Lake County, Florida

Wal-Mart Supercenter is causing major traffic jams at US27 and US192 in Four Corners area

The Four Corners Wal-Mart is causing traffic heading Eastbound on US192 and turning North onto US27 to come to a complete halt for more than a mile, adding 30 minutes or more to most commutes during the evening rush hour.  Who was the rocket scientist who approved up dumping a huge Wal-Mart Supercenter right at the one of the worst-designed intersections in Central Florida?

The problem is that those Eastbound on US192 are trying to merge onto US27 going up a hill and taking a sharp turn, which basically means you can't see very well.  What makes it worse is that you're merging onto US27 which at rush hour in the evening is backed up due to general congetion, compounded by the Wal-Mart Supercenter.

In addition, the Lake County Government has not acknowledged this problem.  Instead, they are spending millions widening US27 to 3 lanes in certain locations.  However, they've totally overlooked an eyesore of an intersection.  It may be in the far Southest side of Lake County, but it's still your responsibility.

This is definitely one area where Wal-Mart and the Lake County Government has let us down.

Home prices soar 44% in Orlando area in past year

In a study by the National Association of Realtors where they looked at home prices in 147 metro areas, Orlando had the 2nd highest price increase over the past year at 44%.   The Phoenix area was #1 overall with a 55% increase.

For comparison purposes, about half of the 147 metro areas saw average gains for 10% or more.

Hat tip: Orlando Sentinel

Home values in Minneola (Quail Valley subdivision)

Yesterday I received a very interesting piece of mail from Pam Bonjorn's company, BonJorn Real Estate.  The mailing listed out home values from all homes sold in the Quail Valley subdivision of Minneola over the past six months, meaning she listed out all competitor home sales as well.  Most realtors just send out teaser postcards without much useful info.  I wish more realtors were as open as Pam.  This is compelling and useful information and Pam has done homeowners a service by sharing the information.

The info Pam shared is below.  Please note, I did also include 6 houses with sales pending and the "listing" prices for 8 homes still for sale.  Here's the full scoop:

$325,000	309 Gentle Breeze Drive (for sale)
$319,000	219 Magellan Circle (for sale)
$279,000	243 Gentle Breeze Drive (for sale)
$278,000	207 Gentle Breeze Drive (pending)
$269,900	927 Willow Run
$265,500	948 Cherry Laurel
$264,900	142 Gentle Breeze Drive
$264,900	146 Gentle Breeze Drive (for sale)
$260,000	941 Cherry Laurel Drive (for sale)
$259,900	138 Gentle Breeze Drive (pending)
$259,900	341 Tradewind Drive (for sale)
$259,000	631 Gentle Breeze Drive (for sale)
$254,900	245 Valley Edge Drive (pending)
$250,000	331 Gentle Breeze Drive
$249,900	904 Whisper Sound (pending)
$249,000	815 Whisper Sound
$242,000	749 Gentle Breeze Drive (pending)
$240,000	635 Gentle Breeze Drive
$239,900	740 Whisper Sound
$239,500	130 Gentle Breeze Drive (for sale)
$238,000	642 Whisper Sound
$237,500	319 Valley Edge Drive
$235,000	643 Whisper Sound
$235,000	803 Willow Run
$234,900	403 Valley Edge Drive
$232,900	214 Magellan Circle
$232,000	206 Magellan Circle
$230,000	418 Valley Edge Drive
$230,000	651 Cherry Laurel
$225,000	427 Valley Edge Drive (pending)
$225,000	824 Willow Run
$225,000	925 Cherry Laurel
$216,900	709 Cherry Laurel
$215,000	612 Cherry Laurel
$215,000	648 Tranquility
$215,000	943 Willow Run
$202,500	843 Cherry Laurel
$202,000	628 Cherry Laurel
$202,000	652 Cherry Laurel
$200,000	410 Gentle Breeze Drive
$193,000	748 Whisper Sound
$190,800	801 Breezy Lake Way
$186,900	525 Gentle Breeze Drive
$184,900	737 Gentle Breeze Drive
$184,522	802 Breezy Knoll Way
$171,900	725 Gentle Breeze Drive
$168,000	721 Gentle Breeze Drive

By the way, you can contact Pam at (352) 394-2112 or email here at info@bonjorn.com .

Minneola shifts closer to "selective" annexation

Minneola residents voted for 2 city council positions yesterday.  By a slim margin (and a turnout of about only 500 votes), David Yeager has ousted Mayor Randy Moye from Seat #3 of the Minneola City Council.  Yeager wants to avoid the fiascoes such as Minneola City Council's vote this year not to annex and build schools on the Lowndes property.  This move means many Minneola children will be squeezed into already overcrowded Clermont schools - and can mean double sessions.

Says David Yeager:

My goal is to have children of every Minneola resident go to a Minneola school.  We need to be in control and oversee how the city gets built.

Joe Teri won the other seat.  However, he was already the incumbent and also won by a narrow margin.  He is for "limiting" growth while the challenger was for "controlled" growth.

It seems the residents of Minneola are starting to get antsy for building more schools.  Selective growth may be the only way to fund them.

US27 to widen to six lanes in Clermont/Minneola and Four Corners area

Two road projects of note that should begin in November or December:

Clermont/Minneola:  Construction to widen 2.9 miles of U.S. Highway 27 to six lanes from Clermont north to Minneola could begin in November...  The section of road is from the State Road 50 westbound ramps to South Grassy Lake Road.

Four Corners area:  Construction to widen more of U.S. Highway 27 to six lanes from the Polk County line to Boggy Marsh Road in unincorporated Lake County could begin this month or next.

Source:  OrlandoSentinel

Minneola elections: Mayor Randy Moye, Joe Teri

On Tuesday, Minneola residents will have a chance to vote for two open Minneola City Council seats.  One seat pits Mayor Randy Moye vs. former councilman Dave Yeager.  Randy Moye is for "smart controlled growth" while Dave Yeager is for "selective growth" (which I'm pretty sure is the same thing as "controlled growth").

The other seat has Joe Teri vs. James Sill.  Joe Teri currently holds the seat.  Teri has voted to limit residential growth.  James Sill is for "controlled growth" and feels that growth is needed to pay for new schools.

InnerFlorida.com to cover Florida counties

We've just received confirmation that this blog will be included in the future on InnerFlorida.com's news and blogs for Florida counties as a news source for Lake County.  InnerFlorida.com appears to be a news and blog aggregation site.  But unlike most sites that attempt to cover similar topics, this one appears to be built by humans with high-quality links.  Currently they plan to cover all of Florida's counties and some Florida blogs as well.