Orange County commissioners voted unanimously to deny Toll Brothers' bid to certify nearly 40 acres off Avalon Road as an agricultural enclave, a designation that could have cleared the path for a 39-home community in the Lake Avalon Rural Settlement, bordering Horizon West. The decision blocks the fast-track route the builder was counting on to unlock higher-density development on land with a Rural Settlement 1/5 Future Land Use Map designation and Citrus Rural District zoning.
According to GrowthSpotter, the parcel at 5477 Avalon Road spans nearly 40 acres.
What the Certification Would Have Allowed
The agricultural-enclave certification itself would not have approved a subdivision or construction project, but it could have let Toll Brothers later apply to build single-family homes at the density permitted on neighboring land, despite the parcel's rural designation. An earlier proposal, reported by the Orange Observer in August, explicitly sought 39 homes on the site along with a zoning change from one dwelling unit per five acres to one per acre and a shift to Planned Development.
The request faced a recommendation for denial before commissioners voted to deny it.
Logan Opsahl was Toll Brothers' attorney for the earlier proposal for the site.
Neighbors Push Back on Growth
Residents opposed an earlier proposal for the site.
Commissioners voted unanimously to deny the certification.
Other Orange County Enclave Applications
The Avalon Road case is not the only agricultural-enclave application Orange County has considered. The much larger Sustanee project, a six-parcel, roughly 1,264-acre proposal north of Lake Pickett Road and west of Chuluota Road, had been denied by commissioners on October 27, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Both applications sought to use agricultural-enclave certification for proposed development.
