SR 50 Through Groveland and Mascotte: What Lake County Owners Can Recover

Two Florida Department of Transportation projects are reshaping SR 50 between the Sumter County line and Groveland, and FDOT’s adopted work program keeps land-purchase and relocation money on both of them into fiscal years 2028 and 2029. If you own land or a business on that stretch, the compensation process is not closed out.

Is FDOT Still Buying Land for SR 50 in Lake County?

Yes, in the sense a budget shows. FDOT’s adopted fiscal year 2027 through 2031 work program, adopted July 1, 2026, programs right-of-way purchase and relocation money on two SR 50 items in Lake County: the widening toward Mascotte, item 435859-5, and the realignment around downtown Groveland, item 427056-1. Together they carry roughly $31.6 million in land-purchase money and about $2.1 million for relocation. Those are budget authority, not a parcel count, and the program names no parcels and no notice dates.

Why FDOT’s Project Page and the Work Program Read Differently

FDOT’s page for the Mascotte-side widening, item 435859-5, lists the project in design and described right-of-way acquisition as underway with completion expected in summer 2026, as of its July 29, 2026 update. The work program adopted July 1, 2026 carries purchase dollars on that item in fiscal years 2027, 2028, and 2029, plus relocation in fiscal year 2029.

A project page reports a phase and an estimate; the work program reports the money, and money programmed three fiscal years past that estimate is not the profile of a closed-out acquisition.

Which SR 50 Segments Carry Right-of-Way Money?

Two SR 50 items in Lake County carry funded right-of-way phases in that program. A third, item 452915-1, a trail design spanning both cities, carries none.

• Item 435859-5, east of the Sumter/Lake County line to C.R. 33 (Mascotte). A 4.293-mile widening from two lanes to four, with about $13.7 million of purchase money across fiscal years 2027 through 2029 and roughly $591,000 for relocation. Construction, estimated at $61.6 million, is unfunded there.
• Item 427056-1, C.R. 565 (Villa City Road) to Second Avenue (Groveland). A 2.096-mile new four-lane roadway moving SR 50 north of downtown, with roughly $17.9 million of purchase money in fiscal years 2027 and 2028 and about $1.55 million for relocation. FDOT’s project page puts construction at $26.8 million from fall 2026 into summer 2028, with a contractor named.

The Groveland realignment is further along, yet the adopted program still carries purchase money on that item into fiscal year 2028. FDOT routinely buys land ahead of building, as Orange County’s I-4 segment and I-95 at Broward Boulevard show. Title can change hands well before the compensation is settled, and along the finished Wekiva Parkway in Lake and Orange counties owners still had unresolved claims.

What Can Lake County Owners Recover in an SR 50 Taking?

Florida’s constitution requires full compensation, and section 73.071 tells the jury what that includes.

The Land Taken, Plus Damage to What You Keep

On a partial taking you are paid for the strip FDOT acquires and for damage to the remainder caused by the taking. That severance damages claim can exceed the land’s value.

Section 73.071(4) offsets enhancement in the value of your remaining adjoining property caused by the improvement FDOT makes or contemplates, in condemnations of a road, canal, levee, or water control facility right-of-way. Two limits favor owners: the offset never applies against the value of the property taken, and if enhancement exceeds your remainder damages, FDOT has no recovery over against you.

Business Damages for an Established Business

Section 73.071(3)(b) treats business damages as part of remainder damages, on narrow conditions. The taking must be partial, and the condemnor must be the Department of Transportation, a county, municipality, board, district, or other public body condemning a right-of-way. The business must be an established business of more than five years’ standing, owned by the party whose land is taken and located on adjoining lands that party owns or holds. The statute reaches probable damages that denial of the use of the taken property may reasonably cause, and the claim must be set out in your written defenses.

If you have operated a business on SR 50 in Groveland or Mascotte for more than five years, that claim carries its own deadline. Our explainer on business damages under section 73.071 covers the proof problem, and a Jimerson Birr eminent domain attorney can review your offer.

