A large number of Villagers attended Monday night’s Lady Lake Commission meeting to stand up against a proposed RV storage facility.
Lighthouse Storage LLC hopes to build the facility on 26 acres on County Road 25 just south of the Lakes of Lady Lake subdivision.
Residents of the Village of Silver Lake as well as residents of the Lakes of Lady Lake spoke out against the plan in a meeting at Lady Lake Town Hall.
“There’s no trees protecting me from what they are putting up. My house will go down 50 percent in value if they go in there. Thirteen years I have been here and there were horses there. Now there’s going to be containers,” said Villager Andrew Hall who lives on East Schwartz Boulevard.
Joan Kellett of the Village of Silver Lake said residents were “blindsided” by the project.
“There are 58 residents affected by this decision. It started in August when not many people were here. The other meeting was four days before Christmas,” Kellett said.
She said there is “no hope” for longtime residents.
“They are people who have been living there for 20 years. They have no voice,” she said.
Elaine Bagg, who lives on Tangerine Drive in the Village of Silver Lake, had plenty of questions for Greg Beliveau of LPG Urban and Regional Planners, who is representing the developer who wants to build the RV facility.
“That’s going to be right in our back yard,” Bagg said.
Commissioner Ruth Kussard had questions about gasoline and diesel tanks planned for the facility as well as RVs dumping solid waste.
“Is there going to be a smell?” she asked.
Beliveau said both types of tanks, for fuel and the dumping station, would have to meet strict state and local codes.
You can see more about the proposal here:
Lighthouse Storage, LLC Concept Plan 12-21-2017
He also pointed out the property has a cell tower in the middle of it.
“No one would want to live there,” Beliveau said.
He said the RV storage facility is probably the best fit for the property. He said the people storing RVs there would likely be Villagers.
“We’ve tried to put something in there to be the best neighbor we can,” Beliveau said.
Kellett said the cell tower was a “self-inflicted” wound that the developer decided to put on the property.
“He collects rent. He made the decision,” she said.
Village of La Reynalda resident Butch Ballot said he has been an RVer for decades.
“The RV industry is exploding,” Ballot said.
He said the RV club in The Villages has 500 members.
He said the plan for the Lighthouse facility appears to be sound.
The Lighthouse Storage LLC plan moved ahead on a 3-1 vote. Commissioner Kussard was the lone dissenter. Commissioner Paul Hannan was absent.
