The Villages has formally filed a site plan with the Town of Lady Lake for apartments at Spanish Springs Town Square.
The Villages’ desire to put age-restricted apartments in empty second-floor commercial space at Spanish Springs has been a contentious issue for more than a year. The Villages filed a lawsuit to bend the Lady Lake Commission to its will, ultimately forcing commissioners to abandon its 33-year-old Development of Regional Impact agreement with the Developer.
The site plan, filed with the town on Tuesday, calls for seven apartments in the Van Patten House, the former home of Katie Belle’s. Three of the apartments will be one-bedroom units and four of the apartments will be two-bedroom units. There will be 16 parking spaces dedicated for apartment dwellers and their guests.
Many residents, including Mayor Jim Rietz, who has a large “Save Spanish Springs” decal on the rear window of his vehicle, remain suspicious of The Villages’ potential long-term agenda for the original town square. There are fears that the elimination of Katie Belle’s, cutting the extended happy hour previously enjoyed exclusively at Spanish Springs, and the mysterious silence on the future of the shuttered Rialto Theater, are part of a secret plan to suck the life out of the square. Some have expressed concern that The Villages will end nightly entertainment at the square.
