Various deadlines have come and gone in the last decade and the 1,434-acre project still hasn't seen a turned shovel. Now the project is up against the metaphorical wall.

Environmentalists and anti-development forces are readying a pitch they will make Jan. 22 to Lake County commissioners at their regular monthly session in the county seat of Tavares, FL. The anti-development forces want the county to buy the tract from Orlando developers Karick Price and former banker Willoughby T. Cox for a low-ball price of $11.5 million or $8,025 per acre (18 cents per sf).

Environmentalists envision a recreational heaven, overlooking Lake Apopka, above the 350-foot high pile of dirt, 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando. Sugarloaf Mountain is the highest tract in Central Florida and one of the highest in the state.