obviously in favor of potential tax revenues no matter how the residents of our town feel. Maybe we need some new P&Z members who will stand up variances on everything!

Tony

1/3/2020 11:11:22 am

The city had a chance to purchase the property and did not do so. Could have made a lovely park. Mount Dora just never gets it right. Look how tasteful Winter Garden and Winter park's downtowns are. Classic colors and great vegetation MD has cotton candy Aqua and various color buildings that don't fit the area. We are not a beach town. Hopefully the homes will be classic old Florida architecture and make other homes in MD looks out of place.

Linda

1/4/2020 04:05:28 pm

I agree very much with the above comments. We seem to be catering more and more to the wealthy and trying to do everything to please developers rather than those of us who live here. In spite of increasing the tax base our property taxes are going up, streets are becoming more crowded, There is less affordable housing, and less green space. The only ones who seem happy with this trend are the developers and real estate people. It appears very hard to get the city Council to listen to the citizens. They seem bent on growth and making us another Clermont or Altamonte Springs -Two areas that have become too crowded to be livable.

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PROPOSED MOUNT DORA DEVELOPMENT SET FOR DEC. 3 PUBLIC HEARING

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