Threat

Burgeoning residential development in Orange County and the greater Orlando area is the greatest threat to Nehrling's Palm Cottage Gardens. Gotha is a "hot" area, and available properties are being snapped up at rapidly increasing prices. Age and health issues have made it imperative for Palm Cottage's owner to move. Thus the property is currently listed for sale and at risk of being lost to residential development. The property to the west of the gardens is commercially developed. The property on the north and south borders of the garden (once part of Nehrling Gardens) is now the residential development called Lake Nally Woods and governed by its Homeowners Association. The groves on the east side of Lake Nally are currently being developed into upscale residential homes.

In December, 2003 the Palm Cottage Gardens property was to be purchased by The Henry Nehrling Society in partnership with Orange County, which had offered $500,000 in funding contingent upon an agreement from the Lake Nally Woods Homeowners Association to lift the "single family residential" deed restriction on the property by September 30, 2005. However the Lake Nally Woods HOA declined to approve the amendment to the deed restrictions and consequently Orange County 's funding was lost. More recently, in 2005, the Florida Communities Trust approved a Florida Forever grant worth over $250,000 toward the purchase of the gardens. However, this funding also was lost because Orange County was unwilling to guarantee to maintain the site in the future should the property ever revert to the county. Through all of this, the local press, particularly the Orlando Sentinel and The West Orange Times, have been tireless proponents of the efforts to save and restore the Nehrling Palm Cottage Gardens, providing extensive coverage and editorial support.

Also, lack of vegetation management has become a threat to the gardens. Several large trees that were damaged in the 2004 hurricane season now represent a danger to the remaining trees and visitors. Invasive potato vines are growing up into the 120 year-old specimen trees and exotic species are threatening the under story. Without ownership of the garden, Nehrling Society volunteers are limited in their freedom to access the property to clear the invasive potato vines on a regular basis and maintain the garden. The Society also needs to purchase the property as soon as possible to care for the site's historic plants.