A 37-year property owner near a proposed commercial plaza on County Road 25 is worried about the traffic the planned development could bring.
Frederick Miller of 40515 County Road 25 told members of the Lady Lake Planning and Zoning Board on Monday evening that traffic is already a problem.
Lawrence Breech owner of T-Lynne Properties LLC, has already acquired two parcels of land located 650 feet north of County Road 25 at Griffin Drive. He is also the owner of property across the street where Church @ The Springs has its Lady Lake/The Villages campus. He is planning to build two 3,300-square-foot buildings that would provide 6,600 square feet of commercial/medical office space. On the second floor, the buildings will feature three apartments each with a proposed square footage of 1,000 feet. The complex would be known as Teague Plaza. There will be a total of 48 parking spots.
Miller said that section of County Road 25 has already been nicknamed the Marion County Expressway.
“Everybody wants to avoid the lights (on U.S. Hwy. 27/441),” Miller said. “They are taking 25 to get to Belleview.”
Planning and Zoning Board member William Sigurdson agreed with Miller’s assessment.
“You see a great deal of traffic there,” Sigurdson said.
Traffic wasn’t the only concern raised about the planned project.
Villager Barb Lutz, who lives on Tarrson Boulevard immediately behind where the new buildings would be constructed, said she has concerns about safety.
She and neighbors have previously expressed their fear of having a two-story building towering over their homes.
“Most of our neighbors are in their 80s,” she said.
She said the developer has indicated an 8-foot wall would be built between the commercial development and their homes.
“We’d like to see that wall built first, before the buildings go up,” she said.
Steve Lutz added that they already have people cutting through their yard.
“We have golf carts coming in from the Blue Parrot (RV Resort),” he said.
The developer said at Monday’s meeting he wouldn’t have a problem with building the block and stucco wall prior to the buildings going up.
The Planning & Zoning Board voted unanimously to forward the project to the Lady Lake Commission which will take it up in March.
