Age-restricted zoning on two large Villages-owned tracts will be removed as part of the transfer of both properties to Sumter County from Wildwood.
About 121 acres south of Coleman near U.S. 301 would be rezoned for mixed use.
Sumter County commissioners endorsed the plan Tuesday night and voted to transmit it to the state for review. After state agency comments are received, a final vote will be taken.
They also voted to seek state comments on a plan to transfer another 135 acres to the county from Wildwood and rezone it for agriculture. That land is along County Road 526 east of Sumterville.
Owned by The Villages, both properties were de-annexed from Wildwood and removed from the Villages of Southern Oaks.
The 121-acre property would be added to the 563-acre Coleman Ridge Community Development District, established by The Villages two years ago.
The Coleman Ridge Master Planned Development Project is expected to include 550 homes, 7 million square feet of industrial space and 100,000 square feet of commercial space.
Mixed-use county zoning means the land could be developed for residential, commercial and other uses.
Representing The Villages, attorney Darrin Taylor said county mixed-use zoning allows less intensive development than permitted under Wildwood’s age-restricted zoning.
He said the transfer and rezoning puts the entire Coleman Ridge property under county authority.
Nearby residents told commissioners they are concerned about what kind of development is planned.
“All of us who are adjacent to that property want to know more,” said Joseph Tobin. “We don’t know what’s going there.”
