December 4, 2007

Welton Cadwell, Chairman
Lake County Board of County Commissioners
315 W. Main St., Suite 335
P.O.Box 7800
Tavares, FL 32778

Dear Chairman Cadwell and Commissioners:

The undersigned acknowledge the limited success of the Mount Plymouth – Sorrento Planning Advisory Committee. We thank the County for the initial framework study which was a useful starting point, but we are now guided by a larger and brighter vision.

We passionately believe that time is our enemy if we are to retain the integrity of the Mount Plymouth – Sorrento area.

Without delay, we must broaden the array of stakeholders to create an active community dialog about our acute needs.

We propose a new committee which will

Be accessible to the broader community through evening meetings

Listen to stakeholders and actively seek community input

Continue to learn the tools and mechanisms to mitigate the negative aspects of inevitable growth

We passionately believe that the land planners, road engineers, environmental firms, geotechnical firms, governmental agency and citizens who have informed us over the past eight years have educated us for a purpose.

We now feel a responsibility to listen to the community and learn what realistic visions exist for the future of the Mount Plymouth – Sorrento area.

We passionately believe that the process of reaching community consensus is as important as understanding the difference between disagreeing and simply being disagreeable.

Each stakeholder must be given the right to challenge assumptions and intuitions. Discouraging opposing viewpoints limits our exposure to insights that could be extremely valuable.

We passionately believe that Land Development Regulations should be crafted by Land Planning professionals by virtue of their specialized training and extensive experience with other communities having similar growth challenges.

Community input to this effort is paramount. The community provides guidance as to our values and desires, and the professionals form this into a coherent, legal set of documents embraceable by all parties; residents, landowners, business leaders, and politicians.

We passionately believe that State Road 46 must remain as a two lane thoroughfare through the Mount Plymouth - Sorrento area. This is crucial to maintain the walkable viability of our community vision. An integrated transportation plan includes accommodations for pedestrian, bicycles, non-traditional vehicles and future light rail connectivity.

Transportation infrastructure must be a primary component of any growth planning, considering the impact of the Western Beltway extension and Highway 46A realignment efforts. Mount Plymouth - Sorrento is currently the Eastern Gateway to the heart of Lake County and efficient movement around and through our community will remain a major challenge.

We passionately believe that sustainable commercial growth is critical to the economic survival of our community and this county.

Commercial growth provides badly needed jobs and revenue sources. If community growth is properly managed and we can preserve the quality of life that residents demand, we will provide an environment that can attract the kinds of commercial activity that complements Lake County as a whole.

We passionately believe that new tax revenues generated in our area should benefit our area. We must find a mechanism to keep those tax dollars in the Mount Plymouth - Sorrento area.

We are proud to be residents of Lake County, but our local community needs to receive its fair share so that residents are adequately served and low income residents benefit from the economic growth in our area.

Our discussion cannot move forward and evolve if the reasons underlying any disagreement aren’t openly discussed.

All parties will be invited to the table and all parties will have a voice. This includes residents, business owners, land owners and elected officials.

We passionately believe that the Mount Plymouth Golf Course and other historic sites must be protected to become the foundation of our distinctive community.

The public golf courses in Winter Park and Dubsdread were created by the designer of Mount Plymouth and are now jewels of those communities. We must preserve and accentuate the positive aspects of our community in order to successfully move into our future.

We passionately believe that balance and diversification of the tax base does not preclude good stewardship of our natural resources.

Proper planning can protect and preserve natural resources.

We passionately believe that allowing new septic tanks and wells does not benefit our environment.

We recognize that new residents and businesses will require utilities, and believe the County should provide them.

We passionately believe that current platting is inappropriate for building a sustainable community.

We need to act timely and re-act to community input.

Finally, it is with this same passion that we, the undersigned, submit to you, the Board of County Commissioners our resignations from the Mount Plymouth – Sorrento Planning Advisory Committee effective immediately. We ask that in the future, as we form a new committee with a broader focus, that you will be as receptive to our recommendations as you have been in the past.

/s/

Timothy J. Bailey
Minnie Bollar
BettyAnn Christian
Dr. Ron Holman
Clark Morris
Jeff Richardson