Why Lake Mary is court country
The 1990s and 2000s subdivisions along Lake Mary Boulevard and up the I 4 corridor, Heathrow, Timacuan, Magnolia Plantation, Markham Woods Road, were platted at a third of an acre to several acres. A 34 by 64 pickleball court and a 30 by 50 half court on separate pads is a normal project here, and the Markham Woods estates have the room for a full tennis court with pickleball lines. The ground is well drained sand on most of the upland lots, with the usual caveats near the lakes and the Wekiva side, where lots can run wet.
Access is better than in the older Orlando neighborhoods: wider side yards, fewer pool cages across the whole back line, and a concrete truck can often reach the pad without a pump.
Permits: Seminole County and the City
This is the one thing to get right first. The City of Lake Mary issues permits inside its limits. Heathrow, Markham Woods and most of the acreage west of I 4 are unincorporated Seminole County and permit through the County. Longwood and Sanford have their own departments. The requirements are the same shape everywhere, a building permit for the slab, a building permit for a fence over 6 feet, an electrical permit for lights, and a tree permit for protected trees, with each office's own forms and fees. The permits guide covers how to check the parcel.
Heathrow and the gated communities
Heathrow's review board and the others along Markham Woods have standards that run toward aluminum fencing, dark sky lighting with a curfew, and courts screened from the golf course and from the street. Lots are big enough that 200 feet from the nearest neighbor's lanai is often possible, which makes the noise conversation short. The packet is the usual one: site plan, elevations, colors, fixture cut sheets, photometric plan.
What we build here
Larger versions of everything on the pickleball court construction page: 34 by 64 courts with full fence and lights, multi sport pads, and tennis with pickleball lines on the acreage. Conversions of the 1990s tennis courts in Heathrow and Timacuan are steady work. Costs sit at the metro ranges on the cost page, and a little under on upland lots where the truck can drive to the pad and no fill is needed. South of the county line: Winter Park.
Straight answers
Is Heathrow in the City of Lake Mary?
No. Heathrow is unincorporated Seminole County and permits through the County. The City of Lake Mary handles parcels inside the city limits.
Can I build a tennis court and a pickleball court on the same lot?
On the Markham Woods and Heathrow estate lots, yes. A tennis pad is 60 by 120 and a pickleball court is 30 by 60, and both want north to south orientation; the site plan works out whether they fit side by side.
Do Lake Mary lots need fill?
Most upland lots do not; the sand drains. Lots near Lake Mary itself, the Wekiva side and the retention ponds in the newer subdivisions usually need the pad raised 4 to 6 inches.