Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s expansion into rural Lake County is on hold as neighbors and opponents of the flight training center press county commissioners to stop the project, according to a report in GrowthSpotter.
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Embry-Riddle purchased a 119-acre portion of the Deep Woods Ranch property in Paisley last July, with plans to turn the site into a new training facility by paving an existing private airstrip and developing a 10,000-square-foot aircraft hangar, among other proposed changes.
The property for Deep Woods Ranch, located about 50 miles from the Embry-Riddle main campus in Daytona Beach, has been issued a Conditional Use Permit, or CUP, that was amended in 2006 to extend the right of use of the existing airstrip for anticipated future owners.
After initially filing plans to rezone the property last year, the university withdrew its application and chose to operate under the terms of the existing CUP.
Embry-Riddle later submitted a site plan for the proposed airstrip and hangar in December, according to county planning staff, though the plan has not yet received administrative approval from the county. The application still requires additional permits from the St. Johns River Water Management District and the USDA Forest Service.
Since the Lake County Board of County Commissioners’ meeting on June 9, residents at each subsequent board meeting have repeatedly requested a public hearing be held to discuss the Embry-Riddle site plan application.
As recently as the Aug. 4 commission meeting, residents asked for a public hearing to determine whether the project would exceed the scope of the 2006 CUP amendment.
While the permit allows for the paved airstrip and hangar, regardless of rezoning, Embry-Riddle previously agreed to voluntary restrictions meant to assuage the concerns of local residents wary of the campus.
Only single-engine aircraft will be allowed to land or take off from the property, with no flights allowed between sunset and sunrise or during inclement weather. Unaffiliated third-party use is prohibited at the site, with the exception of the forestry department in emergencies.
Students will not be allowed to use any drone, autonomous vehicle, unmanned aerial vehicle or unmanned aerial system on the campus site.
All lighting for the hangar must be ‘dark sky’ lighting — lighting designed to direct light to the ground — and the runway will have no lighting, including for evening use. Under current limitations, the campus will mostly be used for flight training.
County planning staff told commissioners that if they wanted to reopen the CUP, the board must first vote to begin a county-initiated rezoning review process.
With county commissioners slated for a rezoning discussion during their board meeting earlier this week, GrayRobinson attorney Billy Dove, representing Deep Woods Ranch property owner Richard Graham, requested tabling consideration until all three property owners — Embry-Riddle, Graham and Bullion Inc. — can ensure they are “moving forward in a manner that is conducive to everyone’s interests.”
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Commissioner Anthony Sabatini said he preferred to have an immediate hearing on the CUP due to resident complaints that the proposed Embry-Riddle plans do not reflect what the university is entitled to under the amended CUP.
“I want that study, I want a public hearing on that, and I want to see what legal options we have to make sure that it’s not changing in a way that changes the quality of life in that area,” he said.
Other commissioners supported tabling the discussion to a later date. “I think the point is that they just want more time to see whether they, as property owners, can get on the same page or not,” Commission Chair Leslie Campione said. “If they can’t, then this is an issue and a hearing for another day.”
Several opponents of the Embry-Riddle training facility have joined Save Ocala National Forest, an environmental conservation group “dedicated to protection of the Ocala National Forest” where Deep Woods Ranch is located.
Leesburg resident and community advocate Lisa Hayden, a member of the Save Ocala National Forest group, told GrowthSpotter her main concern is the noise that planes and flight training could bring to local wildlife populations, specifically birds.
“The number one issue is the potential disturbance to the ecosystem, whether through the water, wetlands, wildlife, soundscape, all of that,” she said. “Birds are not going to stay in an area that has that level of noise.”
If the Deep Woods Ranch site were to become a flight training facility, Hayden said, she is also worried about having student pilots flying in a rural area miles from hospitals and other emergency service providers.
“My other issue actually wasn’t environmental; I’m wondering how emergency vehicles are going to get into that area,” she said. “If I’m paying thousands to send my child to Embry-Riddle, why are they sending them to the middle of the forest to get training when they’re not even that experienced?”
After robust public comment against the Embry-Riddle plans, commissioners passed a motion to grant property owners more time to decide how to move forward with requesting a hearing. Sabatini was the only commissioner to vote against the motion.
“There’s a lot of moving parts,” Dove said. “The CUP touches three different landowners’ properties. Before we set this whole thing in motion, we want to look at all those facts and we want to come back to you.”
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at [email protected] or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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