Newberry City Commission tables CDD for Westone development, approves CDD for The Ranch on first reading

BY DAVID LIGHTMAN

NEWBERRY, Fla. – At their October 28 Regular Meeting, the Newberry City Commission decided to table the second reading of a proposed Community Development District (CDD) for the planned Westone community until November 12. They approved the first reading of an ordinance establishing a CDD for the planned The Ranch development, also known as NC Ranch. They will make final decisions on both CDDs at the second reading on November 12.

Westone CDD

The meeting began with City Attorney Scott Walker introducing a “second second” reading (a fourth reading) of a Future Land Use Map Amendment ordinance for the 258-acre Westone planned development, changing the designation from Agriculture to Residential Low Density. Principal Planner Jean-Paul Perez explained that because a deadline with the State was missed in October 2023, it was necessary to go through the steps again, and nothing has been changed.

City Manager Mike New said the County had some environmental concerns about the development, but the City has addressed all of those concerns and they can move forward. Mayor Jordan Marlowe cautioned against allowing the County to request additional unnecessary environmental studies, as a number have been done already, dating back to 1980. Marlowe said, “I appreciate the collegial attitude to the County, but I don’t see it being reciprocated to us right now. If you keep saying ‘Do you want us to do another study?’ then they are just going to keep saying ‘Yes.’ Nothing has changed in two years’ time out there.”

Dave McDaniel of M3, the Westone developer, spoke briefly and said all of the environmental concerns definitely have been addressed. Marlowe said, “This board and our staff wouldn’t let this get this far if there was a toxic issue, and that’s what I find most frustrating about the County, is there is the assumption that we would… For the County to assume otherwise, I think, is offensive.”

Commissioner Tim Marden made a motion to adopt the ordinance and authorize the City Manager to transmit the ordinance to the Florida Department of Commerce. Commissioner Mark Clark seconded the motion. There were no public comments. The motion passed 4-0, with Commissioner Rick Coleman absent throughout the meeting.

Mayor Marlowe introduced the second reading of an ordinance establishing the Westone Community Development District (the first reading was on October 14). He told everyone that they might not want to call for a vote because only four Commissioners were present, which could result in a tie. Marlowe reminded the applicant, “You have the right… to table your application until the next meeting.”

Perez said there was a “very minor change” made between the first and second readings based on comments that were made. He said the proposed CDD is located on 237 acres of the 258-acre property. He showed the following slide illustrating the location of the Westone development within Newberry:

Discussion about requiring an Interlocal Agreement as part of the CDD

Perez said three of the conditions they had planned to include in the CDD were reassigned to an Interlocal Agreement (ILA) between the CDD and the City, and the ILA also includes wastewater requirements. 

Marlowe asked if The Villages operates with an ILA, since it has been touted as a good example of an CDD. Perez said he didn’t know the answer, but one of the experts in the room might.

Wes Haber of the Kutak Rock law firm, representing the developer, M3, spoke at the podium. He said, “It sounds like the Commission would like to have another overall explanation on CDDs. I don’t have a PowerPoint presentation to address that this evening. We’re certainly happy to do that. I did want to come up and go over some of the more basic points regarding CDDs,… what I see as some of the bigger concerns that cities and counties that we go before ask. I’ll start with the ILA… The ordinance creating the CDD, as presently drafted, would result in the creation of the CDD. It includes language that says before a plat would be approved within the community, the CDD and the City would enter into an ILA that provides for the numerous items that are described.” He listed some of the requirements, such as ensuring residents are able to run for the governing board, reporting CDD violations to the City, and financial reporting requirements.

Haber explained that the CDD must be created before the ILA agreement, but the requirement to have an ILA in place before any plat (group of homes) can be approved will ensure that it is put in place. 

Responding to a question from Marlowe, Haber said “the CDD can be dissolved” by the Commission if the ILA cannot be successfully entered into. He added that the landowner would need to cooperate with the dissolution of the CDD, but they would have no incentive to keep it if no plats can be approved.

Commissioner Clark asked how common ILAs are in communities that have CDDs. Haber said he could think of only Osceola County out of the hundreds of CDDs his firm manages, but he wasn’t sure about The Villages. Haber said, “The vast majority of CDDs do not have ILAs as a matter of course. They may enter into an Interlocal Agreement if there’s, let’s say, shared recreational facilities… [funded by both the CDD and the local government, with decisions to be made for funding and allowed use].” He added that most of his experience is in northeast Florida, and there might be other ILAs in Florida that he is not aware of.

Commissioner Monty Farnsworth asked how having a CDD will benefit the residents of Newberry. Haber explained that because a CDD is quasi-governmental, all of the meetings must be noticed publicly and anyone may attend, which is more transparent than an HOA. Also, he said, the ad valorem property taxes should be higher in a CDD because of the nicer-quality homes, resulting in more revenue. 

