When the Ormond Beach City Commission on Nov. 7 considered the controversial Tomoka Reserve project to convert the former Tomoka Oaks golf course into a 272-home gated community, they were told by the developers' attorney that "conventional" zoning would allow 317 homes.
 

Why the change in direction?

"The Property Owners have concluded that the Commission's decision to remand their application back to the Planning Board ― despite their stated objections — for the purpose of negotiating a 'significant reduction' in the number of residential lots would be an exercise in futility," attorney Karl J. Sanders wrote in a letter dated Nov. 21 to Ormond Beach City Attorney Randy Hayes.

"Accordingly, the Property Owners will be moving forward with their pending application (the 317-home option) to reaffirm their legal right to use and develop their private property."

Sanders is the newly added co-counsel for the developers: real estate investors Carl Velie and Ray Barshay of Ormond Beach and their South Florida business partner Sheldon Rubin.

The developers will continue to also be represented by Merrell and his team of land-use attorneys at Cobb Cole Law Firm in Daytona Beach.
 

Who is the developers' new attorney?

Sanders on his LinkedIn.com page describes himself as president of KJS Law PA in Ponte Vedra. His primary practice "focuses on representation of corporate and individual landowners in connection with real estate development entitlements, including local land use/zoning regulations and all aspects of local government law." He also offers "litigation services before quasi-judicial administrative and judicial officers in both original and appellate proceedings."

Developers withdraw previous plan

Sanders in his letter informed the city that his clients decided to withdraw their previous application for a Planning Residential District development order. That proposal would have called for the creation of 272 house lots surrounded by a natural landscaped buffer around the perimeter of at least 50 feet in width.

Instead, under R-2 zoning, the developers would only be required to create a six-foot-wide perimeter buffer.

"Although the property owners continue to believe that their most recent changes to the PRD Development Order proposal (calling for 272 single-family lots with extensive buffering and other site enhancements) reflects a development plan which offers significant public benefits for both the neighboring property owners and the city, they also recognize their legal rights to develop the property in accordance with the conventional zoning district regulations associated with the R-2 zoning district — the original zoning designation for the property (and the current zoning designation for the residential neighborhoods surrounding the property)," Sanders wrote.

Why is the project controversial?

The developers, doing business as Triumph Oaks of Ormond Beach LLC, bought the former 18-hole golf course for $2.6 million in April 2021.

The Sam Snead course opened in the early 1960s, surrounded by a 547-home golf community called Tomoka Oaks. The community, which is non-gated, is off Nova Road, roughly a mile north of The Trails Shopping Center.

The golf course used to include a two-story clubhouse that had a restaurant and banquet facilities as well as a golf pro shop. The clubhouse closed in 2018 which was when the golf course also stopped being staffed. The building has since been torn down.

What makes the proposed Tomoka Reserve project different from other proposed residential subdivisions is that the gated community would be completely surrounded by an existing non-gated community and would only have one narrow road in and out: Tomoka Oaks Boulevard, which connects with Nova Road. Tomoka Oaks Boulevard is also the only way in and out of the older Escondido condominium community.

In addition to concerns over increased traffic, some Tomoka Oaks residents, including those whose homes are currently along the former golf course, have been pushing for the Tomoka Reserve property to either be restored as a golf course or turned into a park.

Other area residents have conceded the developers' right to build homes, but want the number of house lots to be significantly reduced with lots on the perimeter to be at least 100 feet in width to match the existing house lots for homes at Tomoka Oaks that are along the former golf course.

The developers held numerous neighborhood meetings and revised their plans for Tomoka Reserve to reduce the number of proposed house lots from 276 to 272. They also appeared before the Ormond Beach Planning Board at three separate meetings in July, August and September. Each lasted several hours and included public comments from dozens of area residents as well as traffic, landscaping and planning experts. The Planning Board at its meeting in September voted unanimously to recommend that the City Commission reject the developers' proposal.

"We have spent almost three years trying to get to the decision makers at the City Commission," said Velie in a text message on Wednesday. "To have them remand us back to the Planning Board was an exercise in futility."

How does the new state law factor into this?

Sanders in his letter to the city wrote that the Florida Legislature in passing the Community Development Act earlier this year "has expressly directed all local governments in this State 'to recognize and respect judicially acknowledged or constitutionally protected rights.'"

The letter also quoted a section of the Community Development Act stating that, "Property owners must be free from actions by others which would harm their property, or which would constitute an inordinate burden on property rights ... Full and just compensation or other appropriate relief must be provided to any property owner for a governmental action that is determined to be an invalid exercise of the police power which constitutes a taking, as provided by law."

In light of the new state law and the City of Ormond Beach's own adoption of a "property rights element" in its Comprehensive Plan, Sanders in his letter wrote that "R-2 zoning district regulations must be applied uniformly to all parcels assigned with that zoning designation."

He added, "There are no site-specific development standards for the city to consider in determining the 'compatibility' of a proposed development with neighboring properties."

The former golf course property, according to Sanders' letter, was originally assigned an "R-2" zoning designation prior to the City Commission's adoption in 2006 of an agreement with the property's then-owner that would have allowed him to develop residential units in the center of the site while maintaining the golf course. That agreement expired several years ago as the proposed housing development was never built.

Tomoka Oaks HOA 'ready' for legal fight

Jim Rose, chair of the golf course committee for the Tomoka Oaks Homeowners Association, on Wednesday said that his group was not surprised by the developers' latest move.

"We do not believe it's a slam dunk for them," said Rose of the developers' stated intention to pursue R-2 zoning approval. "We think we have legal positions that we can assert. We're ready to go."

Rose declined to reveal specifics regarding the HOA's legal strategy to combat the developers' plans.