In May 2023, more than 100 residents packed the Citrus County Commission chamber, with an overflow room filling up behind them. They were there because a developer wanted to turn a familiar patch of land near Oak Village Center into something the neighborhood had never seen: 250 rental units on property zoned for a fraction of that.
The commission said no. Unanimously. And for more than three years, that answer looked like the end of the story.
It wasn't. A 49-acre parcel near Oak Village Center is back on the market in 2026, matching the footprint of that 2023 fight almost to the acre. What's being proposed for it now tells you more about how Oak Village actually works than any greenbelt photo or amenity list ever could.
The vote that didn't change the zoning
The developer was Sweetwater Homes of Citrus, and the project had a name: Cherry Oaks. According to Citrus County Chronicle coverage of the hearing, the plan called for an upscale build-to-rent community, a mix of villas, duplexes and townhomes, on nearly 50 acres inside Oak Village. CEO Steve Ponticos pitched it as housing for two groups the county genuinely needs to serve: aging residents who no longer want to maintain a single-family home, and younger professionals not yet ready to buy one.
County planning staff agreed it was consistent with the comprehensive plan and recommended approval with conditions.
The commission didn't see it that way. After a hearing that ran more than three hours, with nearly 40 residents speaking against the project, commissioners voted 5-0 to deny the rezoning.
One resident, Thomas Sholar, challenged the developer's own numbers during the hearing. He argued the density math was worse than it looked on paper:
"It's too many structures on an acre of land, OK."
Sholar's point was that the 250 units, spread across what he estimated was closer to 30 usable acres once retention ponds and infrastructure were carved out, packed far more structures per acre than Oak Village's existing single-family lots. Commissioner Holly Davis, who said she had supported workforce and affordable housing in other contexts, told the room that Sugarmill Woods wasn't the right location for this particular project. The Chronicle reported that Sweetwater Homes did not return calls asking about its next move.
Here's the detail that matters more than the drama of that night: the zoning underneath that parcel was already capped before Cherry Oaks ever came up for a vote, and nothing in county coverage or current listings suggests it has moved since. The Chronicle described it plainly at the time: development there tops out at 95 single-family homes.
What a zoning cap actually does to a piece of land
A number like "95 single-family homes" sounds like a bureaucratic footnote until you watch what it does to a developer's options.
Sweetwater tried to get around it through a multi-family rezoning request. The commission's denial didn't just kill one project. It confirmed that the existing zoning would hold, which meant any future plan for that acreage had to work within a single-family framework instead of fighting to escape it.
That's exactly what shows up in current land listings for the property. Instead of another rezoning push, a 49-acre tract near Oak Village Center is now being marketed as a joint venture opportunity: a 70-lot subdivision design called the Enclave at Oak Village Center, laid out as a gated community of single-family estate lots. The listing offers 50 percent equity in the property and in future profits from lot and home sales, structured for a private equity partner rather than an outright sale.
Look at the two plans side by side and the shift is not subtle:
| 2023 Cherry Oaks Proposal | 2026 Enclave at Oak Village Center | |
|---|---|---|
| Acreage | Nearly 50 acres | 49 acres |
| Unit count | Up to 250 units | 70 lots |
| Product type | Rental villas, duplexes, townhomes | For-sale single-family estate lots |
| Zoning path | Requested rezoning to multi-family | Designed to fit the existing single-family cap |
| Status | Denied 5-0 by County Commission, May 2023 | Marketed for sale and joint venture as of 2026 |
Seventy lots on 49 acres works out to well under the 95-home ceiling, with room to spare for the gated entrance, internal roads and common areas a project like this typically needs. Whoever is marketing this JV isn't testing the zoning boundary. They're building comfortably inside it.
The land didn't disappear. It got repriced into the neighborhood it already was
There's a version of this story where the failed rezoning just means the land sits vacant indefinitely, a symbolic scar on the map. That's not what happened. The acreage got repositioned to match the product Oak Village already sells: single-family homes on quarter- to half-acre lots, the same category that fills the rest of the village.
That's worth sitting with if you're comparing Sugarmill Woods villages rather than just touring open houses. Cypress Village is the largest of the three and markets itself on golf-course prestige and clubhouse access. Southern Woods leans on its Hale Irwin-designed course. Oak Village's identity has always been more practical: the second largest of the three villages, with its own sports complex for tennis, pickleball and fitness that doesn't require a country club membership to use.
What this zoning fight adds to that picture is a track record. When a developer tested whether Oak Village's character could shift toward higher-density rental product, the answer from both the county and the neighborhood was no, and the zoning language backing that answer hasn't moved since. A buyer weighing Oak Village against a village without that kind of tested ceiling is weighing something more concrete than curb appeal. They're weighing whether the next large parcel that comes up for redevelopment is more likely to become more single-family homes at existing price points, or something the neighborhood has already shown it will fight.
What this means for current inventory
None of this happens in a vacuum from what's actually for sale right now. As of March 2026, Oak Village's resale market showed a median price in the high $300,000s to just under $400,000, depending on which dataset you check, with homes typically spending somewhere in the low 90s to high 90s in days on market. Ranch-style homes from the 1980s and 90s have traded in the $250,000 to $440,000 range, while newer contemporary builds have reached into the $600,000s.
A 70-lot estate enclave, if it moves forward, would land squarely inside that same range rather than introducing a new price tier or a new type of resident turnover. That's the practical version of the zoning story: the cap doesn't just limit unit count, it keeps future construction aimed at the same buyer this village has always served.
None of that is a promise about what gets built or when. Joint venture land listings change hands, plans get revised, and a 70-lot design on paper is not a permitted subdivision. But the zoning constraint underneath it is a matter of public record, tested in a commission hearing, not a marketing claim.
A few questions worth asking before you tour Oak Village
Does the zoning cap apply to every large parcel in Oak Village, or just this one? The 95-home cap described in county coverage applies specifically to the roughly 49-acre tract discussed here. Other undeveloped lots in Oak Village carry their own zoning designations, and anyone evaluating a specific parcel should confirm its current zoning with Citrus County directly rather than assuming this cap applies elsewhere.
Is the Enclave at Oak Village Center a confirmed, permitted project? Not yet. What's currently on the market is a land listing describing a subdivision design and a joint venture equity opportunity, not an approved site plan. Anyone considering a purchase near this parcel should track its status with Citrus County planning before assuming a timeline.
Does this history affect resale value on existing Oak Village homes? The zoning outcome doesn't change the value of homes already built. What it does is reduce the odds that a large multi-family project changes the character of the immediate area, which is the kind of neighborhood stability many buyers weigh alongside price when comparing villages.
If you're comparing Oak Village to Cypress Village, Southern Woods, or another corner of Sugarmill Woods and want the real story behind a listing, not just the square footage, Edward Johnston and the team can walk you through current inventory, HOA specifics and what's actually zoned for the lot next door. Search Sugarmill Woods homes today and start with the full picture.
