From ‘old Florida’ to campground?
Environmental consultant plans Eco Ranch on 668 acres in Lake County
David Mathews Jr., and his wife, Evelyn, say that walking through the hundreds of acres of their pristine woods and pastureland on the west side of Lake Griffin, near Fruitland Park, is like taking a step back in time.
“It’s the most peaceful thing you’ve ever seen,” said David Mathews, 78. “It’s like walking into old Florida, and seeing how it was more than a hundred years ago.”
Century-old oaks dripping with Spanish moss stand next to tall pines across much of the landscape. Coyotes, bobcats, squirrels, rabbits and wild hogs
can often be seen wandering across acres of old citrus groves and pastureland, the couple said. More than a mile of the property — which has been in Mathews’ family since 1883 — stretches along the shoreline of Lake Griffin.
Now, the Mathewses are getting ready to sell the land to Steven Lumbert, an environmental consultant from Lake City, who plans to build the Crappie Eco Ranch campground, spread across 668 acres about 50 miles northwest of downtown Orlando. Crappie — pronounced “croppy” — is a type of freshwater fish.
According to Lumbert and documents submitted to Lake County, the Eco Ranch is described as an “authentic and rugged old Florida lakefront wilderness experience surrounded by amazing wildlife and old growth forests immersed in history dating back to the Apalachee Indians.”
Lumbert envisions a place where visitors can pitch a tent at a primitive campsite or spend the night in a “safari-style luxury” tent already set up. The ranch also would include scores of log cabins, hundreds of spots for recreational vehicles and a fishing lodge with 200 rooms overlooking Lake Griffin.
Nature lovers could rent canoes or sailboats from a marina. An amphitheater would allow visitors to enjoy musical performances, watch plays or listen to lectures.
“I have this vision for a campground that is really unique,” said Lumbert, 63. “And this campground would bring an economic benefit because it will bring tourists from all over the country and maybe even the world. It will be a cultural mecca where people can learn about nature.”
Lumbert expects many guests would be retirees and Northerners who spend their winters in Florida. But it wouldn’t be just for traditional campers. His plans call for inviting foster children so they could spend time outdoors learning about wildlife and nature.
Most important, Lumbert said, is preserving the land from residential or commercial development.
County officials said Lumbert’s application to rezone the property from a rural designation to planned urban development as a campground and marina is still in the early planning stages.
The first step in the approval process would be a hearing before Lake’s planning and zoning commission for a recommendation and then a final vote before county commissioners. Those hearings have not yet been scheduled.
If approved by county leaders, Lumbert figures he’ll break ground early next year and the Eco Ranch should be open by late 2019.
Lake County Commissioner Josh Blake said he recently met with Lumbert and saw a brief presentation about the project but doesn’t have all the details yet to form an opinion. Blake called it a “very pretty area” and added that it’s important for a community to have a blend of open conservation land and residential areas.
“It’s healthy to have a good mix,” Blake said.
The Mathewses said they met with Lumbert and are thrilled about his plans. They share his passion for preserving the land from intense development.
“We’ve turned down many, many offers from developers,” said Evelyn Mathews, 78. “Because we know that they would come in and tear it apart and rip it apart.”
She described her husband’s ancestors first arriving on the land in the 1880s, traveling by covered wagons from Alabama and looking for a quiet spot to settle after the Civil War. At one time, the Mathewses owned nearly all the land in that area of what later became Lake County.
“It hasn’t been destroyed [by development], and we want to keep it that way,”
Evelyn Mathews said. She and her husband call their land “the most peaceful place on earth” and “breathtaking.”
Because most of the property is gated, few people have seen it or walked through it. The site straddles Lake Unity Nursery Road, about half a mile south of Eagle’s Nest Road, and is about three miles northeast of Lake Griffin State Park.
The Mathewses hope visitors soon will be able to enjoy the land they’ve had a lifelong love affair with.
“A family can come, bring a tent and enjoy it,” said Evelyn Mathews said. “It will be for everyone.”