Oviedo votes to preserve Twin Rivers Golf Course as green space

Oviedo moved to fence off Twin Rivers Golf Course from future development, with the City Council approving a declaration of restrictive covenants that would keep the 310-acre property in green space and out of the housing market.

The decision gives Mayor Megan Sladek’s long-running push for a “no build” easement real force. The city bought the land in 2017 to preserve the golf course and prevent residential development, and the new restriction is meant to make that promise harder to unwind later.

That matters far beyond the fairways. Twin Rivers sits between the Big and Little Econ rivers, and the city says the course helps manage floodplain conditions for the Little and Big Econlockhatchee rivers. Oviedo also says the property gives residents in special flood-hazard areas a 10% flood-insurance discount through the Community Rating System, a benefit that would drop to 5% without the golf course in place.

The covenant is the kind of move that could actually stop future builders, not just signal opposition. One version under discussion would limit the land to golf-course, conservation and stormwater uses, with any removal or major change requiring a unanimous council vote and a referendum. For nearby neighborhoods, that means less risk of new traffic, added drainage pressure and denser development on a site the city wants to keep open.

Sladek has been pressing the issue since January, saying the city should officially take the building rights off the land. She also pointed back to a 2020 effort to impose permanent development restrictions, which failed after council members said it was too restrictive. This time, the city appears to be trying to write the protection in a way that survives future pressure to build.

The golf course itself is marketed as an 18-hole championship layout designed by Oviedo native Joe Lee, and it says it has earned an Audubon International Certificate of Achievement for Environmental Planning. The preservation push comes as the council has also been weighing a forensic audit of the golf-course operator, with initial costs estimated at about $20,000 and later discussion putting the price closer to $30,000.

Taken together, the vote shows Oviedo treating Twin Rivers as more than a recreational amenity. It is now a test of whether the city will use its own ownership to lock in open space, or leave the property exposed to the next wave of Seminole County growth.