LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — A proposed home development in the Flat Lake area of Southern Lake County and bordering a rural settlement in Western Orange County has a lot of people talking. Some homeowners are fighting to keep the development from moving forward in its current state.

Jacob and Roseanna Malherbe moved to the area that borders Lake and Orange counties six years ago.

“Chickens for sale, they had eggs, a roadside stand, they had honey for sale from their bees, they had cows here, and we knew instantly this is where we wanted to raise our children,” said Roseanna Malherbe, an organizer for Stop McKinnon Groves.

They believe the proposed development of McKinnon Groves would dramatically change their neighborhood.

“What we’re seeing coming is very small lots, where you have a lot of houses being built. Out here we’re on five acre lots,” said Jacob Malherbe.

The Malherbes started a ground campaign in opposition to the development that included hundreds of signs, which they say were removed.

“We estimated that 350 signs were taken in the last three months, so then we made the big signs, which you see here which is 5 feet by 8 feet,” said Jacob Malherbe.

The couple also took to social media, creating a petition that has picked up 1,200 signatures and a Facebook campaign that reached 220,000 people in Lake County.

“We had 98% that opposed future development,” said Jacob Malherbe.

The landowner and former Orange County Commissioner Scott Boyd said the land has been in his family for 120 years. He says the development would include 660 homes and also 48 acres of non-residential uses.

“We’ve got 5 miles of trails, our buffers are literally 150 feet wide, if you think of a football field, it’s that wide. Four miles plus of that. We’ve got an agricultural component to that as well,” said Boyd, the McKinnon Groves developer.

Boyd says he has followed the rules and guidelines set by the Lake County Board for the Wellness Way area.

“They’re looking at how large landowners who piece their properties together and plan them out responsibly, versus cutting up chunks of land and siloing types of development that otherwise would not have opportunities to link trails and do some of the other things,” said Boyd.

The Malherbes also set up a truck with a video screen, outside the Board of County Commissioners meeting, hoping to reach more people with their message.

“We’re trying to save the wildlife and the nature that everybody comes to Florida to see. We have enough developments,” said Jacob Malherbe.