Residential development proposed near Lake Roberts

WEST ORANGE  Plans for a new residential development on acreage near Lake Roberts and Walker Pond Road come at a time when West Orange is booming. 

Although developments are cropping up across the area, a different mindset is taking place at the neighboring Windermere Country Club, where a separate project has been ongoing as residents work to oppose the development of the club’s golf course.

LAKE ROBERTS RESERVE

First, plans for a new 110-acre gated housing development near Lake Roberts — south of Stoneybrook West Parkway, near Walker Pond Road — are currently in their fledgling stages.

The Walker Pond acreage is under contract for purchase and development by builder Taylor Morrison. However, all plans for development still are under staff review, said Randy Morris, who is involved in the project as principal of RM Strategies Inc.

Current plans include 60 acres dedicated to preserve and the remaining 50 acres to have 92 single-family homes, with prices ranging from $390,000 to $1 million, Morris said. The development — Lake Roberts Preserve — would be located on Walker Pond Road acreage and sits adjacent to Lake Roberts. The development also would have central water and sewer provided.

“We’ve been working with the city now for over a year with the issues of the annexations, utilities and things like that,” Morris said of the land, which is currently unincorporated. “Things change, but it’s very close to what would be presented to the city commission for approval.”

WINDERMERE COUNTRY CLUB

In a completely separate issue, residents in communities of the Windermere Country Club are wrestling with golf-course owner Brian DeCunha’s desire to develop the property.

Windermere Country Club LLC wants to develop the current golf course into 95 single-family residential lots and has submitted an application to Orange County for the redevelopment. 

DeCunha purchased the golf course in April 2011, but under a 1986 agreement between the county and the original golf-course owners, the county owns the country club’s development rights as part of the club’s County Estate Cluster District plan. 

Leigh Ann Dyal, president of the Windermere Country Club Homeowners Association, said residents are hoping the county does not give up those rights.

“We’re just trying to save the golf course as permanent open space,” Dyal said. “We’re hoping it would possibly become a golf course again. We’ve seen vegetation there our whole lives. (I’ve) lived there my whole life. ... To see it look the way it does is a shock.”

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].