There is a great bit of misinformation and discepancy that has been circulated regarding the River Ranch Acres area.  In the spirit of providing a better understanding for everyone, we herein provide some clarification for the River Ranch Acres area.

First and foremost, there is one misunderstanding that is rendering an enormouse disservice to everyone.  That is the coding system of Polk County.  Let's step back and analyze.  There are two major areas (there are other smaller ones, as well) that are inaccessible tracts of land in Polk County.  The County lumps them into one description due to, one and only one, fact that they have in common:  that is that both these areas are "inaccessible tracts of land".  Hence, the Property (DOR) Use Code: Inaccessible Tracts River Ranch / Green Swamp (9910).  These two areas are "River Ranch" and "Green Swamp".  These are two distinct areas that are in seperate locations within the County.  In fact, Green Swamp is approximately 45 miles to the Northwest of River Ranch Acres area.  The terrain within Green Swamp, in many places is wetlands and swampy. 

That is NOT the case with the River Ranch area which is part of the Lake Wales Sandy Ridge.  However the common denominator between these two areas for the County is that they are "inaccessible tracts" and due to that commonality, they are placed by the County, together.  This misunderstanding has caused many people to run for cover, the minute they see the word Green Swamp in the coding.  Green Swamp is not a description of the area but the name of one particular area.

Now that, that is cleared up, let's get some background on the River Ranch Acres area.  River Ranch encompasses 70 square miles and is many things to many different groups.  It was originally platted back in the 1960's by Gulf American Corporation.  It was marketed and sold to individuals all over the world.  Recognize, that this land was platted even before the arrival of Walt Disney World to the area.  The arrival of Disney is commonly considered the turning point for Central Florida.

With the area left incomplete by the previous developer, the area went in several directions.  The individuals who owned land with access to highway 60 and State Road 630 (the two main roads in the area) always had the option to build on their land and many chose to do so.  WIth limited options for the interior lots, area ranchers with one access lot on one of the 2 roads, set up their cattle ranches on the interior lots by buying adjacent parcels from individuals.  Many of those cattle ranches exist to this day.  Around a similiar time period many owners got together to establish the River Ranch Property Owners Association (RRPOA), the hunting and recreational club.  Overtime, they have acquired large tracts to utilize for this specific purpose.  Many people also built dirt trails all over this subdivision to access their interior lots.  The zoning for the lots is agricultural/recreational acreage.

These lots can be purchased to gain admission to the Hunting and Recreation Club, however it is not necessary.  Many future minded investors are acquiring parcels of land in this area, as an investment for the future.  With Orlando, Tampa, Lake Wales and Highway 27 area rapidly developing on the West side of this subdivision and the planned city of Destiny being surveyed to the East, this area may experience growth and the corresponding value apprectaion, in the future.  So the two most obvious users of the land are those who want to take advantage of the land for Hunting and Recreational purposes and the other are forward thinking investors who see the potential for growth in the future.

Investors who benefit the most are usually the ones who are ahead of the curve.  The idea behind getting a higher rate of return on your investment is when an individual gets into an investment before most people think it is a good investment, once everyone thinks it is and jumps on the bandwagon, the value appreciation is already built into the price and the opportunity to make a sizeable return has vanished. 

We hope this provides a clearer picture of the potential opportunity this investment affords to our community.

Best Wishes,

Shopawopa