Commission Meeting Agenda Item

On Monday, April 20, 2020, the Town Commission approved a Major Modification to Site Plan 09/19-001 for a Sales Office and Administration Building for the Water Oak Country Club Estates. As part of the approval of the modification, a Memorandum of Understanding was concurrently executed with Sun Communities Finance, LLP to provide a period of 18 months for the addition of two wells to effectively reach minimum fire flow requirements.

Pursuant to Item 6 of the Memorandum of Understanding, no less than 30 days in advance of the expiration date, the owners may appeal to the Town Commission for an extension of the agreement upon providing justification as to why all conditions could not be met in the afforded timeframe of 18 months. The initial 18-month term is set to expire on October 20, 2021. The applicant submitted a letter to the Growth Management Department, dated September 17, 2021, requesting an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding for an additional 18 months.

On October 5, 2021, a justification statement was submitted by Daniel R. Gibbs, PE of Atwell stating that, “Due to impacts and uncertainty from the Covid-19 pandemic, many Sun Communities expansions were paused in order for Sun to focus on core business, resulting in a delay to the construction of the phase where the Water Treatment Plant is located. The pandemic has also greatly increased engineering and approval times, construction costs, and material availability, as well as a continuing backlog as additional stakeholders recover from the Covid pandemic.” Mr. Gibbs further asserts that, “While the site does not currently meet the commercial fire flow requirements, the area does meet the residential fire flow requirements. The Sales Center and Administration Buildings are relatively small and located only a [half] mile from a Lake County Fire Station. Should a fire occur, the response time from the Fire Station would be as short as it possibly could be.”

Should the extension request be granted, the date of expiration would be set as April 20, 2023.