Marlowe added that if the CDD will be maintaining the roads, that’s less for the City to worry about.

McDaniel returned to the podium and said, “With regard to dedicating roads and utilities to the City, that is the most common way of developing a CDD… Our intention at this point, just to be completely clear, and what our petition says, is that we do hope to dedicate the roads, water, and sewer, as we do in other developments, to the City.” 

During discussion, Coleman said, “I am personally for this.” Farnsworth said he would like more time and wanted to have some things clarified. Marlowe said he’d thought that the CDD would be maintaining the whole neighborhood, and he also wanted to have some conversations to get things clarified. 

Following Perez’s suggestion, Clark made a motion to continue the item to the November 12 meeting. Marden seconded the motion. It passed 4-0.

The Ranch CDD

Perez introduced the first reading of an ordinance establishing a 255-acre CDD within the 1,293-acre NC Ranch planned development (now called “The Ranch”), which the Commission has already discussed at length over the past year. Perez said staff recommended approval with conditions, and if the Commission approved the CDD on first reading, the second reading would be held on November 12. 

Perez showed slides with maps of the eight planned phases of The Ranch. Showing a slide of the planned CDD spending categories, Perez said, “A significant portion of this budget is being dedicated to amenities.” (See slide below.)

Perez explained that the proposed CDD will only cover the first two phases, and he showed the following slide with the numbers and types of homes planned for each phase:

Perez said, “The initial board members will be Tripp Norfleet, Christiana Norfleet, Zeke Norfleet, Dylan Sykes, and Allan Tynar.” He said the CDD request was reviewed by the City and independent counsel, and no problems were found. 

Referring to the conditions for approval, Perez said staff recommends an ILA similar to the one proposed for Westone. The ILA would require elections and finance reporting to the City and acknowledge the wastewater capacity reservation. 

Patrice Boyes, attorney for developer Tripp Norfleet, said she didn’t think an ILA would be necessary for reasons they would discuss later, and she introduced Gerry Dedenbach of CHW Professional Consultants. 

Advantages of a CDD

Dedenbach explained the advantages of a CDD over an HOA, including better financing opportunities that make it easier for the developer to include better amenities and fully achieve their vision.

Farnsworth asked, “How come every developer’s not doing a CDD?” Dedenbach said they need to be of a certain minimum size, at least hundreds of homes, or the cost doesn’t make sense, and many developers just want to build simple, small subdivisions.

Developer Tripp Norfleet said, “The house taxes are the same as they would be in Country Way or anywhere else. Your ad valorem taxes will be the same, so when you do take over the streets, the City is still getting the same taxes to take care of them.” He said the CDD bond financing will allow him to put in 25 acres of amenities at the beginning of construction. 

After some questions from Commissioners about whether the monthly maintenance fee will start after 30 years or whether it will be in addition to the monthly CDD payment homeowners will make for 30 years, Attorney Jennifer Kilinski explained that they are two separate assessments and homeowners will have to pay both. She said CDD maintenance fees usually do not fluctuate much once they are set, and they have to be based on actual money spent.

Echoing much of the information found in our coverage of the October 14 meeting, Kilinski gave a lengthy presentation on the benefits of CDDs vs HOAs or other options. (See slide below.)

Responding to a question from Farnsworth, Kilinski and Norfleet explained that it’s better for the developer to control the CDD governing board until about 90 percent of the homes are built, which will take 8 to 10 years.

Marlowe asked whether the Commission should table the CDD ordinance since they had already decided to table the Westone CDD. Farnsworth said he could vote for this CDD even though he didn’t have all the information, since it was only the first reading. 

Farnsworth made a motion to pass the ordinance on first reading. Commissioner Clark seconded the motion. The Ranch CDD passed 4-0 on first reading.

Public comment: Publix representative

During public comment, Keith Keeton introduced himself as “the superintendent for the Publix that y’all are getting.” He said, “We had a groundbreaking here that was absolutely amazing. I have groundbroken Walmarts, 140-acre shopping centers… You guys had 100 people at this groundbreaking. The best part was, you had the Mayor there, you had Commissioners there, you had the heads of your departments there, you had everybody there.” Keeton complimented the utility and building departments for their accessibility. 

Keeton continued, “All of a sudden I’m hearing about the building department imploding.” He expressed fears about not being able to get inspections done in a timely fashion, and he asked the City to try to keep the building department around until at least December, when the Publix building will be finished. Marlowe reassured Keeton that his inspections will continue to be “done without delay,” even if he has to do them himself.

Marlowe said, “Newberry does not implode. We see challenges as opportunities, and we march right on forward.” 

Fall Festival on November 16

Mayor Marlowe encouraged everyone to come out to the Fall Festival on November 16, sponsored by the Main Street organization. Marlowe said, “All the Christmas plans are progressing really nicely. I think we’re going to have a great Christmas season.”