Developers seek approval for 348-home subdivision in Sorrento

A development group led by Winter Park luxury homebuilder Charlie Clayton is seeking approval from Lake County for a 348-home subdivision on 200 acres just south of the Eagle Dunes golf community in Sorrento.

Clayton is one of five investors who paid $2.15 million in 2015 for the Sorrento Pines property just east of Eustis. On Tuesday they will ask Lake County Commissioners to approve a land use change and Planned Unit Development zoning for the property that was once slated for a solar farm.

The conceptual plan calls for a community with four lot sizes ranging in size from 6,000 square feet to 1 full acre. The plan submitted by Poulos & Bennett calls for 14 one-acre lots on the southern and eastern boundary of the neighborhood. The development matrix consists of 103 50-foot lots, 159 60-foot lots and 72 70-foot lots.

The Concept Plan depicts a 200-foot buffer along on the southwestern portion of the property, adjacent to the property located on the east-side of Equestrian Trail. Additionally, the developer proposes to retain the existing natural buffers located along the perimeter of the site, including the large forested area and buffer located along the south and western edges of the property.

County staff is recommending approval of the PUD and Low Density Residential land use, noting that the community would provide a transition between the rural communities to the south and the Sorrento Springs neighborhood immediately to the north. The case went before the county’s Planning and Zoning Board in November, but the vote was tied so it moves forward without a recommendation.

Clayton’s partners are Bill Roll, Thomas Hewitt, Robert Hewitt and Jamie Poulos.

In 2016, the group reached a tentative agreement to buy an additional 198 acres immediately west of the property from the City of Eustis. The land was formerly used as a spray field for treated effluent from the city wastewater treatment facility. City Commissioners declared the land surplus and approved the $1.5 million sale in 2016, but the Sorrento Pines group ultimately did not close on the property.

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