Dispute over private lakefront park roils Virginia Heights
The owners of two large homes next to the park filed a lawsuit against another neighbor and want limited hours and kayaks removed
May 9, 2025
By Beth Kassab
The owners of two large homes on Lake Virginia filed a lawsuit last week against another neighbor over “filthy” kayaks and other issues related to a private neighborhood park visible from their backyards.
Escalating tensions over who can do what at the green space platted more than 100 years ago to provide all homeowners in Virginia Heights lake access is roiling one of Winter Park’s oldest neighborhoods known for its mix of architectural styles and picturesque views of the Spanish-Mediterranean buildings of Rollins College.
Residents say Eric and Diane Holm and Brian and Caryn Albertson, who own the homes on either side of the park and filed the lawsuit, have demanded changes to the park, installed cameras and floodlights and are using legal action to intimidate others from using the space that has long been the gathering spot for neighborhood holiday parties, Halloween costume contests and more.
“It’s creating a chilling effect of people going into the park,” said Stephanie Guss, who lives nearby and, so far, is the only named defendant in the lawsuit. “People walking into the park feel like they are trespassing even though they know they are not.”
Residents must walk across pavers that appear to be part of the Holms’ driveway and meander down a five-foot-wide path between a black iron fence and a large wall that separates the Holms’ property from the Albertsons’. The path opens to a lakefront green with a dock, a rack for kayaks and canoes and a pair of picnic tables surrounded by the Holms’ and Albertsons’ backyards.
In a rally of support for the park that was part ice cream party and part defiance, more than 100 people gathered there Sunday for treats, games, boat rides and speakers that included former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins, who owns a home down the street.
“I’ve used this park a lot … there’s usually not many people here,” he told the crowd before reading from one of his works.
Guss is named in the lawsuit because, according to the filing, she “helps handle inquiries for the use of the boat rack.”
Before filing the lawsuit last week, Holm and Albertson filed a legal proceeding in November against Guss to try to find out the names of the kayak owners, financial information related to the park and other details. That case is still ongoing.
While the new lawsuit filed in Orange County Circuit Court does not dispute that more than 200 homeowners in Virginia Heights have equal access to the park, it refers to the kayak and canoe owners as “co-conspirators” and argues that the boat rack and shrubs planted by residents deprives the Holms and Albertsons of use of a portion of the greenspace.
Eric Holm, one of the nation’s largest Golden Corral franchisees who lives in the 10,000-square-foot home just west of the park, told the Voice that he and his neighbor aren’t trying to intimidate anyone and that the cameras and lighting are no different from the typical security measures many homeowners take.
“If someone is not engaging in inappropriate or unlawful behavior, there should be no reason to feel intimidated by their presence,” he said in an email. “Our intent has never been to intimidate anyone—only to follow the law and ensure the park remains a safe, shared space.”
Guss said she stopped assisting with the kayak rack last fall. She said she originally got involved because of complaints from the adjacent homeowners about the canoes and kayaks being left on the grass.
“I was trying to keep the peace by getting everybody to be good neighbors and keep their kayaks on the rack,” she said. “And they came back and sued me.”
Neighbors gathered on a recent Sunday at Virginia Heights’ private park with homes belonging to Brian Albertson and Eric Holm in the background.
Holm, a major Republican donor who hosted Vice President J.D. Vance for lunch at his home last year and a philanthropist who operates multiple Golden Corral, Peach Valley Cafe and Jersey Mike’s Subs locations, said he has growing concerns about safety and liability. He bought his property in 2008 for $3.1 million.
The park, Holm told the Voice in an email, “is not maintained by a homeowners association and has no security or formal oversight. Over time, this lack of structure has led to growing safety concerns — including underage drinking at night and, more recently, vagrants sleeping in the canoes stored there.”
The lawsuit argues that the kayaks and canoes on racks are not permitted and the people using the racks “seem to look at the park as a storage area for items they do not wish to store at their own residence.”
“Many of the kayaks in and around the racks are filthy, showing no signs of use within the last year or more and are covered in dust, dirt, and mildew,” the lawsuit states.
Albertson, who paid $3.1 million for his property in 2020 and built his house last year, said he also has concerns about liability and safety.
“We need to take steps to reduce after-hours loitering, including drinking, drug use, and vagrancy,” he told the Voice in an email.
He said he has not reported any incidents to the police.
In a letter dated Jan. 17 signed by Albertson and posted in the park he alerted neighbors that he relocated the park trash cans “while we determine the legality of the placement of trash cans or any other item in the park.”
“We maintain a sincere desire to find an equitable resolution to this situation,” the letter said. “Should there be any criminal mischief or vandalism inflicted against our property we will be seeking criminal charges. Please be advised all movements are monitored by cameras” and invited residents to email him to make arrangements for him to “release the trash cans.”
