Ever wonder exactly where the water for the rising Harbor Winds townhouse multi-family community being developed by Morrison Homes on SR434 is? Odd name for a community that doesn’t have a drop of water around it, unless you count those pesky wetlands that were filled in with tons of dirt on which the 62 townhouses are built. Yeah, Harbor Winds sounds so much better than Wetland Winds or Boggy Breeze, because it evokes that laid back, upscale lifestyle as compared to that sinking feeling one would have if they knew their townhouse was built on a former wetland.
( Interesting email observation received about this project, and a commissioner's participation. Read it below. )
If you are unfamiliar with the Harbor Wind townhouse project, we understand; there are so many coming out of the ground in Winter Springs. Townhouses are to Winter Springs as rabbits are to a farm. Boy are we going to miss those word analogies on the SAT college entrance exam. Oh, back on topic, kind of did a Commissioner Sally McGinnis left turn there for a minute. Umm, where were we? Oh, that’s right…lack of water for the harbor in Harbor Winds.
Now can’t Harbor Winds residents use the West Pond and East Pond for water skiing and some sailing to qualify the name Harbor Winds? Well, you could if you had a remote control to power that model Ski Nautique to pull your pet squirrel on miniature water skis around those little retention ponds. No, Harbor Winds was not named because of the wetlands or retention ponds it embodies, but for what is yet to come…Los Lagos...translated…The Lakes.
Los Lagos is now the name of the old Winter Springs Golf Course. Californian speculator Arman Rahbarian named his new gold mine upon purchasing it in June 2006. Odd name for a golf course that was developed in concert with the Highlands community, which was modeled after the Scottish Highlands. Los Lagos instead of Loch Ness. Yeah, Los Lagos sounds prettier, but there still is a monster looming in The Lakes, and it is probably the next Morrison Home townhouse development project. Isn’t it so coincidental that the name of Harbor Winds, which was in the works for the last two years and has no body of water around it, ties in so nicely with the new name of Rahbarian’s property Los Lagos? Hardly!
Just as Morrison Homes did not own the land on which the Harbor Winds town homes are on, so will be the same for the land that Mr. Rahbarian stole out from under the City of Winter Springs sleeping commissioners and mayor. How confident are we in this prediction? Very much! First, this outcome fits exactly as City Manager Ron McLemore’s spoon-fed feasibility study to not purchase the golf course portended. Secondly, it goes hand-in-hand with Mayor John Bush’s public statements of developing portions of the golf course. Thirdly, Morrison Homes has over 20 townhouse communities being built today, including the Landings at Parkstone. Finally, if Morrison Homes decides it isn’t up for developing Los Lagos, you can be sure that Keewin Real Property Company would be more than happy to oblige especially when it knows it has Mayor John Bush (now known as Dr. John) and Commissioners Michael Blake, Sally McGinnis, and Robert S. Miller in its pockets.
So, if people in the Highlands and surrounding areas are being soothed by campaign promises being loudly made by Mayor John Bush and Commissioner Sally McGinnis, they should think twice about who they vote for on November 7. Both Bush and McGinnis together, known to city hall insiders as the Big BM, have had no difficulty changing land uses all over the city and putting in higher density development that have made BOTH their 2006 campaign accounts sing. If their past performance in approving higher density developments, like the apartments in the middle of the Highlands, is any indication, a conservation easement to them is worth bartering away if it means more residential development for their struggling town center, and more developer greenbacks in their campaign accounts.
( Email is good observation of the politician's involvement. Both Bush & McGinnis are loaded with heavy developers, builder's, and associates' money contributions. McGinnis works for a Winter Springs based land management company, and financials show heavy contributions! )
To PFGG,
After reading your posting about Harbor Winds, I drove there to check it out. One thing that I was amazed at is the tall retaining wall that surrounds the entire north perimeter of the property. Could this be the harbor’s seawall? Probably not. But, it will be homeowners’ future nightmare there. I also noticed on my way over there that incumbent Commissioner Sally MacGinnis’s campaign signs are the same purple/white color as all those Morrison Home’s marketing signs. Could MacGinnis’s and Morrison’s shared color sign scheme be planned by design? I definitely think so. Commissioner MacGinnis has proven on the record that she is a friend of Morrison Homes.
Sender's name withheld by PFGG.
(As we (PFGG) have stated many times - all one has to do is check the financial reports. You'll find the incumbents very heavily laden with developers and their associates contributions. Some, and it can't be proven, but it could even be hidden in a candidates "loans to their own campaign" where CASH from certain sources could be hidden without anyone ever knowing. That's an easy way to beat the maximum contribution allowed by law. So, if you see an incumbent account with a huge "personal" loan --- watch out!
It would seem there's a lot of "hot air" behind that whole Harbor Winds project, and the golf course sale deal. It is known that Bush was involved one-on-one during the golf course sale, and one has to wonder how far down the road might the property management company that commissioner McGinnis works for will become involved. McGinnis' votes were just TOO EASY on the roll call, and her real lack of neighborhood and residents concern was also a damning element.)
There IS AN EASY SOLUTION ---
VOTE ALL INCUMBENTS OUT !
There are actually three candidate incumbents running.
Bush, McGinnis, and ex-commissioner Martinez --- who moved BACK to Winter Springs.
( PFGG assumes Martinez likes the HUGE pay raise voted in for city politicians. He voted for it !
( Martinez was also a part of the HUGE land destruction plans of McLemore as City commissioner. )
