Article Courtesy
of The Villages News By Meta Minton
Published October 1, 2018
Leesburg officials have accused The Villages of
“cherrypicking” a land deal as the number of planned homes has been cut to 3,000
units.
The Villages and the city currently are going through the due diligence process
on a 1,127-acre parcel – the Villages of West Lake – located north of County
Road 470 and east of the Florida Turnpike.
The Villages originally
wanted to purchase an additional 531 acres south of County Road
470. But City Manager Al Minner said that area needs to be
retained as a spray field until The Villages is ready to accept
6 million gallons per day of reuse water on a yearly basis.
Currently, the community can only take the reuse water nine
months of the year, excluding its peak snowbird season.
In a Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, Minner revealed
that The Villages portion of Leesburg, once envisioned to
include 4,000 to 5,000 homes, is now down to “3,000 units.”
The Planning Commission debated The Villages’ plan to jettison
some of the property that had been planned for purchase.
“They don’t want the swamp land,” said Planning Commissioner Ted
Bowersox.
During the lengthy meeting, planning commissioners eventually
voted to approve a comprehensive plan amendment changing the
future land use on about 11 acres of the Villages’ purchase to
age restricted development from industrial and technology
commerce park. And they agreed with a request to rezone those
acres to age restricted development from city planned unit
development as well.
But those decisions didn’t
stop Commissioner Charles Townsend from joining in the “cherry
picking” accusation by saying Leesburg would be picking up the
tab for maintenance of the rejected land. And he went a a step
further by accusing The Villages of deception.
“I am voting in the affirmative, but I am suspect of the
pricing. It wasn’t fully laid out for us. It was deceptive in
the manner it was done, whether it was intentional or not,” he
said. |
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This map shows the Villages of West Lake in Leesburg and
the 11-acre parcel involved in the comprehensive plan amendment and
recommended rezoning action.
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Bowersox described it as a “knuckleball” by The Villages.
“How come this didn’t come up in negotiations before?” he asked.
The city manager said the city will likely be hanging on to the rejected
property for three to five years. He said there might be an opportunity to sell
it down the line to The Villages.
The vote on the two Villages requests was 6-1, with Planning Commission member
Donald Lukich voting against the plan.
The commission also gave its blessing to an ordinance that:
• Amends the text of the city’s comprehensive plan for the Villages of West Lake
to establish a minimum acreage threshold;
• Establishes a process for amending existing age restricted development
projects; and
• Adds a list of existing age restricted developments in the city.
Two items affecting the smaller parcel of land retained by Leesburg also were
approved. Commissioners agreed to recommend changing the comprehensive plan
amendment on the spray field/general municipal use property to institutional and
conservation from age restricted development. And they backed the accompanying
rezoning request taking the land to city public from age restricted and planned
unit development.
City commissioners are tentatively scheduled to hear a first reading on all five
items at their regularly scheduled Oct. 8 meeting, with a second reading to
follow Nov. 13.
Also on Thursday, the commission voted to allow The Villages to erect cell
towers within the development. A monopole off Bonita Boulevard in The Villages
recently raised the ire of residents. The Villages won approval for the monopole
from Sumter County.
“We are the first step of the democratic process. The final decision is with the
city commission,” said Planning Commission Chairman James Argento.
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