Site work has begun on the Beaumont property across County Road 466A from Pinellas Plaza and next to Trailwinds Village.
Before internal roads and infrastructure can be built, the developers are required to sign to a transportation agreement with Wildwood to facilitate traffic improvements on Powell Road (County Road 462).
The agreement was approved Monday by the Wildwood City Commission. The developer is KLP Beaumont Commercial and KLP Villages of West Palm Beach.
The Beaumont Community Development District, formed early last year, plans to spend $16.7 million on improvements over three years, including $2.2 million for roadways, $2.8 million for utilities and $4.5 million for storm water management.
Required traffic improvements include turn lanes at Pinellas Place and Powell Road, turn lanes on Powell Road at the entrance to the Beaumont property, traffic signal upgrades at Pinellas Place and Powell Road and new traffic signals at the intersection of Beaumont Boulevard, the entry to the development, and Powell Road.
Landowners will be responsible for 75 percent of Sumter County’s cost of the new traffic signals, according to the agreement.
A maximum of 1,298 single-family and multi-family homes, 544,500 square feet of commercial space and 174,320 square feet of institutional space on 154 acres are permitted by a development agreement with Wildwood.
Build-out of the property is projected to generate 15,181 daily trips, including 645 during the peak morning hour and 1,639 during the peak evening hour.
Mayor Ed Wolf said the intersection of Powell Road and CR 466A already is crowded with church traffic on certain days and he hopes the traffic improvements will be able to handle the increase.
A plat for the first phase of the Beaumont development was approved last year. It includes 271 single-family homes and 134 townhouses. Completion of the first phase is expected by the end of next year.
Single-family homes will be located along three local streets near the rear of the property, while townhouses will be built closer to CR 466A on the southeast side of a wetland and storm water retention area. The neighborhood will be gated but without street lights, according to plat information.
