A proposal to build a large RV resort in rural Ortona is moving forward after the Glades County Planning and Zoning Board recommended a change to the county’s comprehensive plan last month. The final decision now rests with the Glades County Board of County Commissioners.
The proposal would allow a 73-acre property on Ortona Locks Road to be redesignated for a planned unit development, clearing the way for a future request to build an RV resort with up to 700 sites.
The planning board’s recommendation came after a continuation of last month’s public hearing. Because public comments had already been closed during the earlier meeting, residents who attended the continuation were not allowed to speak before the board voted. Several neighbors expressed frustration over not being given another opportunity to address the board.
The issue returned before county commissioners during their July meeting last week, where residents again urged officials to reject the proposal.
“All of us in this community have come in with our life savings to buy property in the kind of community we wanted to live in,” Ortona resident Kathleen Gregg-Armbruster told commissioners, according to Lake Okeechobee News. “I don’t have the money to move. If that land change goes through and what is proposed is built there, it’s going to be impossible for me to live there.”
Other residents said the project could overwhelm county services.
Laura Kellersberger told commissioners the proposed development could bring more than 1,400 people to the area and place added pressure on emergency medical services, fire protection, law enforcement, garbage collection and utilities. She argued that Glades County’s infrastructure was not built to support that level of growth, according to the local publication.
County officials have said the comprehensive plan amendment only changes the future land use designation and does not approve the RV resort itself. If the amendment is approved, the developer would still need additional county approvals before construction could move forward.
The proposal has drawn growing opposition from Ortona residents over the past several months. In June, more than 100 residents signed a petition asking county officials to reject the project, citing concerns about increased traffic, environmental impacts, flooding, noise and the loss of the area’s rural character.
That opposition has continued to grow. As of this week, an online petition opposing the development had collected more than 285 signatures.
Supporters of the project have argued the development could bring new tourism and economic activity to Glades County.
County commissioners have not yet made a final decision on the comprehensive plan amendment. If approved, the project would still return to the county for additional public hearings and review before any RV resort could be built.