County delays decision on Sand Lake Sound boat ramp

After more than an hour of discussion and debate, the Orange County Commission on Nov. 19 decided to delay a decision regarding a proposal to build a semi-private boat ramp facility on Little Sand Lake in Meritage Homes’ Sand Lake Sound community in Dr. Phillips.

Meritage and the Sand Lake Sound Homeowners Association Inc. requested the facility to be built at 7565 Alpine Butterfly Lane, Orlando.

The proposal includes a 12-foot-wide boat ramp that extends 66 feet waterward of the normal high water elevation of Little Sand Lake. The HOA proposed to dredge 67.56 cubic yards of lake-bottom sediment within a 12-feet-wide-by-about-50-feet-long channel at the end of the concrete ramp to provide for adequate water depth and navigation. 

Additionally, a companion boat dock, as required by Orange County Code, would be constructed adjacent to the ramp. 

The facility only would be open to Sand Lake Sound residents and their guests. Sand Lake Sound is a gated community that includes 77 single-family homes (60 with lake access and 34 with direct access to Little Sand Lake) and 106 townhomes, said Vivien Monaco, an attorney with Watson Sloane, who represented the HOA.

The boat ramp would be open from dawn to dusk, she said.

However, the ramp proposal has drawn criticism from neighboring communities, who were concerned the project would further open the channel between Little Sand Lake and Big Sand Lake. 

Tim Hay, HOA president of the nearby 436-home Sand Lake Point community, spoke against the project. He said the channel already is large and deep enough for boats to navigate, and he and his neighbors already are experiencing flooding issues.

“The big problem I see is Little Sand Lake has a much higher natural high-water mark than Big Sand Lake,” he said. “We’re flooded on Big Sand Lake. Our environmental swales are underwater, and 50% of our boat docks are underwater, also. Homeowners in Sand Lake Sound want a high-water level, because then they can get through this channel. We don’t want a high-water level. So you’re going to have conflicts in the future.” 

Monaco said the project would not open the channel further and offered to include that as a condition for approval.

The largest point of contention pertained to the original 2017 approval documents for the Sand Lake Sound community.

Kurt Kotzin, president of the 52-home Venezia of Orange County HOA, said according to a conservation area impact permit issued at that time, no community ramps were permitted.

“That should be enough to deny the application,” he said. 

Several Sand Lake Sound residents spoke in favor of the project and said they purchased their homes because of their proximity to the lake. Moreover, their homes include dock rights, but without a ramp, those rights are rendered useless, they said. 

“We really want to have this boat ramp established and properly built,” Sand Lake Sound resident Tracy Chen said. “We purchased (our homes) … based on the inclusion of our dock rights … to Little Sand Lake. In this community, we have 34 properties … directly facing Little Sand Lake, and we have the dock rights. However, how do you have the dock rights without having a boat ramp that’s properly built?”

District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson questioned why the boat ramp wasn’t included at the time of the development’s approval.

“I feel really bad, because … the residents at Sand Lake Sound were sold something, a promise, and then the Board of County Commissioners in 2017 was also sold a promise,” Wilson said. “And those two promises were absolutely conflicting.”

During discussion, Wilson asked Monaco why the Sand Lake Sound HOA declined to participate in a public community meeting.

However, Monaco said the HOA did not decline but rather wanted to meet with Wilson and her staff first before scheduling a community meeting but was unable to do so.

“When the community meeting was requested, we did speak to your aides and said we would entertain a community meeting (and) we wanted to meet with you in person,” Monaco said to Wilson. “Unfortunately, I know that was a difficult time for you and that wasn’t possible.”

Monaco said the HOA wanted a chance to hear Wilson’s concerns before stepping into a community meeting. 

Demings, who lives in close proximity to the proposed boat dock, suggested continuing the discussion to a later date. Wilson made the motion, and it passed.