A vacant 46-acre wooded greenbelt just west of State Road 417 along the south side of S.R. 434 is now a step closer to being sold off by Seminole County, and neighbors in Winter Springs say they are bracing for what that could mean for their flood-prone yards. Jetta Point sits at a slightly higher elevation than the surrounding neighborhoods, and residents worry that commercial development on the site could send even more stormwater rushing toward their homes.
On July 28, the Seminole County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to transfer Florida Communities Trust grant restrictions from Jetta Point to the former Rolling Hills Golf Course near Altamonte Springs, according to Citizen Portal. Deputy County Attorney Neysa Borkert told commissioners the vote was purely procedural and does not dictate how Jetta Point will ultimately be used, per the same report. The exchange paved the way for Jetta Point to be designated surplus property and eventually placed on the real estate market, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Seminole County originally purchased Jetta Point for $4.3 million in 2002, aided by a $1.7 million grant from the Florida Communities Trust, the Sentinel reports. County records reviewed by the Florida Communities Trust show the acquisition was meant to expand the Cross Seminole Trailhead — which still cuts through the western edge of the property — while blocking high-density commercial development within the ecologically sensitive Lake Jesup Special Basin.
A Sports Complex Defeated, A Sale Now Looms
The county once planned to build a sports complex on the site back in 2002, but nearby residents protested in 2012 over noise, traffic, bright lights and the destruction of eagles’ nests, according to the Sentinel’s reporting. Commissioners ultimately nixed that project. A resident-led petition gathering nearly 2,000 signatures in October 2025 pointed to an active bald eagle nest site on the property, designated SE004 by wildlife officials, as a reason to preserve Jetta Point as a wooded park, per a Change.org petition…