A Seminole advisory panel has unveiled a list of 10 environmentally sensitive properties it recommends the county consider purchasing for conservation and passive recreation.
At the top of the rankings: 670 pristine acres just east of the Econlockhatchee River known as the Hi-Oaks Ranch, where in 2018 former state Rep. Chris Dorworth wanted to build the controversial megadevelopment River Cross.
Filled with a diversity of wildlife — including alligators, gopher tortoises, deer and bobcats — environmentalists, nearby residents and conservationists have long said Hi-Oaks Ranch is worth preserving.
“Its ecological value is extremely high,” said David Bear, a member of the county’s Acquisition and Restoration Committee. “And it’s a uniquely situated property… It’s part of a continuous network of conservation lands up and down the river.”
The other properties that ranked high on the committee’s list include: the 360-acre Lee Ranch near the county’s southeast corner; 204 acres along Lake Monroe near downtown Sanford; the 85-acre Lessard property near Mullet Lake; and 8 acres adjacent to the Black Bear Wilderness Area.
The purchases would be part of the county’s Seminole Forever land conservation program, launched in 2023 to protect open areas from sprawling developments and provide residents with places to hike, camp or paddle a canoe. Seminole modeled its program after the state’s Florida Forever program, which since it started in 2001 has purchased nearly 1 million acres of land for conservation across the state.
To fund it, Seminole annually allocates 6% of non-ad-valorem revenues collected by the county, which came to about $4 million this year alone. As of this month, the fund had a total balance of just over $12.3 million.
Seminole also can receive funding from other sources, such as Florida Forever, Florida Communities Trust Fund, and the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program.
Every year, the 7-member advisory committee — known as ARC and selected by commissioners — takes in applications from landowners willing to sell their properties. The panel then ranks the properties based on vulnerability to development, the diversity of species and habitat, potential uses for passive recreation or environmental education, and the existence of important water resources.
This year, the committee received nine applications plus one submitted by county staff. It then scored the properties based on the criteria and presented a list of recommended purchases to county commissioners on Nov. 18.
Far and away, the Hi-Oaks Ranch — just north of the Orange County border and long owned by the Clayton family — scored the highest.
The Claytons submitted their application for purchase under Seminole Forever in March. Then on Nov. 14, the Claytons submitted another application to the state to be bought under the Florida Forever program.
But with an asking price of $35 million, it’s likely the county would have to seek additional funds to purchase Hi-Oaks.
“Realistically, it could be purchased in conjunction with the state, which is far from unprecedented,” Bear said.
As an example, Bear pointed to the state purchasing the 1,361-acre Yarborough Ranch for $34.5 million under Florida Forever in March 2024. That property — used by the Yarborough family for more than 150 years to raise cattle — is now part of the neighboring Little Big Econ State Forest near the banks of the Econlockhatchee River in east Seminole.
Commissioners directed county staff to analyze each of the properties on the ARC list and see if some are already under consideration for purchase through Florida Forever.
If Hi-Oaks ultimately ends up preserved, it would mark a remarkable turnaround for the property.
In 2017, Dorworth’s company, River Cross Land Co., signed a contract to purchase Hi-Oaks and submitted plans to the county to build a community of 600 single-family homes, 270 townhouses, 500 apartments and 1.5 million square feet of shops, restaurants and offices.
But Seminole commissioners unanimously rejected River Cross at an August 2018 meeting attended by scores of opponents to the development plan.
At this month’s commission meeting, Seminole Chair Jay Zembower pointed out Hi-Oaks Ranch abuts the 1,315-acres of rural land in Orange County owned by the Rolling R Ranch and Mary Rybolt Lamar, who have tried for years to build a mega development.
If conserved, Hi-Oaks would provide a natural barrier to rural east Seminole County from sprawling development in Orange County, Zembower and others said.
The Hi-Oaks Ranch property also sits directly across the river from the county’s 240-acre Econ River Wilderness Area, which offers public trails for hiking, biking and horseback riding.
“It would be remarkable to have both of those together,” said Bear, founder of the non-profit group Save Rural Seminole.
