In the controversy's newest wrinkle, Lake County commissionershave decided not to appeal Gov. Jeb Bush's Oct. 31 decision. Thatruling gives the landowners another five years to develop theenterprise, either with Reaves or another third party. The previousfive-year development deadline expired this year.

Reaves, a former quarterback at the University of Florida andlater with the Tampa Bay Bandits in the defunct United StatesFootball League (1985), has contracted to buy the 1,433 acres fromCox and Price at an undisclosed sum. A development strategy byReaves and his associates was awaiting the county's appealdecision. That hurdle has now been passed.

The planned $1.2 billion venture is in a high-profile publicrecreation area in south Lake County, 30 miles west of DowntownOrlando. At 355 feet high, the tract is the tallest pile of dirt inCentral Florida. Environmentalists have fought the venture since1992.