In February, Holm and Albertson sent a letter to Virginia Heights homeowners explaining that they have tried to discuss solutions with neighbors, but “a handful of self-appointed individuals have attempted to dictate park policies” and “placed obstacles like bushes and trash cans in ways that obstruct views and limit fair use of the space.”
The letter also said all kayaks or other personal property must be removed immediately and asked for signs to be posted that declare the park closed between dusk and dawn. The letter also asserted that the homeowners are not allowed to take up a collection for park maintenance as they have done in the past.
“Rather than escalating this into a long legal dispute, we hope that our neighbors will voluntarily remove their personal property from the park and respect the shared nature of this space,” read the letter, according to a copy provided to the Voice.
Albertson told the Voice that a gate could potentially be installed at the entrance of the park as a security measure to limit access to homeowners. He also suggested that “perhaps we could consider a few well-maintained kayaks for shared community use.”
He said he wants to make sure there is insurance coverage in place “to protect all homeowners in case of any incidents.”
“Given that these concerns affect everyone, I’m a bit puzzled as to why this dispute has persisted for so long,” Albertson said in an email. “We have tried to amicably address this situation for two-plus years. I hope we can come together and find practical solutions that reflect the best interests of the entire community.”
Neighbors say kayaks and the racks have existed at the park in some form or another for 20 years and they object to limited park hours for those who like to watch night rocket launches from the dock, stargaze or just seek a few moments of solitude.
“The park has always been for the use and enjoyment of the neighbors and, to my understanding, has been collaboratively shared without incident,” said Hannah Miller, who also lives in the neighborhood. “What’s changed now has been this attempt to assert power and control over the park.”
Some in the community have taken exception to changes Albertson has made to the park, too, saying he trimmed park trees to enhance the lake view from his backyard. In a court filing last year, Guss wrote that Albertson told a meeting of about 30 neighbors in 2023 that the trimming was done to improve his view of Rollins College.
“We have spent significant money de-mossing and pruning trees on our property and the oak tree in the park,” Albertson said in an email, adding that the work was needed after hurricane damage and done with city approval. “At no time did we trim any trees or branches to improve our view.”
This isn’t the first time the park has been the subject of a legal debate.
A 1971 court judgement ordered the former owners of the properties now occupied by Holm and Albertson to take down wire fencing and landscaping they put in the park after they were challenged by Virginia Heights residents.
The judgement said that the property owners who abut the park are not allowed to build, plant or place anything on the park land.
Holm said he believes that rule extends to all Virginia Heights homeowners.
“While the judgment does reference the previous owners of the two properties adjacent to the park — now owned by myself and the Albertsons — it clearly states that no structures or improvements of any kind may be erected in the park,” he told the Voice. “We believe the intent of the court was to protect the integrity of the entire green space for the benefit of all 220 homeowners in Virginia Heights, not to single out just two properties.”
But other homeowners in Virginia Heights read the order as a protection from the adjacent property owners taking over the park. They said the ruling doesn’t prevent the neighborhood from collectively beautifying the area such as new bald cypress trees planted at the shore line at the recent ice cream party, where neighbors also took turns making video recordings of their memories of the park.
“These unfortunate circumstances have forged a stronger and more vibrant community in Virginia Heights and, for that, I am thankful,” Guss said.
WinterParkVoiceEditor@gmail.com
I wonder how the other 218 homeowners would feel if a vacant lot next to their homes contained dirty kayaks, late night visitors and sleepovers from non-residents?
I cannot believe I’m going to say this, as it is most definitely a first, but I agree with Mr. Warner. How did that just happen?! It’s Interesting; the general theme of my disagreement with him on past issues focuses on the good of the community trampled by individuals. However, in this case, it sounds like the community may be trampling the good of individuals.
What? How is policing the community and suing an individual neighbor “trampling the good of individuals (the 2 homeowners)”? They built next to this park, and they have slowly been choking it off and claiming it as their privilege.
One thing is for sure, they have galvanized the community. Seeing Mr Albertson on his porch videoing the celebration was pitiful. I imagine the Holms were watching their surveillance tapes from inside their naff compound.
Barbara, I was simply referring to the claims of people partying and sleeping there after hours and generally trashing the area; if accurate, it’s unfair to the individual homeowners adjacent to the property. I don’t really want to stand up for them, as I certainly don’t care for their McMansions, Republican fundraisers, and factory farm-based restaurant chains, but it was intended as an objective assessment of the situation.
Shame on those adjacent homeowners (the plaintiffs) for being such bullies!! That park was there for the enjoyment of all the neighborhood long before they built their houses. They knew when they purchased their properties that the park was there and what the purpose of it was. Those boats were there at that time also. Shame, shame on them!
