Is the RV park proposal appropriate?

Residents in the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement area voiced mixed opinions on a proposed special exception request for an RV park with up to 277 camping sites at a community meeting hosted by Orange County’s zoning division Thursday, July 18.

Applicant Robert Ziegenfuss, represented by Old Florida Groves leaders Preston Hage and Jake Schrimsher at the meeting, is proposing the sites along with myriad amenities, including a clubhouse with a pool and amenity facility, event barn, a museum and discovery center, and a farm core area.

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The 84.6-acre property is located at 5872 Rex Drive, Winter Garden, which is on the west side of Rex Drive, north of McKinney Road, southwest of Cork Street and east of the Lake County boundary line.

The property is zoned Citrus Rural District, and its Future Land Use is Rural Settlement. 

Hage and Schrimsher said they met with District 1 Commissioner Nicole Wilson and representatives from the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement and Avalon Home and Property Owners Association several times prior to the community meeting.

“We’ve owned this since 2021, and we’ve been trying to find a plan that’s good for the environment, that’s good for the community, that works for our guests and works for our ownership,” Schrimsher said. “We’ve been working hard to find a win-win for everyone, and we mean that.” 

OLD FLORIDA GROVES

Orange County planner Taylor Jones said RV parks and campgrounds require a special exception to be approved.

In addition to needing a special exception, applicants must comply with additional code standards in the zoning code, specific to RV parks and campgrounds.

A traffic study is required to be submitted as part of the request.

Old Florida Groves’ vision is to provide a world-class, immersive agri-tourism campground that allows guests to experience and learn about Florida agriculture from past, present and into the future.

Hage and Schrimsher said they want to conserve and preserve the property as much as possible, and the 40-acre citrus grove will remain on the front of the property.

The two said well and wastewater treatment will be provided on-site with best practices, and no extension of urban services will occur. 

Their goal is to have no new traffic, and they said they will be proactive to fulfill the goal, although it cannot be guaranteed. To help accomplish this, check-in times will be during the middle of the day, there will be a multitude of signs to make sure people do not stray from the paths, and the aim is to keep people on-site so they do not need to leave the property.

The pair clarified the project is not a trailer park and is specifically an RV park, with no mobile homes or long-term guests.

Hage and Schrimsher’s goal is to seamlessly integrate the project with the surroundings of the community, so as not to be intrusive. The campsites will be hidden on the back of the property, and the area is heavily wooded with lots of buffers from the community. The project will utilize dark sky lighting, there will be quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m., and the property will not have an outdoor sound amplification system.

RESIDENT OPINIONS

Residents at the meeting appeared to be largely opposed to the proposed project, citing its location near a water treatment plant and concrete yard, as well as its incompatibility with the rural settlement.

However, some saw potential benefits, including accommodation for high-ends RVs and increased local spending.

Local resident Kevin Hand said it’s important for people to understand the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement was established many years ago to protect against development within the rural community.

“These protections still exist today and will continue to exist through the efforts and dedication of the amazing, hard-working people within our community who fight on our behalf day in and day out,” he said. “Simply because land exists here doesn’t mean it can be picked off at will without any concern for our community. No matter how an applicant or an investor wants to package something and call it agri-tourism ... the reality is they are all nothing short of a trojan horse. These changes in zoning requests will decimate our community and some of the last undeveloped land in West Orange County.”

Local resident Christopher Newhart said the project feels out of place.

“We live in a nearby community in Hamlin, and all residents I’ve heard from do not want this here,” he said. “If you look across Facebook groups, it is a lot of the same. Several concerns, including traffic, noise and transience. The company has other RV parks, and the reviews are not good. ... It seems to be a short-term rental loophole and close to Disney, which would otherwise not be allowed in this area or Orange County, which is concerning and also frustrating, as everyone surrounding the park can not rent a house out for less than a long-term lease. How are they getting around this? People think it will be a workaround ‘hotel’ for Disney visitors traveling all throughout our local neighborhoods and roads to get there. 

“Two hundred and seventy-seven RVs seems like far too much,” he said. “They are trying to spin it through the loophole of county-run agriculture tourism, but who actually believes people will be traveling to see half-dead citrus trees? They know what they are doing; they are real-estate investors. Horizon West in general has had enough special request or rezoning variances accepted, and we can’t even get a large big-box gym here. 

“Dream Finders (homes) also has a new community coming almost across the street from this, where the diocese lot is,” Newhart said. “Other builders have plans around that area, as well. I would imagine this would be a huge red flag for potential buyers looking to move to those communities, and the builders I doubt would be on board with this. I would never buy a house next to an RV resort. It is a detriment, not an incentive to the area.”

Laurie Forrester and Art Slowe, both representing the Avalon Home and Property Owners Association, said the organization found the applicants to be receptive to the concerns of the Lake Avalon community.  

“During multiple meetings, they have listened to our concerns and have significantly altered their plan to accommodate and mitigate them,” they said. “Agri-tourism is regulated at the state level, and they meet all the stated qualifications. As such, our community is focused on affecting those portions of the OFG agri-tourism project where we have influence to mitigate its impacts by using conditions of approval contained in the special exception document. ... An RV campground is an allowable use for parcels zoned A-1, subject to a special exception. A-1 zoned parcels are prevalent in the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement. Thus, our options for shaping the effect on our community come down to the conditions set forth and required by the special exception.”

Forrester and Slowe believe the primary concern expressed regarding the project was RV and car traffic, specifically at the intersection of Avalon and McKinney roads.  

“There was some concern about large RVs using alternate routes through the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement to reach the proposed facility,” they said. “Many of the road and traffic issues brought up are the responsibility of the county, not the applicant. We understand development and change is inevitable in West Orange County. We are no longer the orange groves that used to surround Orlando. We are now where Greater Orlando lives, sleeps, plays and commutes. As such, we have been diligent in our efforts to mitigate the effects of growth in our rural settlement. This project will help us preserve significant grove agriculture and tree canopy in our community. Our community must consider what will happen to this parcel if this project doesn’t materialize. It’s certainly conceivable that whatever might follow could be considerably more detrimental to our community.”

Based on the feedback the applicants received from the meeting, they said they are now working on a plan to reduce the number of camping sites.

The project next will be discussed at a Board of Zoning Adjustment meeting scheduled for Sept. 5, followed by a Orange County Board of County Commissioners meeting at a date to be determined.