April 23–TAVARES — With its Tuscan-inspired facilities, the Bella Collina luxury development near Montverde has become a popular place for couples to tie the knot.

“This has become quite the destination for weddings,” Miranda Fitzgerald, an attorney representing Bella Collina’s owner, told county commissioners this week. But she said Lake is missing out on revenue as wedding guests often stay at upscale Orlando hotels.

Fitzgerald argued that a 100-unit lodge would fill the void and bring tax dollars to the county. She said units would be individually owned but available for short-term rental, for example, by wedding guests and visitors to the National Training Center in Clermont or Montverde Academy, a private boarding school.

Commissioners voted 4-0 in favor of land-use changes designed to pave the way for The Lodge at Bella Collina, which would be operated as a hotel at the community off County Road 455.

“We think it’s a logical addition to Bella Collina,” Fitzgerald said.

The county’s action also opens the door so Bella Collina’s owner is able to build an additional 67 homes, bringing the total number of lots to 868.

Only about 40 homes have been built in the boom-to-bust development, which was purchased in 2012 by DCS Real Estate Investments LLC in West Palm Beach from troubled real-estate developer Bobby Ginn.

Bella Collina resident Kathryn Sutherin opposed the changes, asking, “Do we seriously need 67 new lots?”

Sutherin said her home is close to a nature-preserve area and she is worried she’ll be looking toward “a sea of houses” with the potential for new construction. But Fitzgerald tried to ease such fears.

“We are not going to be impacting any of the preserved open space,” she said.Also, commissioners said the county will review specific plans for home sites prior to construction to make sure green space isn’t affected.

The new owner has worked hard to stabilize Bella Collina and added several “really nice” amenities, Fitzgerald said, including a swimming pool, fitness facility, several tennis courts and a new banquet hall/ballroom.

The changes will be sent to the state for review and approval, officials said.

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