I need to clarify the above statement as I , Grace Sutte, am not the Grace listed. I am disgusted that these two neighbors on either side of the park have reacted the way they have and have caused such unpleasantness among our neighbors in Virginia Heights.
Grace,
Do your homework – this piece of land was set aside as a community asset and is a park. If activities happening in this park are violating laws/ordinances, then they have remedies at their disposal, such as calling the police or filing a complaint with the City’s Code Enforcement hotline.
This park was there decades before either one of these two “offended” parties ever purchased the adjoining properties.
It’s like moving in next door to an airport and then suing to have it shut down because you don’t want airplanes flying over your house.
Your argument doesn’t “fly.” Pun intended. Try again.
Not a vacant lot. A community owned park. A one hundred year owned collective place that ebbs and flows.
The article fails to mention the Holms’ personal access gate to the park so the hired help can schlep fundraising and party supplies into their backyard.
It’s a vacant lot. A park. Not a storage lot or marina. And, I put my name on my comment. 🙂
Pitt,
By your logic, the West Meadow of Central Park and large swaths of other City parks (Phelps Park, MLK Park, Kraft Azalea Gardens, etc.) are also”vacant lots.” This is legally a park, per the deed. If there are Code Violations, then a complaint may be filed to address them and the City has mechanisms in place for this.
Your argument is lazy and specious, and you know it!
Would the city allow kayak storage in the West Meadow? The occasional sleepover? hmm….I doubt it.
Seriously-?
Dirty kayaks?
And homeless people?
No homeless people! Holmes called in about 2 years ago citing a homeless fellow in the park a few times (same fellow)- that ‘homeless fellow was actually(now deceased) someone who was dying of cancer and was a resident for multiple decades who went to the park for a pleasant quiet place to be outside his home!!!!
Lets please stick to fact not toddler fiction!!!
Pitt, this is not a vacant lot. It is a Park and everyone 230 home owners own a piece and right to the Park. It is written on our deeds. It would be a good idea to do some research before commenting.
I was cleaning that park in the early ’80’s when I lived on Arlington…with Mr. Royale Crabtree leading the crew. It has evolved into a storage facility with an occasional unhoused person sleepover. Not the intent of the deeded access.
I was born and raised in the Virginia Heights neighborhood. In my 67 years of living here, I cannot recall any major disputes regarding College Point. Now that the McMansions have moved in, it seems as though what they
want is to take over this small park that is used by many. Why these two private property owners feel they can dictate how this park can be utilized is beyond my comprehension.
Why don’t you require commenters to use their real names? Cowards all. Including the Winter Park Voice.
Mrs. Warner,
Not all of us are fortunate enough to live on lakefront property as you do. These neighborhood parks are a great way to allow neighbors a place to gather and enjoy access to our City’s beautiful Chain of Lakes.
Don’t use the anonymity argument to criticise the validity of the comments. The use of pseudonyms is a time-honored tradition. Make your own argument and tell us why you believe that you are correct, instead of using a page from your good buddy Pete Weldon’s playbook and attacking a valid comment simply because the author used a pen name. Try again, if you have the courage.
A “pen name”? The Founding Fathers used them to hide from the British army. Who are you hiding from?
They knew they bought next to a neighborhood park. Enjoy it. It’s a beautiful place.
You don’t need to own or control others. Suing your neighbor over kayaks pathetic.
Not trying to intimidate? Wanting to resolve the “issues “ amicably? Yet filing lawsuits? Give me a break. These adjacent homeowners are out of line. I will NEVER eat at Golden Corral, Peach Valley or Jersey Mike’s ever again. Those restaurants are as vile as the actions being taken against the residents that have DEEDED access to this park!
The community also has spent resources maintaining the flood prone point by maintaining a natural shoreline. Native shore plants, cypress, and oaks have to battle against their pesticide-laden, sea wall-edged yards.
The motion sensor spotlights and “security” surveillance cameras, pointed at community private property, are just the Holm and Albertson way of saying “Hi, Neighbors! Let’s be friends!”
Any reasonable concerns about the park should have first been addressed through a constructive discussion with the Virginia Heights community. It’s unfortunate that the adjacent owners decided to litigate (initiated late 2024) rather than first open a dialogue.
Sounds like they bought the land and built large structures on it under the assumption that they could eventually remove access to the area. Their legal argument that no one of the 218 properties can maintain the area speaks exactly to this strategy. I’m sure their plan is to cause the park to fall into disrepair and become so uninviting that they alone must swoop in to impose new rules on the park and take over exclusive maintenance.
I have no doubt that the see the park as nothing but a nuisance and wish for it to go away entirely. Pathetic cowardly behavior.
