Development
Who owns Royal Oak’s drainage? Two lawsuits over a closed Titusville golf course
A developer’s takings suit and a condo association’s stormwater suit both center on the former Royal Oak Golf Course. A judge hears motions to dismiss in the condo case on Thursday, Oct. 15.
Two lawsuits in Brevard County circuit court now center on the former Royal Oak Golf Course in Titusville. One asks whether the city owes a developer for refusing to let it build 511 homes. The other asks who owns, and must repair, the drainage strips that run through the old course. A judge hears motions to dismiss in the second case on Thursday, Oct. 15.
The descriptions of both cases below come from Talk of Titusville, which reported on the court filings on Oct. 9. They are the parties’ claims, not findings by a court.
How the course got here
The Royal Oak Golf Course opened in 1962 and was designed by architect Dick Wilson, according to Talk of Titusville. The 147.13-acre property sits among more than 1,000 residential units. The course closed in 2012. In 2015 the Titusville City Council enacted a redevelopment moratorium and had its Community Development Department study the question. The city’s June 2015 report noted, among other obstacles, that golf course ponds help hold stormwater runoff from neighboring developments.
Royal Oaks FL LLC acquired the property in 2022 and proposed a master-planned community called Gemini Lakes. A January revision cut the plan from 547 to 511 homes, a density of 3.47 units per acre, with more than half of the land left as parks, lakes, open space and buffers. To build it, the company asked the city to change the land’s future land use from Recreation and Conservation to Low Density Residential (Comprehensive Plan Amendment No. 2-2025). City planning staff and the city manager recommended approval.
At the Feb. 10 council hearing, residents spoke against the plan, citing lost views, lost open space and drainage risks. Speakers also noted that the Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended denial and advised a small area study. Council voted to deny sending the amendment to the state and directed staff to conduct a small area study. The city issued its Final Order on March 2.
Lawsuit 1: the developer says the city took its land
Royal Oaks FL LLC sued the city on March 23. It seeks more than $50,000 in damages plus injunctive relief and has asked for a jury trial. Talk of Titusville lists four counts:
Failure to respect property rights, under a state statute and the city’s comprehensive plan.
“Reverse spot zoning”: that the city left the land an undevelopable enclave that serves neighbors as a de facto park and view.
A regulatory taking and unconstitutional exaction: that the denial leaves no economically beneficial use and forces the owner to absorb public open-space and drainage burdens.
A physical taking: that the city diverts stormwater from public streets onto the property for permanent retention.
The city moved to dismiss, arguing sovereign immunity, failure to exhaust administrative remedies and lack of jurisdiction. After arguments on July 7, Circuit Judge George T. Paulk denied the motion on all counts in a July 21 order. On Aug. 10 the city filed its answer with 31 affirmative defenses. It argues the denial was a lawful use of its police powers, that the land keeps economically viable uses such as agriculture, a solar facility or horse boarding under General Use zoning, and that a 1986 drainage agreement bars the developer’s flooding claims. None of this has been decided.
Lawsuit 2: the condo association says the city owns the drainage
On June 26, The Association of Fairways at Royal Oak, Inc. sued both the city and Royal Oaks FL LLC. It represents the adjacent Fairways at Royal Oak Condominium. At the Feb. 10 hearing, an unnamed resident association cited an infrastructure failure at an outfall pond and said it had lost 25 to 30 feet of association land to erosion, according to a separate Talk of Titusville account of that meeting.
The suit traces back to July 1963, when Titusville created Improvement District No. 1 to build regional stormwater infrastructure. In January 1964 the original course developer signed an instrument titled “Fee Simple Deed” that transferred six 40-foot-wide strips of land, called the Drainage Parcels, to the city. They carry stormwater through connected retention lakes, including Pond A and Pond H.
The association says decades of development have increased the runoff flowing into the system and that, combined with a lack of maintenance, Pond H has expanded and is eroding condominium grounds. When residents asked for repairs, it says, city officials disclaimed responsibility. The city’s position is that despite its title the 1964 document conveyed only drainage easements and no obligation to maintain them, which would put upkeep on private property owners.
In plain terms, an easement lets someone run water across land they do not own, while fee simple ownership would make the city the owner of the strips. Which one the 1964 document created is the question before the court.
The association wants a declaration that the city owns the strips outright and must repair them. The city and Royal Oaks FL LLC have both moved to dismiss, arguing the deed’s plain text created easements, not ownership, and that the association lacks standing.
What happens next
Thursday, Oct. 15: Circuit Judge Scott Blaue is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the city’s and the developer’s motions to dismiss the condo association’s suit.
Dec. 1: Judge Paulk is scheduled to consider the association’s motion to intervene in the developer’s takings case.
Written discovery is underway in the takings case, and depositions are being rescheduled.
The two cases raise different legal questions but share one subject: who is responsible for stormwater on and around the property. Talk of Titusville reports the rulings will determine not only whether the 147 acres can be developed but who holds legal responsibility for the area’s regional stormwater network.
What isn’t known yet
The case numbers and the complaints themselves were not available to 321 Daily, so the filings’ exact wording is unconfirmed. The cost of repairing Pond H is not reported, and the text of the 1986 drainage agreement has not been made public in anything reviewed. The city’s separate small area study of the neighborhood is also unsettled: a May 11 Talk of Titusville preview said council would vote on a $77,510 consultant task order to study five options, with completion expected in November 2026, but 321 Daily could not confirm that vote or where the study stands now.