About 4,000 residents and maybe a couple of restaurants will be coming to the vortex of local traffic headaches.
The massive development will consume hundreds of acres of pastureland located between County Road 466, Cherry Lake Road, Lake Ella Road and Rolling Acres Road. In the coming months and years, it will be transformed into 940 single-family homes, 330 multi-family apartment units and 216 town homes. There will also be 120,000-square-feet of commercial development, 3,000-square-feet of general office space and another 15,000-square-feet of medical offices.
Lady Lake officials have approved the development, but some commissioners remain uneasy with the certain traffic and congestion it will bring to an already overwhelmed area.
Commissioner Ruth Kussard, a resident of the Village of La Reynalda, is especially concerned about restaurants.
“No fast-food restaurants,” she said in an attempt to draw a line in the sand during a commission meeting Wednesday night at Lady Lake Town Hall.
Kussard said she has polled area residents and they do not want an all-night drive-through eatery at the new development.
“They were adamant about no fast food. They want a sit-down restaurant that closes at 10 p.m.,” Kussard said.
However, the definition of “fast food” is apparently a point of contention.
Eric Morrisette is the vice president of acquisitions for Central and Northeast Florida for Kolter Land, the development behemoth overseeing the project.
He indicated that a Starbucks or a Panera might be a good fit for the development. Kussard insisted she is uncomfortable with the idea of drive-up, take-out service.
However, Morrisette countered that in a world forever changed by COVID-19, drive-up and take-out are necessities in the competitive restaurant environment.
Morrisette pointed out the 4,000 residents will be the primary customers for the eateries. Many of the homes will be located in an age-restricted neighborhood governed by a community development district. The majority of those residents will have golf carts to use on the development’s internal roadways.
Commissioner Tony Holden questioned whether 4,000 residents would be enough to support the restaurants and other businesses on the drawing board.
“You have a tremendous market here. They (retailers) want to come to your market,” said Greg Beliveau of LPG Urban and Regional Planners Inc., who has been guiding this project along for years.
He predicted many future customers would also come from neighboring communities, including The Villages.
Proposed businesses will still have to navigate the site approval process of the Town of Lady Lake.