A gate leads to the Yarborough property where Pulte Homes is proposing a development within Seminole's rural boundary that calls for 300 homes on 1,361 acres off Snow Hill Road in Geneva, Fla. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Residents of east Seminole County have built a reputation as fierce protectors of their rural area, by strongly opposing developments that propose adding more homes than the currently allowed one house per five or 10 acres.

But recent applications from Pulte Homes Co., one of the nation’s largest home construction companies, to build 300 houses on one-acre lots clustered on a portion of 1,360 acres of pristine pasture land long owned by the Yarborough family near the Econlockhatchee River and within Seminole’s rural boundary, are raising concerns.

“When you start putting this many homes on one-acre lots, you are creating a mini city,” said Richard Creedon, a longtime resident of the nearby rural community of Geneva. “It’s totally against the concept of the rural area. Because the next developer comes in, he wants to put in a similar development, and then the whole concept of the rural area would go down the tubes.”

According to preliminary subdivision plans submitted to Seminole by Pulte, the gated community would sit just east of Snow Hill Road and south of Old Mims Road, a mostly open grazing area dotted with ponds, wetlands and woods.

Max Perlman, vice president of land acquisition for Pulte Group’s Orlando division, said the development has “been thoughtfully designed” to preserve the area’s natural resources and wetlands. He added it would sit adjacent to the roughly 10,000-acre Little Big Econ State Forest and near the Florida National Scenic Trail.

“This project will satisfy a pent up market demand for residences in Seminole that afford a rural lifestyle surrounded by natural amenities,” he said in an email to the Sentinel.

A proposed development within Seminole's rural boundary calls for 300 homes on 1,361 acres off Snow Hill Road in Geneva, Fla. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Pulte’s final subdivision plans, however, are currently on hold as the company is now asking Seminole to amend its land development regulations so the developer can build a water treatment plant on the property to service those homes with potable water. The homes would have septic tanks.

According to Seminole’s development rules, new developments within the county’s rural boundary must rely on individual wells to draw drinking water. The regulation was enacted decades ago to discourage large developments within the rural area.

Perlman said a central water system is strictly regulated and they are better at protecting the Geneva Lens, a roughly 26-square mile underground bubble of freshwater within the Floridan Aquifer that is tapped by individual wells in that area.

“Overall, we believe delivering water via a central plant versus individual wells is by far the best approach from an environmental conservation standpoint,” said Perlman, adding that a central water system would “be subject to state regulations applicable to public water systems that require water conservation and meeting safe drinking water standards. ... Our goal is to provide an environmentally superior option to provide water to the future residents.”

David Bear, a Winter Springs attorney and president of the nonprofit Save Rural Seminole, said Seminole’s rule prohibiting water plants in the rural area was designed to discourage large residential developments. He said the county would be giving Pulte a “free gift” if it grants the requested exception.

“Facilities such as water treatment plants open the door for higher density developments,” he said. “They [Pulte] are looking for a change in that well-placed rule to facilitate their large development that the rule was put in place to discourage.”

At a public meeting on Oct. 5, Seminole’s planning and zoning commission is scheduled to hear and issue a recommendation on Pulte’s request to amend the county’s land development regulations for a water plant. The Seminole commission is scheduled to vote on the issue at its Oct. 25 meeting.

Commissioner Amy Lockhart said she will listen to residents and scientists in deciding whether to allow Pulte the exception.

“I want to know how you do it in a way that is less impactful to the environment,” she said.

Plans to build on pasture land long owned by the Yarborough family near the Econlockhatchee River and within Seminole’s rural boundary are raising concerns. (Willie J. Allen Jr./Orlando Sentinel)

Pulte plans to continue moving forward with the development, regardless if it wins approval for the exception, Perlman said. Developers plan to clear the land in early 2023, and home construction should start about a year later.

A family of cattle ranchers dating back to the 1880s, the Yarboroughs once owned up to 7,000 acres in east Seminole.

In the mid-2000s, the family entered into a deal with the state and Seminole to sell 5,187 acres to the St. Johns River Water Management District for $30 million.

Conservationists and environmentalists lauded the sale because it preserved the land — a mix of hardwood forests, cypress swamps, marshes and pastureland — from development. The deal included the Yarboroughs selling for preservation two miles of frontage property along the St. Johns River and five miles along the Econ River, both environmentally sensitive waterways.

The Yarboroughs were able to keep the rights to develop on their remaining acreage, which they have since continued using to operate a cattle ranch.

In September 2008, Seminole commissioners approved preliminary development plans to allow up to 300 homes on one-acre lots on the 1,400 acres. Family members said at the time that they wanted to limit any development to just 300 homes.

In 2018, another preliminary development plan was submitted by a Maitland firm that showed the same number of homes but clustered on half-acre lots. Those plans never moved forward. Now Pulte, with its current development proposal, has entered into a contract to purchase the property.

Seminole’s rural boundary — which covers nearly one-third of the county and stretches mostly east of the Econ River and Lake Jesup — was approved by voters in a countywide referendum in 2004. Densities in the rural area are limited to between one home per 3 acres and one home per 10 acres. To change the zoning requires a majority vote from the five-member county commission.

The biggest threat to the rural boundary, according to residents, came in early 2018 when developer Chris Dorworth submitted plans for River Cross, a large development of 600 single-family homes, 270 townhouses, 500 apartments and 1.5 million square feet for shops, offices and restaurants on 291 acres west of County Road 419 and north of the Orange County line.

In August 2018, county commissioners — at a public meeting attended by scores of east Seminole residents in opposition — unanimously rejected Dorworth’s request to remove the property from the rural boundary and change the land zoning to allow River Cross to move forward.

Residents say Pulte’s current proposal on the Yarborough land is not as bad as River Cross, primarily because it has far fewer homes and no commercial buildings.

Still, Pulte’s gated community of large homes will look out of place in the rural area, made up of small horse ranches, farms and modest homes on large properties, said Nancy Harmon, a longtime resident and president of the Geneva Citizens Association.

“This is just a conventional urban development. This is a suburban estate development,” she said in describing the proposed development. “It’s not a rural development at all, which is what this area is.”

Harmon noted the homes’ large lawns will inevitably cause phosphates and nitrates to flow into the nearby Econ River.

Harmon and others propose the county reduce the number of homes from Pulte’s requested 300 lots or buy out the Yarborough property for conservation.

Pulte’s request “is a bad investment for our county,” she said. “It’s a bad investment for our environment.”