The initial plans for development at Errol Estate, along with Staghorn Club and Lodge, have been submitted to the city of Apopka and will begin the approval process in a little more than a month when the plans are brought before the Apopka Planning Commission.
City staff got a look at the plans Wednesday, June 21, at the Development Review Committee (DRC) meeting. The DRC is made up of staff from various city departments.
Because of the size of the project, state agencies will also be involved in the approval process, which could take up to 10 months, said David Moon, city planning manager.
Signature H Development, led by Helmut Wyzisk Jr. and son Helmut Wyzisk III, are the developers of New Errol, which will be the name of the residential portion of the expansion, while the golf course and clubhouse/lodge area will be known as Staghorn Club and Lodge.
The Wyzisks’ plans for New Errol residential development call for 261 new residences with 67 being single-family homes and 194 being attached housing.
The Staghorn Club and Lodge will not only have a golf clubhouse, but a 40-room hotel. The plan is to locate the club and lodge just west of the putting green for the golf course’s 18th hole. A water park and pool area is planned for an area just west of where the lodge and clubhouse will be built. Then, attached residential housing will be built about where the current Errol clubhouse is located.
Also in the plans is an assisted-living and acute care facility. That will be located on the extreme east side of Errol Estate, near where Welch Road dead ends into Vick Road. Plans call for there to be 180 assisted-living units and 60 acute-care beds.
Wyzisk III said the development is needed to create a viable golf course community at Errol and that is why Signature H Development has spent the money needed to get the plans to the city.
“We’re losing $50,000 a month operating the golf course right now,” he said. “It’s not sustainable and when you’re losing that amount of money at that rate, you’ve got to invest in a solution. We can’t wait around or go slowly on this. We have to invest in a solution right away.
“Because we’re developing in an existing community, we wanted to spend the extra time and the extra resources to really show the visuals of what we’re bringing to Errol Estate in order for the community to be at ease and to get excited about what is to come.”
The Apopka Planning Commission will consider the Wyzisks’ plans at a meeting on Tuesday, July 25. It’s scheduled to start at 6 p.m. and it will be held at the Apopka Community Center/VFW, 519 S. Central Avenue.
The City Council may see the plan a month or so later, but it hasn’t been put on the schedule yet.
An extended version of this story can be found on page 1A of the Friday, June 23, issue of The Apopka Chief.
