State Rejects Groveland's Growth Plans

GROVELAND, FL-Eager to start its first planned growth in 25 years, this historic rural South Lake County city of 4,000 residents, located 25 miles west of Downtown Orlando, has suffered a temporary setback. The Florida Department of Community Affairs, which has the final say on all commercial, industrial and residential ventures, has told Groveland officials that its 10 planned annexations of a total 2,600 nearby acres for the development of 3,000 new homes and an undetermined amount of commercial space would lead to urban sprawl.

Groveland city staffers tell GlobeSt.com that city manager Jason Yarborough didn’t accept the Florida agency’s criticisms lightly. “He was particularly upset with the DCA, because they had told him before he had submitted the plans that there weren’t any major concerns” over the annexations,” a staffer says. DCA officials couldn’t be reached at GlobeSt.com’s publication deadline.