Citing concerns about traffic, the Leesburg Planning Commission is recommending denial of the proposed Lake Margaretta Estates housing development from Orlando-based American Land Development.
On Thursday, commissioners voted 3-2 against the project and its accompanying rezoning, despite a recommendation for approval from the city’s planning and zoning department. The case is tentatively scheduled to go to the City Commission for a first reading on June 23 and second reading on August 11.
The Lake Margaretta Estates PUD is a proposed 196-acre development with plans for up to 586 detached single-family homes south of County Road 48 in Leesburg, just west of Howey-in-the-Hills.
Developer Robert Zlatkiss is seeking to annex 93 acres to the city and change the land use from its current Rural Transition classification to Estate Residential, which would max out development in the area at four units an acre. He has also applied for rezoning to Planned Unit Development.
“Approximately 103 of the 196 acres of the property is already within the city limits,” Dan Miller, City of Leesburg planning and zoning director, said during the commission meeting. “That acreage has city zoning districts of agricultural and estate density residential, with a future land use of estate. This is one of the last remaining [agricultural] parcels we have in the city.”
The comprehensive plan amendment for the property is for the remaining 93 acres not within city limits and the PUD zoning is for the entire 196-acre development, Miller said.
Tom Daly, owner and president of Winter Park-based Daly Design Group, spoke on behalf of American Land Development, outlining their plans for the project area.
To transition smoothly into a more dense area, Daly said the applicants are seeking just three units per acre instead of the allotted four based on future land use restrictions.
“Basically, what we’re doing is we’re taking the outlier county property, tying them together so we can have a cohesive development,” he said. “All the access to this site is going to be from County Road 48 and there’s going to need to be road improvements on that site and infrastructure improvements.”
A total of 316 units would be designated as 50-foot lots, 155 units would have 60-foot lots and the other 115 units would include 70-foot lots. At least 35 percent of the project would be green space.
Recreational requirements stipulate the PUD must include at least 2.7 acres devoted to two separate recreation areas, a swimming pool and cabana, on-site parking, gazebo and children’s playgrounds. There are also requirements for a separate dog park and trails around planned retention areas.
According to Miller, recreational amenities must also be constructed by the time 50% of residential units are complete.
Commissioner Ted Bowersox said he appreciated the effort American Land Development and others put into making sure project plans met requirements for approval. Still, traffic concerns led him to vote against the comprehensive plan amendment and PUD for now.
“[CR 48] is a busy road already, as we know, and 500 to 600 vehicles on there, minimum, is quite a boot, plus [U.S. Highway] 27 intersection and coming to Leesburg,” Bowersox said. “We can grow to a point where we’re not comfortable living where we always lived.”
Commissioner John O’Kelley agreed, alluding to the Leesburg City Commission grappling with a proposed moratorium on residential rezonings and annexations last month.
While the commission rejected the moratorium by a 4-1 vote, O’Kelley said the proposed Lake Margaretta Estates PUD begs the question of how much growth is too much.
“Even though the city commission denied the motion a month or so ago about putting a moratorium on growth in some annexations and so forth, that doesn’t mean we can’t deny a project because we don’t feel like it’s the right thing for that area,” he said. “I feel like this should not be approved for this kind of density.”
Have a tip about Central Florida development? Contact me at jwilkins@orlandosentinel.com or 407-754-4980. Follow GrowthSpotter on Facebook and LinkedIn.
