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Oviedo council narrows Twin Rivers restrictive covenant, removes transient-residential and passive-recreation exceptions
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Summary
After public comment and extended debate, the council amended and adopted Resolution 4719 to record restrictive covenants on Twin Rivers Golf Course; council voted to remove language that would have allowed limited government-owned transient (overnight) accommodations and to strip references to passive recreation uses.
The City Council held a public hearing and adopted Resolution 4719 on April 20 to place recorded restrictive covenants on Twin Rivers Golf Course, but only after amending the draft to remove two contested exceptions: narrow transient residential uses and language authorizing passive recreation uses.
Staff said the draft covenant clarified on-course restrooms, permitted golf uses, and added a narrowly framed transit-residential exception that would have permitted government-owned overnight accommodations tied to university athletics. During public comment, Doug Holmes (Twin Rivers employee) and Daryl Lopez (HOA president) objected to the transient-residential phrasing and asked why the clubhouse expansion language had been removed from the draft.
Council members debated the intent and scope of ‘‘passive recreation’’ language included in the draft and whether allowing specific passive uses would dilute the deed restriction’s purpose of preserving the site primarily as golf and stormwater recharge. Several council members worried that the draft’s phrasing could be used to permit a larger lodging or resort use if left unchecked.
Council member Alan Ott moved, and the council agreed, to amend the resolution by removing all references to passive recreation uses and the transient residential exception that would have allowed government-owned overnight accommodations in conjunction with university athletics. Council members and staff discussed enforcement provisions: the covenant allows the city and owners of real property contiguous to the golf course to enforce the restrictions, and staff noted that recorded restrictive covenants also affect title insurance and future development expectations.
Mayor Megan Sladek framed the action as a long-awaited protection of the site: "We bought it saying it was gonna stay mainly empty forever," she said, and added that recording covenants will make it harder in future for large-scale development to proceed without a citywide vote. The amended resolution passed unanimously.
What this means: the council recorded deed restrictions to limit future development options on the Twin Rivers property; removing the two exceptions tightens the covenant and makes any major change to the site more likely to require citywide voter approval in the future.