Relocation Benefits Run on a Separate Track

Relocation assistance is largely administrative, handled through FDOT under federal relocation rules with its own payment categories and appeal path rather than by the condemnation jury. The statutory exception is section 73.071(3)(c), which puts a mobile home owner’s reasonable removal or relocation expenses before the jury. Otherwise moving costs reach a jury as a measure of business damages. See relocation benefits when FDOT needs your land and Kings Highway in Fort Pierce. Both SR 50 items carry a funded relocation phase, the budget line FDOT uses when displacement is anticipated.

Will FDOT Pay Me for Losing Traffic Through Downtown Groveland?

Not for the rerouting by itself. FDOT states that once construction is complete, West Broad Street and West Orange Street become city streets, moving through traffic north of downtown. Florida law treats lost pass-by traffic as changed traffic flow rather than a taking, and that holds even where FDOT takes part of your property, because remainder damages must be caused by the taking rather than by the new traffic pattern.

What is compensable is different. Substantial impairment of your actual access, as opposed to loss of the most convenient route, supports a claim measured by the reduction in your property’s value, with business damages still under section 73.071. Driveway closures, medians, and turn restrictions are where those disputes arise, as our post on how a roadway project affects access and parking explains.

What Deadlines Start When FDOT’s Letter Arrives?

Section 73.015 governs what FDOT owes you before it sues.

• At least 30 days to respond. Section 73.015(1)(b) gives the fee owner at least 30 days after receipt of the notice, or after the date the notice is returned undeliverable, to respond to the offer. Under section 73.015(1)(c) the notice goes by certified mail to the last known address on the county ad valorem tax roll, or by personal delivery.
• Documents you can demand. Under section 73.015(1)(a)3., the authority must furnish its appraisal within 15 business days of your request, plus right-of-way maps and construction plans to the extent prepared.
• 180 days for a business damage offer. A business that qualifies under section 73.071(3)(b) and intends to claim business damages has 180 days from receipt of the business owner notice, the date it is returned undeliverable, or a later date the parties agree to, to submit a written offer with supporting records. Section 73.015(2)(c) directs the court to grant up to 180 additional days on a showing of good faith justification. The authority then has 120 days after receiving the offer and records to respond under section 73.015(2)(d), and a failure to respond, or a rejection, is deemed a counteroffer of zero for the fee calculation under section 73.092(1).

Under quick take the schedule compresses and possession can shift before compensation is decided. See the quick-take process under chapter 74 and how to read an FDOT order of taking.

Working With Jimerson Birr on Lake County SR 50 Takings

Jimerson Birr represents Florida property and business owners in condemnation matters brought by the state, counties, municipalities, and utilities. We research corridor projects at the work program item level and publish what we find, so you walk into the first meeting knowing how your project is funded and scheduled.

Florida’s fee statutes are written so owners can get advice early. On the compensation claim, section 73.092(1) assesses fees against the condemning authority based on the benefits obtained, measured from its last written offer before you hired counsel, or the first one afterward if none preceded it. Business damages fees run off the section 73.015(2)(d) counteroffer instead. Section 73.015(4) applies the same mechanics to a presuit settlement, and only where a public body condemns a road right-of-way. See what landowners need to know before accepting an offer.

1. We read the offer against the file, because the appraisal, maps, and plans obtainable under section 73.015 usually explain the number.
2. We document the business damage claim inside the statutory window.
3. We look at the remainder, not just the strip, where access, parking, drainage, and signage drive value.

Lake County cases are filed in Florida’s Fifth Judicial Circuit, and we write about FDOT acquisitions across it, including I-75 widening in Sumter and Marion counties and land buying in Marion County. Our eminent domain practice works alongside our land use and zoning, real estate transactions and disputes, and real estate development, sales and leasing teams. If an FDOT letter has reached you, or you expect one, contact Jimerson Birr before the 30-day window runs.