The Holler’s did this years ago on the adjacent community lake access on Palmer and so have the folks just to the north of the old library. There is a curmudgeon who lives adjacent to the neighborhood lake access at Alberta and Jo Al Ca trying to do the same thing.
Yes. They keep shutting the public away from access to any lakefront property. It’s not right and the city should not help them do it. If uses of the land are violating laws or disturbing the peace, code enforcement or law enforcement can be called. These instances should be dealt with in a way that doesn’t remove access for all.
This!!
They also removed a dock and took away public access at the end of east canton Ave recently. You used to be able to walk your dog to the lake at old England Ave. They literally gave it away to a rich person. There’s another at the bottom of Elizabeth next to a recently demoed house. They removed the dock kayaks and signs. They are planning on STEALING this lakefront park space from us as well. No one talks about it. They get away with it
Faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.
Love one another.
Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
Love is not self serving- it does not file lawsuits to steal from others what you enjoy in bountiful abundance.
What we have here is a derivative of a legal but morally questionable, tactic – used by developers in the past – a SLAPP Suit (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). Lawsuits cost money, and those with the bigger bank accounts sue for what they want, knowing they can (and will) outlast those with the lesser bank accounts. They keep up the resulting financial and emotional pressure, wearing down their opponents, until the opponents ultimately say, “Uncle!”
It’s a public park. They chose to build their monstrous houses next to it, and are now complaining that it gets used? Saying that residents of the neighborhood who plant bushes on the edges of the property (communally agreed on) are obstructing your view is like me saying your house is obstructing my view of the lake and requiring you to demolish it. And I wish they would. Who needs turrets and four foot cauldrons of fire outside their home? Let alone that ghastly popcorn-chicken paint job.
The only “conspirators” in this instance are the Holm’s and the Albertson’s. They appear to be conspiring together to reduce or remove their neighbors’ use, enjoyment of, and access to what has for over 100 years been a neighborhood park. They knew the park was there when they bought. Nothing says “good neighbor” like filing a couple big fat expensive lawsuits against any fellow Va Heights resident who dares to enjoy some of the lakefront amenities they were afforded by virtue of the 1922 platting in pace when they bought their homes. I hate to think that whenever I go to Peach Valley I am helping to fund the lawsuits against these residents.
If you house your Pekingese lapdog in a six-foot high, jewel-encrusted Taj Mahal, you just might be irritated to have the common rabble frequent a slender strip of community park that lies between your mansion and Lake Virginia.
Can someone post a copy of the litigation Holms and Albertson filed? It’s difficult to believe that two neighbors start suing the rest of their neighborhood over a park they knew was there. I believe they planned this from the day they bought in Virginia Heights.
That is creepy and awful. They will regret doing this.
Beth, you seem very interested in the square footage of peoples’ houses (mentioned in another article a while back) and their political affiliations. What do those details have to do with an otherwise interesting article and describing an interesting situation which will hopefully be fairly resolved.
Hi Judy, Fair question. My news philosophy is to provide readers with more information, not less, when the facts are available and relevant to the people and/or issues we are covering.
I just hope my house doesn’t flood again this year. Still get very nervous every time there’s a hard rain!
So this decades old deeded access came with no HOA to collect funds for its maintenance and no rules?
The community park is run by volunteers who also print an annual member directory. The upkeep and donations are also voluntary. The kayak slot rental is a small, fixed fee. It’s just how things have been done over the 100 years, and no one has had a problem until these two families moved in next door.
I have lived here for over 30 years. Raised my children here and attended many community functions at this park. The park has always been maintained by neighbor volunteers for the benefit of the entire community. They have contributed their own time, effort and money to keeping this park usable and inviting. The intimation by these two neighbors that the park is being used for the personal benefit of a few people to the exclusion of others is ridiculous . The boat rack that they are complaining of was erected after many months of notices – flyers- meetings with any interested neighbors. It was overwhelmingly approved -especially because the park was strewn with abandoned water craft after Covid. It was an effort to clean up the park and provide any neighbours who wanted to keep a kayak or canoe at the park, a place to do so. It was a great success. The park has never looked better. Mr Albertson and Holm -knew they were building their homes next to this park. The kayak rack is tucked into a corner of the park that is unobtrusive and out of the way.
Neither Albertson nor Holm contribute to the maintenance of the park… even while they feel they have unfettered use of the park for their own purposes. They rip out plantings in the park -complaining the plants interfere with their enjoyment of the park -they trim trees and unilaterally remove trees from the park because they interfere with their view of the lake -they chain up garbage cans so the residents have no where to dispose of trash-all these actions with no notice to the community. They sue a volunteer neighbour who works diligently to maintain the park integrity for the benefit of the community….. these two lakefront homeowners ultimately want to make the park so untenable to use that the 200 plus homes with deeded lake access just abandon their rights to the park.